School Suspends Students For Finding 'Racy' Photo Teacher Accidentally Put On Their iPads

from the that-seems-backwards dept

Fri, Oct 19th 2012 7:40am — Mike Masnick

We've seen schools that ridiculously blame and suspend their students for videotaping misdeeds by staff or faculty... but this latest story is really bizarre. A female middle school teacher in Anderson, Indiana somehow (and the details are not at all clear) put a "racy" photo of herself onto a school-issued iPad that students were using. They found the photo... and the school suspended the students. Again, the details are pretty hazy. The photo was described by one of the students as a "topless" photo, but a police report on the incident said it was "from the neck down, with partial exposure." At the link above, Kash Hill suggests this sounds more like "a classic no-face, no-shirt shot that involved a bra and possible cleavage but no actual nudity."

It's also not entirely clear how it got onto the iPad, though the suggestion is that it may have had something to do with Apple's iCloud syncing across devices. It's entirely possible that the teacher used her own account for her own iPhone and the school iPad, leading to the images from her phone syncing to the iPad. No matter what, it makes no sense that the students are suspended and may face even more punishment:

Those students have been suspended and threatened with expulsion.

The students, quite reasonably, are infuriated at this:

"It's not our fault that she had the photo on there," Troutt said. "We couldn't do anything not to look at it, if it just popped up when he pressed the button. It was her fault that she had the photo on there. Her iPhone synched to it. She had to have pressed something to make all of her photos synch on there."

When asked about it, the school district's assistant superintendent Beth Clark told the media "the students' punishment will not be changed." Hopefully the students will seek to get the suspension overturned in some way, because based on the details this seems absolutely ridiculous.

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Filed Under: photo, students, suspension, teacher

113 Comments

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Ninja (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 5:47am

I smell a lawsuit =)

Or rather more than one..

Still, you have to be really incompetent to insist in keeping the punishment after the developments... Did this Beth Clark give any reasonable explanation to keep the suspension?
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- That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 7:48am
  
  Re:
  They saw boobs and not on the internet... this is a crime!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Kevin H (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:41am
    
    Re: Re:
    Then I should be summarily executed.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Michael, 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:47am
    
    Re: Re:
    Good thing.
    
    I patented 'seeing boobs on the internet'. Had you done so, you would be in trouble.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:22am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      they might have figured out before they were 21 that boobs aren't flat like monitors.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Beech, 19 Oct 2012 @ 7:50am

"Welcome students. Here is your new art textbook."
"But Mr Teacher, there is a lot of boobies in this book."
"YOU ARE EXPELLED! Looking through educational material provided to you by a licensed education professional? FOR SHAME!"
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- Greg G, 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:05am
  
  Re:
  There must be some mistake. How did you get an art textbook with actual artwork in it!?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - MrWilson, 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:14am
    
    Re: Re:
    OMG pirate educators are violating copyrights in order to educate children! We must put an end to this! Think of the children!
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 7:54am

So teachable moment...
1 - Learn how technology works.
2 - Punishing children for your screwups NEVER ENDS WELL.
3 - Giving explicit material to children and providing the method of its delivery.

Oh FFS... I know why they insist on punishing the kids.

Assistant Superintendent Beth Clark told NewsChannel5's sister station RTV6 the technology use policy was followed and what happened was quite by accident.

Zero Tolerance Policies anyone?
We have a policy that says you get x punishment for misusing our technology... even when its our fault.

First lawsuit exposing my minor to porn. Kiss your career goodbye, you pervert out to warp children!
This is full on CYA, we followed policy in this matter blah blah blah...

The real losers will be the kids, who will have even more embarrassment and issues about sex and naked people as they grow up.
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- Ninja (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 7:58am
  
  Re:
  The real losers will be the kids, who will have even more embarrassment and issues about sex and naked people as they grow up.
  
  LOSERS? Dude, it's free amateur porn!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Jeremy2020 (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:53am
    
    Re: Re:
    I wish my attractive teachers would have send my risque pictures.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Niall (profile), 22 Oct 2012 @ 4:28am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Yes, but if it were 60-year-old Mrs Hiddlestone then you are looking at serious psychiatrist bills...
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- anony jonny, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:59am
  
  Re:
  Fire the teahcer and in retaliation orce them to register as a sex offender as a condition of the lawsuit
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:33am
    
    Re: Re:
    "Fire the teahcer..."
    
    Good luck with that. Damn near impossible for a union worker.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:36am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      getting them flagged as a sex offender usually works.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased) (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 3:00pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re:
        But they'll still get paid whilst waiting at home for three years awaiting the final papers to be pushed through the system.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        That Anonymous Coward (profile), 20 Oct 2012 @ 1:33am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Nah long before then they will be run out of town or a loving caring person will shoot them for being a monster.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Niall (profile), 22 Oct 2012 @ 4:29am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
        Better than spending three years 'corrupting' children more...
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2012 @ 6:18am
  
  Re:
  Not Zero Tolerance it is Zero Intelligence policy. Lazy by the book enforcement that will ultimately make the enforcers look like idiots and possibly pay a huge settlement to the students in question. The lesson learned- take the punishment, get a lawyer and talk to the media.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Robert (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 7:57am

Will the students bully her into suicide? Maybe call the teacher a slut, create a Facebook page about it, maybe email the photo to all of the teacher's contacts and friends and family and coworkers? Maybe repeatedly harass her in the halls and in the classroom, then on the various social networks the teacher is involved in?

I do hope the details are just screwed up because punishing the students based upon only viewing the image she screwed up and synced to the machines is beyond idiotic.

Now if students being suspended make harassing comments towards the teacher, then they deserve suspension.

The details are what matters. Something must have happened, like the students telling everyone "hey Mrs Teacher is in her bra is on the iPad" or some comments made.
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- That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:06am
  
  Re:
  Once upon a time a school expelled a child for bringing a GI Joe style gun to school. I mean one of those little pieces of plastic not anything remotely close to a real weapon. They justified their actions with their zero tolerance policies and being unable to do anything else.
  
  This school has a policy about the acceptable use of technology, and there is no doubt in my mind there is a section on if we catch you with porn X will happen.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Robert (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:09am
    
    Re: Re:
    I guess biology class will suck for kids today.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:42am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      it has to otherwise we lose the stream of guests for Springer, Maurry, Dr. Phil, et al...
      If they knew how it all worked, they might make that connection that sex = babies. Then who is going to take all of these DNA tests?!
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- droozilla (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:14am
  
  Re:
  You must be on the school board. Way to blame the kids.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Robert (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:21am
    
    Re: Re:
    I didn't blame the kids, I tried to rationalize how it was possible to suspend someone who didn't do anything other than look. Even if it was a technology policy that was given as the excuse, I don't buy it. If they sought the photo, yes, but it was a technological blunder, so no.
    
    My comments clearly state that if they were suspended it must have been because of comments made by the students or potential for harassment.
    
    If this happened to a female student, she would have been harassed by teachers and students alike. And I was taking a jab at the students who did nothing and who attacked Amanda Todd.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:35am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Zero tolerance.
      We have a policy, we ALWAYS follow policy.
      This is how we learn to respect each other and society.
      
      Really this is how they operate, it makes no freaking sense because they no longer get to make objective decisions and as everything is spelled out in their policy document and you have to sign off on it you accept we do EVERYTHING by the book. Even when it makes no freaking sense.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 2:03pm
  
  Re:
  Speculation.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- PRMan, 19 Oct 2012 @ 2:57pm
  
  Re:
  "Will the students bully her into suicide? Maybe call the teacher a slut, create a Facebook page about it, maybe email the photo to all of the teacher's contacts and friends and family and coworkers? Maybe repeatedly harass her in the halls and in the classroom, then on the various social networks the teacher is involved in?"
  
  "Now if students being suspended make harassing comments towards the teacher, then they deserve suspension."
  
  Hunh?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 7:58am

I'm thinking the 60's were REALLY good to Mrs Clarks parents. REALLY REALLY REALLY good.
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BentFranklin (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:00am

Now we know her bra is iPadded.
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Jeff Smith (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:00am

Before I can decide
Before I can decide on this I need to know... Is she hot?

But really you have to love when someone doubles down on dumb when proven to be wrong.
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- That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:03am
  
  Re: Before I can decide
  so your rooting for our regular band of trolls here... got it :)
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Coogan (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:03am

Beth Clark is clearly a boob and needs to be busted by the media. Tit's ridiculous that the students are punished over this. The students are justified in going gazongas.
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- Robert (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:12am
  
  Re:
  She clearly does NOT understand how to implement a particular policy, perhaps she should work for TSA instead?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Niall (profile), 22 Oct 2012 @ 4:31am
    
    Re: Re:
    Maybe it was a TSA picture of her that got published?
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- The Groove Tiger (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 4:17pm
  
  Re:
  Of course these kids were wronged. They basically found out their iPads were booby trapped. No need to put them on a rack over this! They need to stand up to this abuse of power, and face their accusers full frontal in court, preferably in front of a jugs. If nothing else, they're going to get something off their chests.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:06am

What's on Beth Clark's computer?
Somebody should copy a harcore pornography image onto Beth Clark's computer and move to have her fired from her job. Turnabout is fair play, as they say.
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Lord Binky, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:14am

It seems wrong from what's given.

It may be appropriate if the first thing they did was try to show everyone and/or disperse the image.

Something just seems suspicious about kids behaving well...
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FarSide (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:19am

The reaf WTF
... is why schools are spending money issuing iPads to classrooms.
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- Keroberos (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:06am
  
  Re: The reaf WTF
  Because some salesperson convinced some idiot on the school board that iPads are great learning tools. Apple--and other tech companies have been doing this for years. In the 80s my grade school bought a bunch of Apple IIes that were only ever used to play games (ooo Oregon Trail, so educational--or not), the rest of the time they sat and gathered dust--no one on the staff there had any idea how to use them--let alone how to teach anyone anything useful with them.
  
  Plus the idiotic belief that throwing these new tech devices at our kids will somehow magically fix the education system--which is funny because my grade school kids, who have minimal (less than an hour a week) time on computers or tech gadgets at home, consistently get high marks in school.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:26am
    
    Re: Re: The reaf WTF
    In the 80s my grade school bought a bunch of Apple IIes that were only ever used to play games (ooo Oregon Trail, so educational--or not), the rest of the time they sat and gathered dust--no one on the staff there had any idea how to use them--let alone how to teach anyone anything useful with them.
    
    That's too bad for you, because I learned how to program in Basic on an Apple IIe in 8th grade... in a programming class offered at my junior high. Sounds like your school didn't bother to hire the right teacher to use the technology. Don't blame the school for buying technology; blame the school for not implementing it properly.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Laroquod (profile), 21 Oct 2012 @ 6:19am
      
      Re: Re: Re: The reaf WTF
      Yes I too learned how to program on an Apple IIe in school. Unfortunately, however, nobody is going to learn to program on an iPad because they are locked down consumer-only machines that are totally enslaved to Apple's wishes and Apple doesn't wish anyone to program on an iPad -- end of learning!
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 11:02am
    
    Re: Re: The reaf WTF
    and this just goes here...
    http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMS04NWQ0ODAzYmNhNzZmMTIw
    
    NSFW
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
trish, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:19am

file this under "adults gone wild"
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- DH's Love Child (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:19am
  
  Re:
  More like "Adults Gone STUPID"
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
William Chambers, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:21am

Bit early
Mike, As much as I usually agree with you, I think you pulled the trigger a tad early.

There simply 'has' to be more to this story than just an 'accident'. I'm not defending the school quite, but I find it impossible to believe this is the entire story.
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- Robert (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:23am
  
  Re: Bit early
  Maybe a student took the photo with the teacher's iPhone and somehow changed the icon from "delete" to "deploy"?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:37am
    
    Re: Re: Bit early
    Happily I am blissfully unaware of how the iThingy systems work but it is being guessed that she plugged in her phone then an iPad and it synced it from there.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Keroberos (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:22am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Bit early
      Yeah, She synced a school iPad to her personal iTunes account which pulls all of your data over. So there's multiple levels of school district failure here: Why can a school issued device even sync to an iTunes account? Can't they lock syncing? If they can't, why is it being used in the schools by our children?
      
      Great, the kids can put their games/music/movies on it--how educational. Another fine example of a school board wasting money on something because it's "new and shiny" without having a clue how to use it in an educational setting.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:26am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Bit early
        They have rules to stop it in their book, and its a felony...
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Keroberos (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:40am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bit early
        Yes, because kids--and even many adults, are such great rule followers.
        
        The best rule in IT is, if you can't limit the device/software to conform to your requirements/policies, don't allow its use. It saves you from a lot of headaches.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:44am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bit early
        But you can't fix stupid. It is doubtful that the school allows the iPads off school property or their use unsupervised this would limit the ability of evil children messing them up. But when a teacher links school property to her personal account one has to question her abilities.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Keroberos (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:21am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bit early
        True, but you can limit the amount of stupidity that can be accomplished. Which goes back to my previous point. If you can't limit the stupidity in it's use, don't allow it's use.
        
        I, for one can't think of any legitimate use for an iPad in an educational setting that couldn't be accomplished some other less expensive way. It's a toy. We should be using our time and money actually teaching our kids something useful, not giving them shiny toys to play with and calling it education.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:33am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bit early
        Given their stated goals in their handbook the iPads are used to show them what they can have if they work hard in life. They have some sort of edutainment game on them they reward with, but its dangling a very expensive carrot to get the kids motivated.
        It sounds like this district has serious issues with kids not giving a damn, so show them the trapping of success and they will want them. They will get them and start their own debt treadmill and the corporation will have made new drones to move to the next corporation.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
      - Michael Becker (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:57am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Bit early
        We are actually finding a lot of problems with apple devices in the corporate environment, I imagine its even worse in schools.
        
        I'm currently trying to sort out why Apple's recommended course for action for buying software for employees to use is to buy a code to give to the employee to redeem in their PERSONAL iTunes acct. So if the employee leaves, the software does too.
        
        Straight up, Apple is moving farther and farther away from being functional in corporate/enterprise/educational environments, yet because they are trendy everyone wants them, and it is causing huge headaches for everyone.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
        
        Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 12:59pm
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Bit early
        Trendy schmendy, I've never liked 'em. Even when I was a kid, I thought it was silly for a computer to only have one mouse button.
        [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- orbitalinsertion (profile), 20 Oct 2012 @ 1:28pm
  
  Re: Bit early
  Yes, there is.
  
  1) This was on the teacher's iPad, not on all student iPads (if they even have them).
  
  2) The reason for the punishment was the students went looking around the iPad (and into the teacher's documents folders) instead of sticking to the two applications which they were authorized to use. Certainly, maybe only one student browsed the directories and the others were not interested in doing any such thing, and some are being punished for what only one had done. Then again, maybe not.
  
  3) The teacher may have been a bit irresponsible, but that image may have been automatically synced to the device without her knowledge (as such cloud crap is wont to do), and it wouldn't matter if the kids were doing only what they were supposed to be doing.
  
  4) But it likely never would have been an incident if the documents browsed did not contain a "racy" image.
  
  5)Although it also would likely not have become an incident if they saw it, closed it and shut up. Who the hell would have known what they had seen then?
  
  Everyone is a bad actor at some level here.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
William Chambers, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:21am

Bit early
Mike, As much as I usually agree with you, I think you pulled the trigger a tad early.

There simply 'has' to be more to this story than just an 'accident'. I'm not defending the school quite, but I find it impossible to believe this is the entire story.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:23am

Pics or it never happened.
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Gregg, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:27am

double standards
let's be realistic here. If it was a male teacher and female students found the picture, there would be a much different outcome. The teacher would be fired and the students praised.

think about it.
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 12:36pm
  
  Re: double standards
  I came here just to post this, I think if it were a collection of female students that had found it, the male teacher wouldn't have even been able to argue his case before being thrown into PITA prison.
  
  But now that it's a bunch of boys, clearly it's some naive innocent school teacher who is unfamiliar with technology being brutally taken advantage of by evil cisprivileged males who may or may not have been trying to blackmail her into being their sexual slaves because all men are like that.
  
  At least this is the story that several news/opinion sites and blogs would want you to believe because of their kneejerk reaction to the digested, watered-down fact of "The teacher can't operate her phone and distributed light pornography to students by accident".
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Trails (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:29am

Mike, you have omitted the most important detail!
...was she hot?
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- orbitalinsertion (profile), 20 Oct 2012 @ 1:33pm
  
  Re: Mike, you have omitted the most important detail!
  Mike, I'm missing a button for "sexist" or some category that would include that. Neither funny nor insightful, but doen't rise anywhere near the level for reporting.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:31am

some highlights...
anderson community school corporation

"To improve graduation rate from 57% to 87% in five years"
So they are doing a BANG up job.

The following acts are specifically prohibited:
1.Sending or displaying offensive messages or pictures, or accessing, uploading, downloading or distributing pornographic, obscene or sexually explicit material;
2.Using vulgar or obscene language;
3.Harassing, insulting, or attacking others;
4.Damaging any computers or equipment, computer systems or computer networks;
5.Using the school computer networks to violate the law;
6.Using another�s password without express permission;
7.Trespassing in another�s folders, work or files;
8.Intentionally wasting limited resources; or
9.Employing the network for commercial purposes.
Violations may result in loss of access as well as other disciplinary or legal action.

20. Knowingly using profane or obscene language, making obscene gestures, using racial or ethnic slurs, or making threats directed at a school corporation employee either on or off school grounds.

30. Accessing computer systems which the student has not been authorized to use. Unauthorized entry into a computer system constitutes a class D felony.

Students may not use personal electronic signaling devices at school to take pictures, film or video of students or school staff (including teachers, administrators or staff) without the prior written consent of the student or staff person.

Corporal Punishment, you can be punished for what you did on summer vacation, drug testing, uniforms, spelled out punishments for fireworks in the halls and arson, and the right to opt out of supplemental instruction if you have objections to the material.

Yeah this isn't a place built on overreaching control.
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- Lord Binky, 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:03am
  
  Re: some highlights...
  I always like the phrase ethnic slur because it is ambigous. I understand they mean pejoratives, but slur is also musical term, and slur could always mean mumble/indistinct speech.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - DH's Love Child (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:22am
    
    Re: Re: some highlights...
    I believe most spirituals are full of ethic slurs....
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - lord binky, 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:35am
      
      Re: Re: Re: some highlights...
      If you are an ethnic that happens to slur, is your speech an ethnic slur? Or does it have to be an ethnic language that is slurred?
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Chris Brand (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:04am
  
  Re: some highlights...
  So do those rules apply to the teachers, too, or just the students ?
  
  I also wonder how they define "pornographic, obscene or sexually explicit material", because from the story it sounds like this image was something that could be seen in a Victoria's Secret ad...
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:36am
    
    Re: Re: some highlights...
    of course not. The rules are all about keeping the kids in line.
    
    they knew it was obscene when they saw it.
    
    Moreso I think they were hoping to fear the kids into shutting up about the incident and well that worked out really well for them.
    
    They played within their rules, but the downside is the public really dislikes stupid enforcement of the rules.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- orbitalinsertion (profile), 20 Oct 2012 @ 1:35pm
  
  Re: some highlights...
  7.Trespassing in another�s folders, work or files;
  
  And that would cover the reason for suspension.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:41am

The Emporer's New Clothes
Once upon a time, there was an Emperor who got taken in by some conmen posing as tailors. Cutting straight to the chase: The Emperor strutted out naked as jaybird leading a grand glorious parade, on national TV.

One child on the sidewalk, pointed at the Emperor, laughed, and said, �Look, mommy! The Emperor is naked as a jaybird!�

The Emperor's secret police heard that. Everyone heard that. It was on national TV. The Emperor's secret police immediately arrested the child... and the child's mother. And father. And siblings. They were all sentenced to ten years in the re-education camps.

The End.
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Robert (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:48am

Stupid Part
They see more on prime time television (bra commercials) and billboards throughout the town or the Sears catalog all the time.

Stupid part of following policy blindly is that it shows just how stupid you are. If you can't understand objectivity and how to apply policies (hint: not blindly), then you should not be a principal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:38am
  
  Re: Stupid Part
  the flipside is if they deviate 1 little bit someone else will make an issue of when the rule applied to them.
  This is the problem with creating a zero tolerance game.
  It protects you from being hassled over uneven enforcement, but removes the chance to avoid looking really stupid.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Fanic, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:49am

Par for the course
At first I thought I misread the title. But honestly this is just par for the course when it comes to stupidity in our government system/public schools/people/this world/...
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 8:56am

I'm posting her e-mail address as soon as this makes it on to reddit.
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Bob V (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:10am

You always hear people bemoan the loss of opportunity for a teachable moment but in reality this was a School of hard knocks teachable moment. Those kids have been taught that abuse of authority is okay. The rules can be twisted to do and mean anything. And most importantly life isn't fair and you gotta get yours before someone else beats you down.
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- DH's Love Child (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:27am
  
  Re:
  It also teaches the kids to not trust the school administration, so imagine if something really nefarious happens in the future.
  
  I can just see some student getting assaulted and the school blaming the victim.
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  - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:31am
    
    Re: Re:
    Actually the handbook has punishments for them if they are to close to a fight happening. They are to immediately scatter and fetch and adult.
    
    They have around 20 pages of overreaching rules and punishments listed, but if they discover lice they don't have to alert the parents. It is a parents job to check their kid daily.
    
    It pretty much has a bootcampish feel to all of the rules and responsibilities placed on the students.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:32am
    
    Re: Re:
    This already happens.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 1:05pm
    
    Re: Re:
    They do. If someone gets beaten up, both people get suspended for fighting.
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    - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 20 Oct 2012 @ 1:36am
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      As well as anyone who happens to be guilty of nothing other than being to close to the fight.
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Milton Freewater, 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:30am

I think I get it
""It's not our fault that she had the photo on there," Troutt said. "We couldn't do anything not to look at it, if it just popped up when he pressed the button. It was her fault that she had the photo on there. Her iPhone synched to it. She had to have pressed something to make all of her photos synch on there."

I think the reason for the suspension is stated in the kid's quote above. They saw that the teacher had accidentally synced a personal device to the iPad so they "pressed the button," i.e. snooped.

Notice the kid is blaming the teacher for syncing her phone to the iPad. He seems to think that once she did that he had the right to go through her stuff.
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- That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:41am
  
  Re: I think I get it
  YAY BLAME THE VICTIM!
  
  The iPad is school property. Her phone is not.
  Her phone should not have been connected to the school computer and the iPad should NOT have been connected to her account.
  
  They were playing a game and then the picture happened.
  Would anyone with a couple of iThingys please explain what happens when they sync? Is there a notification popup or something?
  
  Her stuff did not belong on school property, but sure blame the kids.
  
  Idiot.
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  - Keroberos (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:05am
    
    Re: Re: I think I get it
    Yes, when you connect an iDevice to your personal iTunes account it asks if you want to sync, but how many people really understand what that means? How many people actually read the notification popups--or do they just click OK? And since I don't use iCloud, I don't know if it asks to sync, or if it just does it. Seeing as it's Apple, it probably just does it--user friendliness and all that.
    
    My question is, why does a school have a device for use by the students that allows you to put whatever the hell you want on it? If you can't lock that ability out, they have no business using them in an educational setting. If they can be locked they need to get some IT people that know what the hell they are doing. In any case the school was extremely negligent in using these devices in an educational setting.
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    - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:29am
      
      Re: Re: Re: I think I get it
      The school is run as a corporation. The people who understood the tech and Apples lockdown controls were replaced with a contract with Geeksquad I am sure.
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      - Keroberos (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:37am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: I think I get it
        No, primary school IT has always been low paying/lowest bidder. Schools just weren't heavy tech users until now--so no need. So they don't understand that quality IT for the level they're at now costs money--Hell, some Fortune 500 companies don't get that.
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- Keroberos (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:44am
  
  Re: I think I get it
  Well, if I was a student and had a school issued iPad, I would assume that any photos/documents were for educational purposes.
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:53am
  
  Re: I think I get it
  It was not just her stuff once she shared it.
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- Leigh Beadon (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:57am
  
  Re: I think I get it
  I don't think that's what that kid was saying. Troutt means that the teacher must have pressed a syncing button that copied the photo into everyone's local device -- then they would have seen it the moment they opened the photo gallery.
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 12:45pm
  
  Re: I think I get it
  Totally the kid's fault for going through his own iPad issued by the school, right? He should have developed the psychic ability to see that the devices had synced ahead of time before trying to use a device that he thought was his to operate.
  
  I'm sure that sweet, innocent teacher who is taking topless photos of herself is completely blameless for not understanding how her phone works and letting it sync to someone else's device. Clearly these evil students were trying to go through her stuff like the untrustworthy rapscallions they are.
  
  It's like how I sync my phone to the display ipads at the apple store, wait behind the counter for someone to look at it the wrong way, and then I jump out and beat them with a crowbar. If they didn't want to get beaten with a crowbar, they shouldn't have been 'going through my stuff'.
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 12:47pm
  
  Re: I think I get it
  Totally the kid's fault for going through his own iPad issued by the school, right? He should have developed the psychic ability to see that the devices had synced ahead of time before trying to use a device that he thought was his to operate.
  
  I'm sure that sweet, innocent teacher who is taking topless photos of herself is completely blameless for not understanding how her phone works and letting it sync to someone else's device. Clearly these evil students were trying to go through her stuff like the untrustworthy rapscallions they are.
  
  It's like how I sync my phone to the display ipads at the apple store, wait behind the counter for someone to look at it the wrong way, and then I jump out and beat them with a crowbar. If they didn't want to get beaten with a crowbar, they shouldn't have been 'going through my stuff'.
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 12:48pm
  
  Re: I think I get it
  Totally the kid's fault for going through his own iPad issued by the school, right? He should have developed the psychic ability to see that the devices had synced ahead of time before trying to use a device that he thought was his to operate.
  
  I'm sure that sweet, innocent teacher who is taking topless photos of herself is completely blameless for not understanding how her phone works and letting it sync to someone else's device. Clearly these evil students were trying to go through her stuff like the untrustworthy rapscallions they are.
  
  It's like how I sync my phone to the display ipads at the apple store, wait behind the counter for someone to look at it the wrong way, and then I jump out and beat them with a crowbar. If they didn't want to get beaten with a crowbar, they shouldn't have been 'going through my stuff'.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 12:48pm
    
    Re: Re: I think I get it
    Three replies in a row? Thanks Techdirt Servers. Thanks a whole lot.
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    - The Groove Tiger (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 4:34pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: I think I get it
      Mike, you should consider generating a random hidden UID number to the posting forms and storing it with the comment so that the same form can't submit twice or more.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 7:00pm
      
      Re: Re: Re: I think I get it
      Your fault spud, show a little patience next time.
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      - The Groove Tiger (profile), 20 Oct 2012 @ 11:20am
        
        Re: Re: Re: Re: I think I get it
        I wonder what patience has to do with the browser automatically retrying a page via POST and thus re-posting the same thing over and over on an unstable connection.
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Michael, 19 Oct 2012 @ 9:53am

She is a teacher?
First, I wasn't aware that people were still dumb enough to be taking naked pictures of themselves with a device designed specifically to distribute said picture.

More importantly, here is a woman dumb enough to take a picture of herself in some state of nakedness (enough for it to be some kind of a problem) and was inept enough to in some way allow this picture to end up in the hands of multiple children. Why was she teaching our youth to begin with?

One of the first questions on a job application for a teacher should be: "Are you an idiot?"
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:05am
  
  Re: She is a teacher?
  I thought that being an "idiot" was seen as a bonus for teachers. Since the goal of the education system is to pump out people that are smart enough to be able to work and buy crap. But not smart enough to figure out how badly screwed they are by the ruling class. =P
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  - That Anonymous Coward (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:40am
    
    Re: Re: She is a teacher?
    in her defense Congress already had its quota of vaginas in it... so teaching was the next opening.
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- Keroberos (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:29am
  
  Re: She is a teacher?
  Teachers have at least the same ratio of technological idiots as the rest of the general population--and it could be higher, day to day use of computers happened relatively late in the educational system than in other job sectors, so they could have had less exposure.
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streetlight (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:19am

The reason many school administrators...
are administrators is they were too stupid to teach and managed to get out of the classroom. After a few years of teaching, most teachers want desperately to get out of the classroom into administration where the real money is. The average teacher lasts less than 5 years in the profession. They get out either to school administration or real estate sales. It's really amazing the dumb things both teachers and school administrators do. Prime example here.
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Deimal (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:28am

So check this out
Anderson, IN is about 20 minutes from where I live, and in a little town between mine and Anderson, is an AppleCare technical support center (not owned by Apple, 3rd party supporting Apple products). They are one of the largest employers in the county, so basically everyone in the area knows it exists. Maybe the school there should utilize that expertise and find out what the hell they are talking about before they go off an destroy students' lives. FFS this is stupidity on a level I find incredibly appalling.
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vilain (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 10:28am

Beth Clarke is a lawsuit waiting to happen
especially when they find screen grabs from MAGIC MIKE on her phone and laptop.
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Anonymous Numbskull (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 12:04pm

Hmm. I found something interesting in one of my classes today. In the area I live, there's apparently some 'legal aid centers' that provide legal help in civil cases for free. Wonder if they have any in Anderson, Indiana. It'd certainly make it easier to sue if you don't have the threat of 'win or you get to pay a bunch of money you don't have' hanging above your head.
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Tom Teshima, 19 Oct 2012 @ 2:29pm

Update from the district said the students were only supposed to be working in 2 other apps, and they accessed the photos without permission. So they are being suspended for opening an app on a school ipad without permission!

As to why the teacher synced to her personal account, my district just issued some ipads, but won't pay for any apps. So to buy any apps, you have to be synced to a personal account (for the Credit Card). I'm sure this is what happened to this unfortunate teacher. But these kids are being railroaded, for sure. Lawsuit time. But then again it's Indiana!
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- Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 2:56pm
  
  Re:
  You are right on. Many teachers lay out their personal funds in order to get stuff that improves the educational experience for both students and teachers. I see that in the States and even wealthy Switzerland. Alternately, she may have wanted to upload images or text to the iPad that she had found at the web while at home. A rule not to link the machines would damage productivity.
  
  In any case I can't see what's the problem with some nude pictures with no bad intent. It's no different than any other embarrassing little thing, you should just laugh about it afterwards. Big deal.
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  - Amber, 22 Oct 2012 @ 7:34am
    
    Re: Re:
    Except that they were suspended! Yeah, let's all laugh while our school record is being trashed and we get penalized on our grades because of missing so much class. Real funny, Anonymous Retard!
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- abc gum, 19 Oct 2012 @ 6:39pm
  
  Re:
  "hey are being suspended for opening an app on a school ipad without permission"
  
  What? - you have been reading ahead in the textbook without permission? ... You completed the homework exercises in advance??? - Well, that is a tazing you little upstart.
  
  This is a candidate for the lame excuse of the year award.
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- Anonymous Coward, 20 Oct 2012 @ 3:38am
  
  Re:
  Who gave the district the totalitarian regimes handbook, that states that citizens should only do exactly what they are told to do.
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streetlight (profile), 19 Oct 2012 @ 3:56pm

So, if a student put something on their iPad..
would that something sync to the teacher's iPad as well as all the other iPads in the class or even the school/school system? This could get interesting.
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Oct 2012 @ 4:06pm

Giving them time off from school? That's a PUNISHMENT????
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Chilly8, 20 Oct 2012 @ 4:41am

I don't see how they could accuse the students of accessing iPhotos "without permission"

Since the district obviously did not lock the ipads down to privent access to iPhotos, there was nothing on the screen saying that accessing the iPhotos app was forbidden. Since the app was not protected by passwords or some kind of authentication system, they cannot be accused of accessing the app without permission.

I smell a lawsuit brewing here, and I hope the parents sue the school out of existence.
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Anonymous Coward, 22 Oct 2012 @ 8:00am

iPad not from ACSC
I should add that the iPad involved in the incident probably belonged to the teacher. I am told by a former teacher there that the Anderson Community School Corporation does not issue iPads: It is a total Microsoft shop. Given how decrepit the school corporation is (Anderson was a General Motors town totally abandoned by GM), it could not afford iPads anyway.
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