Article in NYT today re: students, tik tok and targeting teachers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have to say, when I read this article I was glad to have sent my kids to private school, where this sort of behavior would result in expulsion.

As to the lawyering up, for some of those posts - like the ones where the kids accuse teachers of pedophilia - there are definite damages, and a reasonable charge of libel. Parents should worry that if their kids do this sort of thing and their children's names get out, that that may affect college admissions chances.

I suspect those kids don’t care about college admissions. Or at least admissions to schools where it may count.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

I'm a Plaintiff's lawyer. A decent Plaintiff's lawyer can easily cause the other side to have to spend a quarter of a mil in defense costs.

Also a lawyer and I'd be a little cautious here. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is an extremely weak claim and rarely succeeds on its own so it's really mostly a libel or defamation charge. Under the right circumstances it could work but in most of these cases it would be tossed on summary judgment because you would have no evidence of harm and the defendant could argue that it was clearly parody or that too few people saw it. Again with the right facts you could press a lawsuit that really cost them but in the vast majority of cases there would not be any evidence of most of the elements of these claims.

So if I’m reading this correctly, most teachers who are victims of this can have their reputations destroyed, but little to nothing will happen to the student?

Who the heck is signing up to teach nowadays? This is disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

I'm a Plaintiff's lawyer. A decent Plaintiff's lawyer can easily cause the other side to have to spend a quarter of a mil in defense costs.

Also a lawyer and I'd be a little cautious here. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is an extremely weak claim and rarely succeeds on its own so it's really mostly a libel or defamation charge. Under the right circumstances it could work but in most of these cases it would be tossed on summary judgment because you would have no evidence of harm and the defendant could argue that it was clearly parody or that too few people saw it. Again with the right facts you could press a lawsuit that really cost them but in the vast majority of cases there would not be any evidence of most of the elements of these claims.

Ok, but even if some of the charges are tossed out, wouldn’t it cost the family enough $ in legal fees to be a preventive measure/warning to others??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

I'm a Plaintiff's lawyer. A decent Plaintiff's lawyer can easily cause the other side to have to spend a quarter of a mil in defense costs.

Also a lawyer and I'd be a little cautious here. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is an extremely weak claim and rarely succeeds on its own so it's really mostly a libel or defamation charge. Under the right circumstances it could work but in most of these cases it would be tossed on summary judgment because you would have no evidence of harm and the defendant could argue that it was clearly parody or that too few people saw it. Again with the right facts you could press a lawsuit that really cost them but in the vast majority of cases there would not be any evidence of most of the elements of these claims.

If your therapist testifies that the actions caused you harm, there won't be summary judgement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

I'm a Plaintiff's lawyer. A decent Plaintiff's lawyer can easily cause the other side to have to spend a quarter of a mil in defense costs.

Also a lawyer and I'd be a little cautious here. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is an extremely weak claim and rarely succeeds on its own so it's really mostly a libel or defamation charge. Under the right circumstances it could work but in most of these cases it would be tossed on summary judgment because you would have no evidence of harm and the defendant could argue that it was clearly parody or that too few people saw it. Again with the right facts you could press a lawsuit that really cost them but in the vast majority of cases there would not be any evidence of most of the elements of these claims.

Even getting a case dismissed at summary judgment is going to cost $100,000 to $250,000. Unless Michael Bloomberg is the dad, the child will come to regret it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could see this being a thing that teens/tweens just think is absolutely hilarious, but it also sounds like they went entirely too far with it. You can parody your teacher’s manner of speaking or their assignments. You can’t call them pedophiles. I hope the teachers unions come down hard on this and advocate for hard rules on no phones in the classroom. It will protect themselves and the kids too. Such a no brainer but everyone wants to make it sound like the most difficult thing ever.

No, you CAN’T parody your teacher. That’s also not okay. I see how that’s not as serious as the TikTok issue, but it’s a slippery slope.

Teachers shouldn’t have to deal with any of this. Dangit. The job is already ridiculously hard without this. And stop expecting teachers to police phones. YOU are the parent. YOU police your child and YOU come down hard on them when they use the phone inappropriately. We can’t expect teachers to fix all of society on 60K and no sleep.

Of course you can parody a teacher. That's protected speech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

I'm a Plaintiff's lawyer. A decent Plaintiff's lawyer can easily cause the other side to have to spend a quarter of a mil in defense costs.

Also a lawyer and I'd be a little cautious here. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is an extremely weak claim and rarely succeeds on its own so it's really mostly a libel or defamation charge. Under the right circumstances it could work but in most of these cases it would be tossed on summary judgment because you would have no evidence of harm and the defendant could argue that it was clearly parody or that too few people saw it. Again with the right facts you could press a lawsuit that really cost them but in the vast majority of cases there would not be any evidence of most of the elements of these claims.

Even getting a case dismissed at summary judgment is going to cost $100,000 to $250,000. Unless Michael Bloomberg is the dad, the child will come to regret it.

Your estimate is wildly off.

But suppose it is true. Where is the teacher going to get $100k is bring a losing case forward?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have to say, when I read this article I was glad to have sent my kids to private school, where this sort of behavior would result in expulsion.

As to the lawyering up, for some of those posts - like the ones where the kids accuse teachers of pedophilia - there are definite damages, and a reasonable charge of libel. Parents should worry that if their kids do this sort of thing and their children's names get out, that that may affect college admissions chances.

There *could* be damages if anyone takes the videos seriously, but there usually isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This article discussed students who made fake tik tok accounts as if they were teachers, sometimes even indicating the teachers were pedophiles (when they were truly not). I have a friend teaching 4th grade who is posting terrible things about her on tik tok. It's time for teachers to start suing parents for their children's terrible, sometimes criminal, behavior. It's time for teacher unions to band together and say "no more". THIS kind of stuff is worth striking over. This kind of stuff is worth lobbying for law changes. Parents with kids who do this kind of stuff should be held accountable.

What law changes? What you're describing is already libel or slander.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

I'm a Plaintiff's lawyer. A decent Plaintiff's lawyer can easily cause the other side to have to spend a quarter of a mil in defense costs.

Also a lawyer and I'd be a little cautious here. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is an extremely weak claim and rarely succeeds on its own so it's really mostly a libel or defamation charge. Under the right circumstances it could work but in most of these cases it would be tossed on summary judgment because you would have no evidence of harm and the defendant could argue that it was clearly parody or that too few people saw it. Again with the right facts you could press a lawsuit that really cost them but in the vast majority of cases there would not be any evidence of most of the elements of these claims.

So a teacher could create student personas on TikTok, have them say all sorts of horrid and objectionable things, and there would be no legal penalty as well?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

I'm a Plaintiff's lawyer. A decent Plaintiff's lawyer can easily cause the other side to have to spend a quarter of a mil in defense costs.

Also a lawyer and I'd be a little cautious here. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is an extremely weak claim and rarely succeeds on its own so it's really mostly a libel or defamation charge. Under the right circumstances it could work but in most of these cases it would be tossed on summary judgment because you would have no evidence of harm and the defendant could argue that it was clearly parody or that too few people saw it. Again with the right facts you could press a lawsuit that really cost them but in the vast majority of cases there would not be any evidence of most of the elements of these claims.

So a teacher could create student personas on TikTok, have them say all sorts of horrid and objectionable things, and there would be no legal penalty as well?

You wouldn’t have to parody. Just repost the parents’ court records or screenshot their tweets. 9 times out of 10 it’s obvious where the kids get it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could see this being a thing that teens/tweens just think is absolutely hilarious, but it also sounds like they went entirely too far with it. You can parody your teacher’s manner of speaking or their assignments. You can’t call them pedophiles. I hope the teachers unions come down hard on this and advocate for hard rules on no phones in the classroom. It will protect themselves and the kids too. Such a no brainer but everyone wants to make it sound like the most difficult thing ever.

No, you CAN’T parody your teacher. That’s also not okay. I see how that’s not as serious as the TikTok issue, but it’s a slippery slope.

Teachers shouldn’t have to deal with any of this. Dangit. The job is already ridiculously hard without this. And stop expecting teachers to police phones. YOU are the parent. YOU police your child and YOU come down hard on them when they use the phone inappropriately. We can’t expect teachers to fix all of society on 60K and no sleep.

Of course you can parody a teacher. That's protected speech.

May be legal, but still not okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

I'm a Plaintiff's lawyer. A decent Plaintiff's lawyer can easily cause the other side to have to spend a quarter of a mil in defense costs.

Also a lawyer and I'd be a little cautious here. Intentional infliction of emotional distress is an extremely weak claim and rarely succeeds on its own so it's really mostly a libel or defamation charge. Under the right circumstances it could work but in most of these cases it would be tossed on summary judgment because you would have no evidence of harm and the defendant could argue that it was clearly parody or that too few people saw it. Again with the right facts you could press a lawsuit that really cost them but in the vast majority of cases there would not be any evidence of most of the elements of these claims.

Even getting a case dismissed at summary judgment is going to cost $100,000 to $250,000. Unless Michael Bloomberg is the dad, the child will come to regret it.

Your estimate is wildly off.

But suppose it is true. Where is the teacher going to get $100k is bring a losing case forward?

If I were a law firm in that area (suburb of Philly), I would take the teachers' case pro bono. That school district is now going to be known as a complete s___hole to anyone considering moving in or teaching there. Not good for property values. Other parents should be very worried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I could see this being a thing that teens/tweens just think is absolutely hilarious, but it also sounds like they went entirely too far with it. You can parody your teacher’s manner of speaking or their assignments. You can’t call them pedophiles. I hope the teachers unions come down hard on this and advocate for hard rules on no phones in the classroom. It will protect themselves and the kids too. Such a no brainer but everyone wants to make it sound like the most difficult thing ever.

No, you CAN’T parody your teacher. That’s also not okay. I see how that’s not as serious as the TikTok issue, but it’s a slippery slope.

Teachers shouldn’t have to deal with any of this. Dangit. The job is already ridiculously hard without this. And stop expecting teachers to police phones. YOU are the parent. YOU police your child and YOU come down hard on them when they use the phone inappropriately. We can’t expect teachers to fix all of society on 60K and no sleep.

Of course you can parody a teacher. That's protected speech.

May be legal, but still not okay.

Parodying a teacher is absolutely fine. They're public figures from the perspective of the students. It's no different than you parodying a politician.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read it. Have lawyers in my family so free representation. If I were one of those teachers, I would sue the kid(s) (and therefore their parents) for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and maybe also libel, and would not settle.
Hopefully their legal costs would make at least some the families lose their home, or better, everything down to the last shirt on their back. It would be hilarious! Then I'd create a Tiktok account and post a video about the whole thing.

Clearly you have lawyers "in your family" and are not one yourself, lol. Good luck with that claim.