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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And now we know why teachers are fleeing.

No. It isn’t absolutely fine. Not at all. I don’t care if it’s legal. If I found out my child was mocking a teacher, I wouldn’t need the court system to penalize them. I’d be doing it myself. Harshly.

Ever watch late night TV? They're parodying public figures in their monologues/acts all the time.

.


Teachers are not public figures.

Head of the local school board, maybe. Some random fourth grade teacher? No.

They are clearly public figures to kids in the community. Don't be ridiculous.

DP. This is a remarkably dim argument. I suppose you also believe that since every toddler considers their mom a major star, all moms are celebrities and therefore subject to the laws that impact celebrities. I know you don’t have a lot of brain cells to rub together but try to use the few you have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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??

Not if the court dismisses the claim and awards the defendant attorney's fees ... then it will cost the one who filed the stupid lawsuit in the first place.

Do you know how infrequently courts award attorney fees to defendants? If you have even a colorable claim, that's not a realistic risk.

Because lawyer's can be sanctioned for bringing a frivolous case.

You must not have read the article. The fact that these little sociopaths got away with what they did and that the teachers wanting redress is called "frivolous" shows a lot of lawyers are idiots who think they're playing chess when they can't even play checkers. Safe to assume that these little darlings will soon be targeting classmates, neighbors and later their coworkers with much more realistic AI deepfakes because hey--no consequences!

If those profiles seemed *at all* plausible, rather than being obvious parodies, then you obviously already have reason to question their suitability to be around kids.

I had this happen to a coworker. Students made dating profiles for her, posting that she had obscene fetishes, etc. She was traumatized when she found out what was all over the internet about her. (I was embarrassed for her. It was invasive, embarrassing, and uncomfortable.) And no, it didn’t look like a parody at all.

But there are posters on this thread who are okay with this, like PP. I guess my coworker just shouldn’t be around kids, huh? I mean, she should accept being publicly humiliated. It’s just a part of the job, I guess. Those silly kids.

That’s awful.

I actually think she should have hired counsel.

[Anonymous]

If student parodies a teacher on TikTok, is the student then a public figure?

Can the student then be parodied on TikTok?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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??

Not if the court dismisses the claim and awards the defendant attorney's fees ... then it will cost the one who filed the stupid lawsuit in the first place.

Do you know how infrequently courts award attorney fees to defendants? If you have even a colorable claim, that's not a realistic risk.

Because lawyer's can be sanctioned for bringing a frivolous case.

You must not have read the article. The fact that these little sociopaths got away with what they did and that the teachers wanting redress is called "frivolous" shows a lot of lawyers are idiots who think they're playing chess when they can't even play checkers. Safe to assume that these little darlings will soon be targeting classmates, neighbors and later their coworkers with much more realistic AI deepfakes because hey--no consequences!

If those profiles seemed *at all* plausible, rather than being obvious parodies, then you obviously already have reason to question their suitability to be around kids.

I had this happen to a coworker. Students made dating profiles for her, posting that she had obscene fetishes, etc. She was traumatized when she found out what was all over the internet about her. (I was embarrassed for her. It was invasive, embarrassing, and uncomfortable.) And no, it didn’t look like a parody at all.

But there are posters on this thread who are okay with this, like PP. I guess my coworker just shouldn’t be around kids, huh? I mean, she should accept being publicly humiliated. It’s just a part of the job, I guess. Those silly kids.

That’s awful.

I actually think she should have hired counsel.

There weren't monetary damages.

And no, "emotional distress" wouldn't even cover her attorney's fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If student parodies a teacher on TikTok, is the student then a public figure?

Can the student then be parodied on TikTok?

If the student seeks public attention through that act, then yes, they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And now we know why teachers are fleeing.

No. It isn’t absolutely fine. Not at all. I don’t care if it’s legal. If I found out my child was mocking a teacher, I wouldn’t need the court system to penalize them. I’d be doing it myself. Harshly.

Ever watch late night TV? They're parodying public figures in their monologues/acts all the time.

.


Teachers are not public figures.

Head of the local school board, maybe. Some random fourth grade teacher? No.

They are clearly public figures to kids in the community. Don't be ridiculous.

DP. This is a remarkably dim argument. I suppose you also believe that since every toddler considers their mom a major star, all moms are celebrities and therefore subject to the laws that impact celebrities. I know you don’t have a lot of brain cells to rub together but try to use the few you have.

Teachers took jobs that inherently put themselves in the public eye.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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??

Not if the court dismisses the claim and awards the defendant attorney's fees ... then it will cost the one who filed the stupid lawsuit in the first place.

Do you know how infrequently courts award attorney fees to defendants? If you have even a colorable claim, that's not a realistic risk.

Because lawyer's can be sanctioned for bringing a frivolous case.

You must not have read the article. The fact that these little sociopaths got away with what they did and that the teachers wanting redress is called "frivolous" shows a lot of lawyers are idiots who think they're playing chess when they can't even play checkers. Safe to assume that these little darlings will soon be targeting classmates, neighbors and later their coworkers with much more realistic AI deepfakes because hey--no consequences!

If those profiles seemed *at all* plausible, rather than being obvious parodies, then you obviously already have reason to question their suitability to be around kids.

I had this happen to a coworker. Students made dating profiles for her, posting that she had obscene fetishes, etc. She was traumatized when she found out what was all over the internet about her. (I was embarrassed for her. It was invasive, embarrassing, and uncomfortable.) And no, it didn’t look like a parody at all.

But there are posters on this thread who are okay with this, like PP. I guess my coworker just shouldn’t be around kids, huh? I mean, she should accept being publicly humiliated. It’s just a part of the job, I guess. Those silly kids.

That’s awful.

I actually think she should have hired counsel.

There weren't monetary damages.

And no, "emotional distress" wouldn't even cover her attorney's fees.

And remember: teachers should just shut up and deal. Being humiliated and dealing with permanently damaging personal consequences are just part of the job.

At least, that’s what several posters here think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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??

Not if the court dismisses the claim and awards the defendant attorney's fees ... then it will cost the one who filed the stupid lawsuit in the first place.

Do you know how infrequently courts award attorney fees to defendants? If you have even a colorable claim, that's not a realistic risk.

Because lawyer's can be sanctioned for bringing a frivolous case.

You must not have read the article. The fact that these little sociopaths got away with what they did and that the teachers wanting redress is called "frivolous" shows a lot of lawyers are idiots who think they're playing chess when they can't even play checkers. Safe to assume that these little darlings will soon be targeting classmates, neighbors and later their coworkers with much more realistic AI deepfakes because hey--no consequences!

If those profiles seemed *at all* plausible, rather than being obvious parodies, then you obviously already have reason to question their suitability to be around kids.

I had this happen to a coworker. Students made dating profiles for her, posting that she had obscene fetishes, etc. She was traumatized when she found out what was all over the internet about her. (I was embarrassed for her. It was invasive, embarrassing, and uncomfortable.) And no, it didn’t look like a parody at all.

But there are posters on this thread who are okay with this, like PP. I guess my coworker just shouldn’t be around kids, huh? I mean, she should accept being publicly humiliated. It’s just a part of the job, I guess. Those silly kids.

That’s awful.

I actually think she should have hired counsel.

There weren't monetary damages.

And no, "emotional distress" wouldn't even cover her attorney's fees.

Meh, I wouldn’t be so confident. You do not know all the facts here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And now we know why teachers are fleeing.

No. It isn’t absolutely fine. Not at all. I don’t care if it’s legal. If I found out my child was mocking a teacher, I wouldn’t need the court system to penalize them. I’d be doing it myself. Harshly.

Ever watch late night TV? They're parodying public figures in their monologues/acts all the time.

.


Teachers are not public figures.

Head of the local school board, maybe. Some random fourth grade teacher? No.

They are clearly public figures to kids in the community. Don't be ridiculous.

DP. This is a remarkably dim argument. I suppose you also believe that since every toddler considers their mom a major star, all moms are celebrities and therefore subject to the laws that impact celebrities. I know you don’t have a lot of brain cells to rub together but try to use the few you have.

Teachers took jobs that inherently put themselves in the public eye.

Lol no. Your two brains cells are struggling here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And now we know why teachers are fleeing.

No. It isn’t absolutely fine. Not at all. I don’t care if it’s legal. If I found out my child was mocking a teacher, I wouldn’t need the court system to penalize them. I’d be doing it myself. Harshly.

Ever watch late night TV? They're parodying public figures in their monologues/acts all the time.

.


Teachers are not public figures.

Head of the local school board, maybe. Some random fourth grade teacher? No.

They are clearly public figures to kids in the community. Don't be ridiculous.

DP. This is a remarkably dim argument. I suppose you also believe that since every toddler considers their mom a major star, all moms are celebrities and therefore subject to the laws that impact celebrities. I know you don’t have a lot of brain cells to rub together but try to use the few you have.

Teachers took jobs that inherently put themselves in the public eye.

I didn’t think I’d have students posting predatory profiles in my name. Or posting AI-generated images of my face in pornographic situations.

I was a bit busy worrying about curriculum and classroom management.

I openly tell my students not to go into education now, as do most teachers I know. I don’t know who is going to be brave enough to teach in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And now we know why teachers are fleeing.

No. It isn’t absolutely fine. Not at all. I don’t care if it’s legal. If I found out my child was mocking a teacher, I wouldn’t need the court system to penalize them. I’d be doing it myself. Harshly.

Ever watch late night TV? They're parodying public figures in their monologues/acts all the time.

.


Teachers are not public figures.

Head of the local school board, maybe. Some random fourth grade teacher? No.

They are clearly public figures to kids in the community. Don't be ridiculous.

DP. This is a remarkably dim argument. I suppose you also believe that since every toddler considers their mom a major star, all moms are celebrities and therefore subject to the laws that impact celebrities. I know you don’t have a lot of brain cells to rub together but try to use the few you have.

Teachers took jobs that inherently put themselves in the public eye.

Lol no. Your two brains cells are struggling here.

How were they compelled to become teachers?

Several state courts have already ruled they're public figures. Some others have ruled they're public officials.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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??

Not if the court dismisses the claim and awards the defendant attorney's fees ... then it will cost the one who filed the stupid lawsuit in the first place.

Do you know how infrequently courts award attorney fees to defendants? If you have even a colorable claim, that's not a realistic risk.

Because lawyer's can be sanctioned for bringing a frivolous case.

You must not have read the article. The fact that these little sociopaths got away with what they did and that the teachers wanting redress is called "frivolous" shows a lot of lawyers are idiots who think they're playing chess when they can't even play checkers. Safe to assume that these little darlings will soon be targeting classmates, neighbors and later their coworkers with much more realistic AI deepfakes because hey--no consequences!

If those profiles seemed *at all* plausible, rather than being obvious parodies, then you obviously already have reason to question their suitability to be around kids.

I had this happen to a coworker. Students made dating profiles for her, posting that she had obscene fetishes, etc. She was traumatized when she found out what was all over the internet about her. (I was embarrassed for her. It was invasive, embarrassing, and uncomfortable.) And no, it didn’t look like a parody at all.

But there are posters on this thread who are okay with this, like PP. I guess my coworker just shouldn’t be around kids, huh? I mean, she should accept being publicly humiliated. It’s just a part of the job, I guess. Those silly kids.

That’s awful.

I actually think she should have hired counsel.

There weren't monetary damages.

And no, "emotional distress" wouldn't even cover her attorney's fees.

And remember: teachers should just shut up and deal. Being humiliated and dealing with permanently damaging personal consequences are just part of the job.

At least, that’s what several posters here think.

There's been no supported claims of "permanently damaging personal consequences."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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??

Not if the court dismisses the claim and awards the defendant attorney's fees ... then it will cost the one who filed the stupid lawsuit in the first place.

Do you know how infrequently courts award attorney fees to defendants? If you have even a colorable claim, that's not a realistic risk.

Because lawyer's can be sanctioned for bringing a frivolous case.

You must not have read the article. The fact that these little sociopaths got away with what they did and that the teachers wanting redress is called "frivolous" shows a lot of lawyers are idiots who think they're playing chess when they can't even play checkers. Safe to assume that these little darlings will soon be targeting classmates, neighbors and later their coworkers with much more realistic AI deepfakes because hey--no consequences!

If those profiles seemed *at all* plausible, rather than being obvious parodies, then you obviously already have reason to question their suitability to be around kids.

I had this happen to a coworker. Students made dating profiles for her, posting that she had obscene fetishes, etc. She was traumatized when she found out what was all over the internet about her. (I was embarrassed for her. It was invasive, embarrassing, and uncomfortable.) And no, it didn’t look like a parody at all.

But there are posters on this thread who are okay with this, like PP. I guess my coworker just shouldn’t be around kids, huh? I mean, she should accept being publicly humiliated. It’s just a part of the job, I guess. Those silly kids.

There would be monetary damages if it made the teacher feel too unsafe to continue teaching.

That’s awful.

I actually think she should have hired counsel.

There weren't monetary damages.

And no, "emotional distress" wouldn't even cover her attorney's fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And now we know why teachers are fleeing.

No. It isn’t absolutely fine. Not at all. I don’t care if it’s legal. If I found out my child was mocking a teacher, I wouldn’t need the court system to penalize them. I’d be doing it myself. Harshly.

Ever watch late night TV? They're parodying public figures in their monologues/acts all the time.

.


Teachers are not public figures.

Head of the local school board, maybe. Some random fourth grade teacher? No.

They are clearly public figures to kids in the community. Don't be ridiculous.

DP. This is a remarkably dim argument. I suppose you also believe that since every toddler considers their mom a major star, all moms are celebrities and therefore subject to the laws that impact celebrities. I know you don’t have a lot of brain cells to rub together but try to use the few you have.

Teachers took jobs that inherently put themselves in the public eye.

I didn’t think I’d have students posting predatory profiles in my name. Or posting AI-generated images of my face in pornographic situations.

I was a bit busy worrying about curriculum and classroom management.

I openly tell my students not to go into education now, as do most teachers I know. I don’t know who is going to be brave enough to teach in the future.

Or you could just choose to not be a creep or a jerk and then you won't be targeted.

I posted above about the coworker who had obscene dating profiles made in her image and name.

She is neither a creep or a jerk. She’s actually a popular young teacher with a great reputation. All she did was her job, and she did it well.

So there goes your “the teacher asked for it” argument, doesn’t it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

And now we know why teachers are fleeing.

No. It isn’t absolutely fine. Not at all. I don’t care if it’s legal. If I found out my child was mocking a teacher, I wouldn’t need the court system to penalize them. I’d be doing it myself. Harshly.

Ever watch late night TV? They're parodying public figures in their monologues/acts all the time.

.


Teachers are not public figures.

Head of the local school board, maybe. Some random fourth grade teacher? No.

They are clearly public figures to kids in the community. Don't be ridiculous.

DP. This is a remarkably dim argument. I suppose you also believe that since every toddler considers their mom a major star, all moms are celebrities and therefore subject to the laws that impact celebrities. I know you don’t have a lot of brain cells to rub together but try to use the few you have.

Teachers took jobs that inherently put themselves in the public eye.

Lol no. Your two brains cells are struggling here.

How were they compelled to become teachers?

Several state courts have already ruled they're public figures. Some others have ruled they're public officials.

And others have ruled that teachers are not public figures. You don’t seem to be familiar with the breadth of case law here.