Sloppy no evidence suspension

[student in need]

Jurisdiction

Georgia

I am a student at a middle school in Georgia. I was accused of writing a derogatory comment on my phone on a class discussion post towards another student. The school had no evidence I had done anything wrong except that someone had claimed they had seen me do it. I was called into the office and I denied I was involved at first and then I was told she had enough to suspend me immediately. I started to cry and broke down as I had never been in any sort of trouble before and had a perfect record. She told me she was going to let me off with a warning but I had to 1. apologize in front of the entire class and confess to what I had done (publicly humiliate myself in front of everyone) and 2. I had to let my parents know, or there would be consequences (no mention to what they would be) I came home from school late after my basketball practice and my parents arrived even later around 9:00. They were both in a bad mood like always and it was my dad's birthday. To make things worse my grandparents are in town too. I am usually a good kid and I have never gotten in serious trouble before. I couldn't bring myself to tell them in front of everyone and ruin my dad's birthday and I knew my dad would beat me. I prayed all night to god asking for help and I came to school the next day feeling sick to my stomach. My parents texted me telling me they had received a message from the school and asked if there was something they should know about. I texted them and told them what had happened but left all the details out. My dad sent me a long text about how disappointed he was and told me I would be in giant trouble. I was called once again into the vice principal's office and my mom was already in there. She told me she was suspending me for not telling my parents what I had done and my mom had showed her the text and she had said it wasn't enough. I told her she had never given me a time constraint on when I had to tell my parents exactly and she argued she had told me she was gonna call in the morning which I know she didn't. I broke down crying again because I would be suspended and this could end my basketball season and my application to a gifted high school I wanted to attend (I have been in accelerated and gifted everything since kindergarten and I value my education very much) I begged for mercy because it was my dads birthday and tried to tell her she wouldn't understand the beating my dad would have given me as well as how I would've ruined his birthday and my entire reputation in their eyes as well as my peers. She would not here it and told me I should have said something before school when I am rushing to get to school on time and the entire incident had been forgotten because I was not aware I was to be called back much less given a suspension or any form of punishment, the struggle of the morning had been finding a pair of khaki pants that fit. I was asked to sign a paper while i was broken down crying in front of her and my mom. I was not read the paper or told anything about it so I still don't know what it said. I asked her if she could read it to me but she told me she had a tornado drill to handle in a few minutes (the school day is 8 hours and my appointment where I AM BEING SUSPENDED is somehow conveniently right when the fire drill happens so she is rushing to get me out of her office) I told her I could not sign the paper until I knew what it said and what it did and she threatened me again and told me I was making things worse for myself and I could get in twice as much trouble so I (while still sobbing loudly) grabbed the paper and signed it terribly in a signature that is not recognizable as my own but passed. While I signed it I noticed it said something about disrespectful conduct and some other behaorial infractions. I was called to her office the first day in spanish, the second day in science, and a third time I was summoned on the same second day in Math where i was asked to leave the classroom with her and go outside (revealing to another set of classmates I was in trouble) where I was threatened once again with a double suspension if I didn't apologize and confess in front of the class again. I apologized in front of the class with my still tear stained cheeks which had been that way all day (I had requested to leave with my mom because I was in no condition to take any quizes or tests today or play in the basketball game and the lady had yelled at me and told me I should not be rewarded for bad behavior and given me the option to spend another day in suspension to finish my tests so I wouldn't have to go back to class or I could just return) I chose to return and after the apology which was very hard for me, the kid completely ignores me and asks the teacher a question about something on his phone and everyone laughed. I would like to ask for help as a student on what I should do? the school has no proof I did anything, i think i was forced to confess, and i wasn't given proper information prior to signing the document. I think suspension is a big deal and she had shown calling me into her office was no big deal to her so the signing couldn't be postponed till I had more information because of a tornado drill that we have at least once a month? I just wanna know what you would do here and I'm not saying the school shouldn't suspend me for what I had done because it was not ok, but I was told there was enough to suspend me immediately which I'm not sure if someone saying they saw me is enough if that's not a bluff. My biggest issue was because I was suspended for not telling my parents before her call which she swears she told me was gonna happen in the morning. I tried to tell her something this important should have been written down if it was going to be used against me like it was. Especially because of how I was sobbing and in disbelief and not registering every word even if she had said it which im sure she didn't. She claims she had me repeat it to her which i just don't remember doing. I don't like how sloppily the entire process was handled and the lack of evidence as well as a possible forced confession? Im not a lawyer yet so there could be other stuff im missing. Please help I see a big future for myself and this is not the kid of person I am. I can answer any questions and will be very grateful to you and god for any opinion I receive.

 

[army judge]

You're a minor, a middle school minor.
You can do nothing.
Every court in this nation won't recognize you because you're a legal incompetent, a minor.

Your mother or father might be able to do something, but you asked about yourself.

You can behave yourself, before you ruin your chances to attend a high school, maybe a college, or one day a career, not just a job.

This incident alone won't cause ALL of that to occur, but if you don't STOP and comply 100%, your future could be dim.

You've blown this out of proportion.

The world doesn't care about anyone's tears, heck kid, the world will eagerly watch a person get stabbed to death, raped, shot, and immolated; all the while doing nothing other than laughing, joking, and videoing the event to post to Periscope.

There have been cases where some or all of that occurred, with no one bothering to call 911!!!!!

I suggest you suck it up, behave yourself, stop trying to prank others, because as you've experienced; you ONLY ended up pranking yourself.

No, there's not a darn thing YOU can do but do as you're told by those appointed to rule over you.

Contrary to popular myth and urban legend, no one is really FREE.

 

[mightymoose]

Ditto.
Your parents are the ones who might have ability to do something, but they apparently are going along with the school.
That said, there likely isn't anything your parents could do anyway as it is pretty much at the school's discretion.
This is also not a legal issue, rather one of school policy.

 

[cbg]

The school had no evidence I had done anything wrong except that someone had claimed they had seen me do it.

Someone seeing you is evidence. Contrary to what you see on Law and Order, CSI or NCIS, they don't need forensics.

 

[ElleMD]

Kiddo, I spent many years in a school system. You made a rude comment about another student, someone saw you do it. That is all the proof they need. You even admit you did it. You were given an opportunity to avoid any consequences by the school if you apologized (and no, apologizing for what you did wrong is not humiliating you- it is the bare minimum any decent person would expect) and told your parents. Presumably, the administrator was giving your parents the choice to handle it at home. You can make all the excuses in the world, but you failed to do this. It sucks that you would misbehave on your Dad's birthday, and had wardrobe issues, but that was within your control, not theirs. They could have called your parents immediately, but chose to give you the opportunity to be the bearer of bad news. Did you expect the school to ignore your conduct?

If your parent is truly abusive, report it to someone in authority, including at school. A spanking as punishment for misbehaving at school is not abuse. It is also not a reason for the school to act any differently.

What I don't see in any of this diatribe is you taking responsibility for your actions. At all. I see a lot of excuses, blaming others, trying to use tears to get out of trouble, and you trying to dictate how adults in authority should act. Perhaps if you had immediately apologized for the derogatory post, without trying to lay blame on others or claim there was no "proof", you wouldn't be here. Instead, you clearly do not understand YOU were the one in the wrong. YOU are the one who made a rude public comment about another student. YOU are the one who chose not to apologize without being forced. YOU are the one who refused to read whatever it was you were asked to sign (dramatics are not an excuse, and no one should have to read it to you). YOU are the one who failed to tell your parents what happened to avoid getting in trouble. YOU are the one who failed to control your emotions during the meetings. YOU are unbelievably trying to claim the administrator should have written down the instructions and timeline for something you admit you knew you ought to do. YOU are the only claiming a "sloppy" process when there is nothing at all sloppy about it.

If your parents choose to appeal your suspension, they may use whatever process is in place by your school system to do so. You, can not. I strongly suggest you take this as the learning opportunity it is meant to be and realize that your actions have consequences, and you are responsible for those consequences.

 

[txls]

Take your punishment, remember the lesson and move on to better things. School officials are not perfect so perhaps things could have been handled differently, but you don't get to tell school officials how to act. Anytime you have an issue with a school official, talk to your parents and let them handle it, if they think there is a need.