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Glad the VP is doing something about it ... I was looking at the Clark website and realize that I no longer know any of the administration staff.
JFC, it's only been 5 years, what the !
It was in the paper today, but I just thought it was super ghetto (and hilarious at the same time).Educator sues teens over page on MySpace
Web Posted: 09/21/2006 11:44 PM CDT
Jenny LaCoste-Caputo
Express-News Staff
Accusations that two 16-year-old students cyber ambushed their assistant principal have landed their parents in legal trouble, highlighting what has become a new battleground for student-educator animosity.
Anna Draker, an assistant principal at Clark High School in the Northside Independent School District, filed a civil lawsuit against two students at the school — junior Benjamin Schreiber and sop re Ryan Todd — and the boys' parents, claiming defamation, libel, negligence and negligent supervision over a page on the popular Web site MySpace.com.
Benjamin also is facing criminal felony charges. Both boys are named in the lawsuit. Their parents, Lisa Schreiber and Lisa and Steve Todd, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.
"This is the most serious, most concerted effort that I've seen a teacher or a school administrator undertake involving a posting on MySpace," said Steve Jones, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois-Chicago and author of "CyberSociety" who has written extensively on Internet use.
"This is pretty remarkable," he said. "I think a lot of people will be watching this."
Draker found out in April that someone had created a page on MySpace, a public free-access Web site popular among students, using her name and picture from the school's Web site. The page was filled with, according to Draker's attorney, Murphy Klasing, lewd, defamatory and obscene comments, pictures and graphics. It was written as though Draker herself had posted the information.
The Web page was up about a month before Draker discovered it.
"By that point, she had no idea how many people in the world had seen it," Klasing said. "We do know it had been seen by numerous individuals, including many students at Clark."
MySpace.com removed the page as soon as Draker contacted them and told them she had not posted the information.
Bexar County Assistant District Attorney Jill Mata would not release information about the case. She did confirm that juvenile charges are pending against a local high school student involving retaliation and fraudulent use of identifying information. Both are third-degree felonies.
Tormenting teachers — from drawing caricatures on notebooks to old-fashioned slam books — is an age-old activity for students, but the Internet has taken the practice to a new level, with students using its anonymous universe to launch attacks against teachers, and for college students, professors. While there has been at least one case where students were criminally charged with impersonation — two Indiana middle schoolers accused of impersonating their principal earlier this year — most of the incidents have only resulted in suspensions.
A dean at Clark brought the Web page to Draker's attention. Besides lewd language, the site also falsely identified Draker as a lesbian. Klasing said Draker, who is married and has small children, was "devastated."
The Web page included instant messages from people Draker didn't know who lived near Clark High and made suggestive, lewd and obscene comments based on the Web page's content.
Northside officials investigated the incident and suspended Benjamin Schreiber for three days. Ryan Todd had to attend a parent conference. Northside's police department was called in to investigate and forwarded their findings to the district attorney.
District spokesman Pascual Gonzalez said schools have little control over what students do on computers away from the school. According to Draker's lawsuit, Ryan Todd admitted that Benjamin Schreiber created the Web site using Ryan's computer. The lawsuit also maintains that both boys have had discipline problems at the school and that Draker has had to discipline Ryan Todd numerous times.
"It's a new era for us dealing with outside Internet activity by kids," Gonzalez said. "There is no school policy that governs it."
Klasing said Draker wants the students to face consequences. She's suing for an unspecified amount for damages for emotional distress, mental anguish, lost wages and court costs, but Klasing said the lawsuit is really about teaching a lesson.
"Primarily, her goal here is accountability," Klasing said.
Jones said kids have been finding ways to ridicule educators for generations, but the venue is different now.
"These technologies are incredibly public and the potential for harm is much greater simply because these comments and criticisms are being disseminated potentially around the world," Jones said. "It's an issue of scale that's particularly difficult to contend with."
Glad the VP is doing something about it ... I was looking at the Clark website and realize that I no longer know any of the administration staff.
JFC, it's only been 5 years, what the !
She's teaching the kids a lesson by filing a civil suit against their parents. She needs to think outside the box - set up MySpace accounts for those two with pics saying that they are gay lovers, etc. and secretly spread info on that site around campus. That would be wrong as , but would be funny to see them get the same in return. Don't get mad, get even
From my understanding, my little sister is a sop re there, and there are several fake MySpaces for other teachers (Honors English 1 that I know of.. the Chick a dees for those y'all that did go to Clark) but it was just people saying "Oh! What was the homework or I don't like so and so..." but this one for Draker was a lot more obsence including sex toys and talk of the "retaliation. I'll have to ask my sister when she gets home from school.
enigima- I was talking to someone I graduated with a few days ago and she said her brother told her someone got caught with cocaine a while back (in class I might add). What has happened? I felt totally out of place when I went back last year to see a Spanish teacher.
Come on, who doesn't get caught with coke at school.
Oh God... I had Mrs. Hoag for English 1 Honors (freshman year) and it was harder than any college english I've taken. She was pure evil. I want to look up her page now.
Mrs. Hoag was nice - I had Mrs. Mueller for my English 1 class.Oh God... I had Mrs. Hoag for English 1 Honors (freshman year) and it was harder than any college english I've taken. She was pure evil. I want to look up her page now.
Coolest teacher though was Ms. Bau , and Ms. McDonald coming in second ... both taught the same World History Honors classes, but Ms. McDonald in French 2 was a RIOT.
I didn't have her for English, but I did Stu Co endlessly so I ended up basically being one of her little ones. I've heard that and my siste dropped the class because it was super hard. Man, she is crazy! I vbelieve she retired this year too.Oh God... I had Mrs. Hoag for English 1 Honors (freshman year) and it was harder than any college english I've taken. She was pure evil. I want to look up her page now.
Ahh. I had McDobald for history. I loved that class so much. I'm surprised no one has made Eichenholz a fake page. Although she may just kill them.
I'm surprised too.. a lot of people hated Eichenholz. I always got the horribly mean teachers! First Hoag, then Mrs. Witt, and then Eichenholz. At least I had the hot male teachers as well. Mr. Pumphrey and Mr. Player were cool and nice to look at.I'm surprised no one has made Eichenholz a fake page. Although she may just kill them.
I specifically remembering signing up to take World Affairs my Senior Year because Pumphrey taught it.Mr. Pumphrey and Mr. Player were cool and nice to look at.
What a . Tom has a million impersonators, but you don't see him whining like a .
In terms of pure evil, Mrs. Carder >>>>>>>>>>>>> EichenHitler.I'm surprised too.. a lot of people hated Eichenholz. I always got the horribly mean teachers! First Hoag, then Mrs. Witt, and then Eichenholz. At least I had the hot male teachers as well. Mr. Pumphrey and Mr. Player were cool and nice to look at.
Oh, and majorto Pumphrey and Player, my two favorite teachers. I had Pumphrey his first year teaching there, when he still had long hair. Girls would straight up hit on him in class
Well that's understandable.I had Pumphrey his first year teaching there, when he still had long hair. Girls would straight up hit on him in class
This is true. Although, somehow...and I have no clue as to how, I ended up with a solid A in my American History class with her as a freshman. Even though it was scary as having her first period and then Mrs. Garcia for Spanish second period.
did anyone have mrs. freeman? she was interesting... she slammed a few podiums. or mrs. tschoepe? ugh. i liked mrs. hoag as a teacher, but she got a little too into stu co sometimes. mr. player and mrs. bau were both great.
Hey kids. We made MTV:
assistant principal at Clark High School in San Antonio, Texas, has filed a civil lawsuit against two 16-year-old students and their parents, claiming defamation, libel, negligence and negligent supervision. The suit charges the teens took
teacher-torment to a whole new level in cyberspace and left the school administrator "devastated."
With MySpace — the social-networking Web site that now claims more than 100 million users — as their weapon of choice, junior Benjamin Schreiber and sop re Ryan Todd launched an online attack against Anna Draker by establishing a bogus account in the educator's name, according to the suit. The San Antonio Express-News reports that the students used Draker's name and lifted a picture from the school's Web site to create the offending MySpace page.
Draker didn't learn of the page until April; the page was posted for a month before she contacted MySpace and asked that it be removed.
"By that point, she had no idea how many people in the world had seen it," Draker's lawyer, Murphy Klasing, told the Express-News, adding that the page included lewd, defamatory and obscene comments, pictures and graphics. "We do know it had been seen by numerous individuals, including many students at Clark."
The suit, which also names the boys' parents, Lisa Schreiber and Lisa and Steve Todd, seeks unspecified damages for emotional distress, mental anguish, lost wages and court costs. The ersatz MySpace page further identified Draker, who is married with children, as a lesbian.
Officials at the school investigated the matter and later suspended Schreiber for three days, according to the paper. Todd was asked to attend a parent conference regarding the incident. Local police examined the complaint, as well, and the detective's findings were presented to the Bexar County District Attorney's office. A spokesperson from that office would not release specific details regarding the case, but did reveal that juvenile charges were pending against one of the students. Those charges, retaliation and fraudulent use of identifying information, are both third-degree felonies.
Klasing told the Express-News that his client hopes to teach the two students a lesson. "Primarily, her goal here is accountability," he said.
A similar case was reported in April, when police began investigating a fake MySpace page that attacked a Minnesota middle school teacher. That page included child pornography as well as slurs about religion and sexual orientation (see "Cops Investigating Fake MySpace Page That Defamed Minnesota Teacher"). The Draker incident also resembles a case reported in August in which Danny Presley, the principal of Carroll Senior High School in Grapevine, Texas, was contacted by police when they were informed that a faux MySpace page had been set up in his name. The page included Presley's picture, "vulgar material" and claims that the principal was bisexual. Police have yet to determine who is behind the Presley page.
Steve Jones, a communications professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago and an expert on Internet usage, told the Express-News that the Draker case will be one to watch. "This is the most serious, most concerted effort that I've seen a teacher or a school administrator undertake involving a posting on MySpace," he said.
"This is pretty remarkable. These technologies are incredibly public and the potential for harm is much greater simply because these comments and criticisms are being disseminated potentially around the world," he added. "It's an issue of scale that's particularly difficult to contend with."
— Chris Harris
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/154...headlines=true
I'm glad myspace wasn't around in my day.
Mrs. Hoag has nothing on Dr. Dwyer. Dr. Dwyer is the reason I have a vocabulary that almost nobody else can understand. She also taught me to think critically, an albatross which sentences one to a life of frustration trying to reason with the feeble minds of others.Oh God... I had Mrs. Hoag for English 1 Honors (freshman year) and it was harder than any college english I've taken. She was pure evil. I want to look up her page now.
Dr. Dwyer made a few of my friends cry - herself and a couple others are a reason why I never did honors or AP english classes at Clark.
Does anyone else remember the senior english teacher that was Dyslexic and pulled a few abnormal things, such as wearing a flag (and only a flag as she said) to school, sneaking out of the window while her kids were taking a test and going to the mall and a few other things?
very true, you little twit (i can't remember for sure, but that is what she called everyone, right?)
Yes. She called herself a troll. She had the academic qualifications to head up an English department at a major university, but decided it was more fulfilling to "mold young heads full of mush." If you ever saw where she lived, it was clear she didn't teach for the money.
That would be the one and only Mrs. Lehman who will forever go down as my favorite teacher.
That woman was crazy - my favorite english teacher next to Mrs. McBeth ... I got an A on a test because I was respectful towards her, she gave like 4 of us A's and sent us home and made everyone else stay - and failed them.
Funny .
yep, not to mention she could sure make a good 7-layer dip.
I got an A on my junior research paper that I never did.That woman was crazy - my favorite english teacher next to Mrs. McBeth ... I got an A on a test because I was respectful towards her, she gave like 4 of us A's and sent us home and made everyone else stay - and failed them.
Funny .
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