From MSNBC
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“One by one, classroom phones were ringing at Eden Prairie High School, as administrators requested that teachers send certain students to their deans’ offices.
When the school’s investigation concluded Wednesday, 42 students had been questioned and 13 disciplined after Internet photos revealed the students partying with alcohol in violation of school rules, administrators said.
Punishments include suspensions from sports and other activities, angering students who think administrators went too far. Some students are planning a walkout after first period this morning, and they’re promoting the protest where the controversy began: on Facebook.com.
Some parents are reportedly considering legal action because they view the school’s action as too harsh. But legal experts say the area is muddy, because the mushrooming popularity of social networking sites is so new, challenges have yet to work their way up through the courts.”
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Out of all the lessons we could learn from the story last week about local students getting busted for drinking after administrators found photos on Facebook, the most troubling to me is that some parents are threatening legal action against the school. As a parent, I can identify with the disappointment, or even anger, some parents must have felt…toward their kid. But—legal action?
We laugh when the guy sues the lawn mower manufacturer because the lawn mower cut his fingers off when he tried to lift the lawn mower to trim the hedge. Used to be: he was stupid; now, he’s become a victim. There used to be no remedy for stupidity.
Now, apparently, there is.
2 users commented in " And We Wonder Where Victimology Gets Started: Eden Prairie High School Kids, Facebook and Victimology "
GL, this is right on with deadly accuracy.
I have another anecdotal story to add to this. I was handing out Thanksgiving turkeys at a homeless shelter about 3 years ago. This is a soup-to-nuts facility that requires commitment, counseling, etc., and only takes in families. Former residents were given a holiday meal, which we packaged for them. A very nice meal.
One man, when I handed him a frozen turkey said, “I suppose I need to carry it to the car.” My answer at the time was, “Yes, I suppose you do.” It wasn’t later that the line occurred to me that “they don’t fly well after they’re frozen”, but it may be just as well that I didn’t say it at the time.
Victimology and entitlement are a hand and glove fit.
Well said, Conrad. Victimology and entitlement…hand in glove. Turkeys don’t fly well frozen==good line.
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