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<DIV>Hi Ros, thanks for your thoughts.</DIV>
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<DIV>I had to laugh firstly, because it was actually a male student who was in the background and his father that complained to the school!</DIV>
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<DIV>However, I hear what you are saying. As a class, we often discuss the anguish felt by some students at seeing themselves in a photograph when others would say that the image is not any different than the one they show the world in day to day life. We talk about the fear of the loss of control and how much in our world we can control regarding our own self. We discuss who actually owns the image, the photographer or the subject?</DIV>
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<DIV>I ask myself whether as a school, if we have the right to control the behaviour of our students outside of school hours. If they are doing something illegal during those times surely it becomes a criminal matter. However at our school we ask that students hair colour be of "natural looking" colour. It is written into our policy . A student may sent home if they arrive with pink hair for example. </DIV>
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<DIV>As suggested by another teacher, it really needs to be written into our policy under acceptable use of ICT. I guess perhaps the school would have grounds to expect that any photograph taken on school grounds should not be published on the internet. What about the loopholes? What will happen if a photograph is taken outside the school fence, or at a school formal etc? </DIV>
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<DIV>I've actually just found out this morning that the mother of my student (who took the photograph) is planning to take her daughter out of school because she has been unhappy with the punishment her daughter received. Apparently she has made several visits to the school that I didn't know about. This is very sad. </DIV>
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<DIV>Jeanean Pritchard</DIV>
<DIV>Highview College</DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:jpritchard@highview.vic.edu.au">jpritchard@highview.vic.edu.au</A></DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR>>>> "Meadows, Roslyn M" <Meadows.Roslyn.M@edumail.vic.gov.au> 22/04/2008 10:22 pm >>><BR>This issue infuriates me!!!<BR><BR>I would say some people have too much time on their hands.... and I<BR>would say that it must have been an unflattering photo of the girl in<BR>the background, if it made her look like Australia's next top model she<BR>never would have complained to the parent, who then complained to the<BR>school.<BR><BR>How do I know this? My daughter is 17 has lots of photos of her and her<BR>friends on her myspace and facebook, the ONLY time they complain about a<BR>photo of themselves being on someone else's page is when it is not a<BR>flattering photo.<BR><BR>My daughter appears on other's pages, in photos that were taken at<BR>school in uniforms, some of them she is NOT happy about "I am so ugly in<BR>that pic"<BR>Would I even dream of calling the school???? duh... I have better<BR>things to do with my life...<BR><BR>As a parent I would say "message her and ask her to take the photo off<BR>if you really don't want it there"<BR><BR>We cannot be accountable for every photo they take of each other and<BR>post to facebook or myspace it is totally beyond our control.<BR><BR>Ban ban ban (phones, ipods, pda's cameras etc) block block block<BR>(myspace, facebook, youtube etc) get real - this is what our kids live<BR>with, THEY have to learn to deal with it. In their own time, in their<BR>own way, we can't show them the way because this is something we never<BR>experienced. It is up to them to set the boundaries, to speak up for<BR>themselves, if they don't want a photo of them on someone's space, just<BR>text or IM or email and ask politely "could you please take me out of<BR>the photo".<BR><BR>This overprotective mother is soon going to find she has a socially<BR>incompetent daughter if she doesn't butt out of her life and stop trying<BR>to provide bandaids for everything that goes wrong in her daughter's<BR>life.<BR><BR>Now I will turn around so you can all stab m
e in the back!!<BR><BR>Cheers<BR>Ros<BR><BR>PS I have a facebook and have photos of me that other people have posted<BR>that I am not happy with (some posted by my students) - big deal - the<BR>camera never lies!!!<BR><BR>Roslyn Meadows<BR>Head of ICT Implementation<BR>Head of Assessment and Reporting<BR>Bentleigh Secondary College <BR>| 9579 1044 | 0412 614 062 |<BR><BR>Please consider the environment before printing this email <BR>There are three ways of being dead - heart dead, brain dead, and not<BR>being able to connect to the internet!<BR><BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: vet-mm-bounces@edulists.com.au<BR>[mailto:vet-mm-bounces@edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Greg Neil (Mr)<BR>Sent: Tuesday, 22 April 2008 5:27 PM<BR>To: VET Multimedia Teachers' Mailing List<BR>Subject: RE: [vet-mm] tricky situation<BR><BR>I would agree that the punishment seems to be a severe over-reaction,<BR>assuming there are no other circumstances in influence.<BR><BR>As for being able to prevent it - simple answer is you cannot. Students<BR>carry some many devices that have cameras now - phones, laptops, etc.<BR>that it is impossible to monitor what photographs are taken where, and<BR>how they are subsequently used.<BR><BR>What we did do was get a representative from the Victorian Police who<BR>specialises in cyber stalking, pedophile tracking and social networking<BR>sites and it's ills to come and talk about it with parents. The woman<BR>that spoke to staff first, and then parents in a second session, was<BR>very good, had some great insights into the problem and things to be<BR>aware of, and didn't shy away from telling the parents that they had a<BR>role to play in this as well.<BR><BR>We block access to face book, myspace. etc through the school intranet,<BR>but know full well that we cannot (and I believe should not) control<BR>what the students do outside school hours. Attempts to circumvent these<BR>blocks can result in punishment, but once the student leaves the school<BR>grounds, the school has no role in policing th
eir behaviour.<BR><BR>In your case, a discussion regarding the responsibility of the student<BR>with regards to the privacy of others, a warning about the dangers of<BR>posting identifying information on social networks sites, and perhaps a<BR>threat of punishment for a repeat offense would have been, to me a<BR>least, a more appropriate response.<BR><BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: vet-mm-bounces@edulists.com.au on behalf of Jeanean Pritchard<BR>Sent: Tue 4/22/2008 4:58 PM<BR>To: VET Multimedia Teachers' Mailing List<BR>Subject: [vet-mm] tricky situation<BR><BR>Hello all,<BR>I've just had a tricky situation arise here and I'm keen for your<BR>opinions/thoughts or accounts of similar incidents.<BR><BR>During one of my multimedia classes, a student of mine took a<BR>photograph of herself and one of her friends as part of a classroom<BR>task. Later that evening in her own home, she placed it onto her own<BR>facebook page. <BR><BR>The controversy is that in the background of the photograph, there was<BR>another student wearing his school uniform, logo clearly showing. That<BR>student's parent got wind of the photo, and made a formal (and quite<BR>vocal) complaint to our school.<BR><BR>As a result, my student (the photographer) was placed on a type of<BR>school suspension, very close to being formally suspended from school.<BR>She was also asked to remove the photograph from her site.<BR><BR>I agree this is an issue. I'm not really sure how it should be dealt<BR>with, or what our legal obligations are to our parents or our students.<BR>I understand why the parent was concerned, and I'm not sure how we can<BR>police our students like this outside of school hours. How much of the<BR>world can we really control? I was very disappointed about the<BR>punishment given to my student. She would never intentionally hurt<BR>anyone. She has a very near perfect behaviour record for the four years<BR>she has been enrolled. She was mortified to be in such serious trouble.<BR>She took her punishment without complaint. T
hankfully my student also<BR>had her mother's support. Her mother did not approach the school at all,<BR>but did quietly confide in her daughter that she believed she had<BR>intended no evil and not to worry about it.<BR><BR>I know that something must happen, and the school must find a place to<BR>stand on this issue. In this case I believe a stern warning/talk would<BR>have been more appropriate. My school is currently debating about this<BR>issue, and trying to form some sort of policy. I'm interested to hear if<BR>anything similar has happened to anyone else, or what<BR>policies/procedures your schools have in place when an issue like this<BR>arises.<BR><BR><BR>Jeanean Pritchard<BR>Highview College<BR>jpritchard@highview.vic.edu.au <BR><BR><BR><BR>x*----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>-----------------------------------------<BR><BR>Disclaimer: Whilst every attempt has been made to ensure that material<BR>contained in this email is free from computer viruses or other defects,<BR>the attached files are provided, and may only be used, on the basis that<BR>the user assumes all responsibility for use of the material transmitted.<BR>This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity<BR>named above and may contain information that is confidential and<BR>privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please note that any<BR>dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is strictly<BR>prohibited. If you have received this email in error, please notify us<BR>immediately by return email or telephone +61 3 5461 1833 and destroy the<BR>original message. <BR>------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR>--------------------------<BR><BR><BR><BR>Important - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the se
nder or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR><A href="http://www.edulists.com.au/">http://www.edulists.com.au</A> - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe<BR>VET Multimedia Mailing List kindly supported by<BR><A href="http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vet/programs/multimedia/multimedia.html">http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vet/programs/multimedia/multimedia.html</A> - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority and<BR><A href="http://www.pixeled.org.au/">http://www.pixeled.org.au</A> - PixelEd Multimedia Teachers Association<BR></DIV><BR>
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