Indiana School Silencing Parents

RTV6 Indianapolis is reporting that an Indiana school district is attempting to prevent parents from saying negative things about school staff and even the school itself on social media.

This is OUTRAGEOUS!  At a time when many schools are failing at educating students in basic skills and pushing very questionable agendas, the last thing we need is to insulate them from criticism.

RTV6 reports, 

The North West Hendricks School Corporation’s “Parent Code of Conduct” says parents should not use social media to make rude or offensive comments toward school staff members or the school in general.

The policy also states parents shouldn’t use social media to “campaign against or fuel outrage against individual staff members, the school or policies implemented by the school or district.”

The policy apparently was prompted by a social media firestorm after an uproar over a teacher accused of sexual misconduct that was placed on leave, but not fired.  The teacher is being investigated by police, but no charges have been filed.

RTV6 interviewed Ken Falk of the Indiana ACLU states that the school’s policy clearly violates the First Amendment.

“The overarching problem is you have the government saying if we don’t like what you’re saying, we can punish you — but the government is not allowed to do that. That’s why we have the First Amendment.”

Falk also notes that this is not a good way to teach students about the First Amendment.

The school asserts that its policy is not improper since it only relates to what parents post on the school’s social media pages, not social media in general.

However, the official statement from the school system also states:

NWHSC discourages parents and community members from taking their concerns/grievances to social media. That practice is generally unproductive and usually leads to rumor and misinformation. Rather, parents and community members are encouraged to take their concerns/grievances to a staff member and/or administrator (following the recommended chain of command) that has the ability/authority to remedy the issue.

I understand that it is a sensitive issue to criticize school staff since they live and work in the community and their own children are often part of the same school.

However, the right to free and open debate is of higher priority.  Since the schools and teachers are a part of local communities, they will usually also have a ton of support and defenders on social media.

Regardless of the school’s assertion that this only applies to their social media, this still creates an atmosphere that intimidates people to silence.

Also, since the school is a government agency, their social media should not silence people.

Can you even imagine if the White House announced there could be no rude or offensive comments on their page? What are your thoughts on this?