Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
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Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#2"But John Dryden said he's not the point. He wants people to focus on the issue he raised: Whether school officials considered that students could incriminate themselves with their answers to the survey that included questions about drug and alcohol use."
To me, that sounds like an unusually thoughtful social studies teacher. He is relating the general concepts that he is hired to teach his students to a real-world situation facing the students, and that sounds like good teaching to me. He ought to get a promotion or a raise, based only on this news about his public behavior in the classroom.
It is, of course, sometimes appropriate for schools to distribute surveys to minor students in their care on which there may be questions about student behavior that may be embarrassing or illegal. But the teacher, based on the report here, is just asking his students to think about their lessons and what those lessons mean, not trying to undermine the survey process.
"But Dryden doesn't want this seen as him vs. the administrators. He said he knows they were acting in what they thought was the best interests of the students.
"'These are good, professional, smart people on the other side who want to do what is right by kids,' he said.
"He would rather focus the discussion on the survey.
"'I have asked people (the supporters) to talk about the survey. I think I am a sideshow,' he said. 'This (the survey) was rushed and it wasn't vetted.'
"'I'm not a martyr,' he said. 'I'm trying to refocus people's attentions. Calm down.'"
Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#3"But John Dryden said he's not the point. He wants people to focus on the issue he raised: Whether school officials considered that students could incriminate themselves with their answers to the survey that included questions about drug and alcohol use." To me, that sounds like an unusually thoughtful social studies teacher. He is relating the general concepts that he is hired to teach his students to a real-world s…
I really want to understand this "proprietary information" excuse the school is using to justify not releasing the survey. Certainly the kids can go home and tell their parents what they saw (and some have). The kids didn't sign an NDA, they saw it, so why can't we see it?
This story is happening in my town. There is a public hearing tomorrow night and I plan on attending.
Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#4Did they risk manage this survey?
What do they do if a student reveals an alcohol problem? Or sexual abuse? Or criminal behaviour?
It's potentially a good idea, but they should have thought it through a bit more before.
EDIT: The company selling the tests have a lot of product available. (http://www.mhs.com/Education.aspx)
EDIT: I might be annoyed if schools are buying these tests instead of textbooks.
Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#5"But John Dryden said he's not the point. He wants people to focus on the issue he raised: Whether school officials considered that students could incriminate themselves with their answers to the survey that included questions about drug and alcohol use." To me, that sounds like an unusually thoughtful social studies teacher. He is relating the general concepts that he is hired to teach his students to a real-world s…
I really want to understand this "proprietary information" excuse the school is using to justify not releasing the survey. Certainly the kids can go home and tell their parents what they saw (and some have). The kids didn't sign an NDA, they saw it, so why can't we see it? This story is happening in my town. There is a public hearing tomorrow night and I plan on attending.
Unless it's well-covered by other sources, I would kindly ask you to blog your observations and share them with us :)
Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really want to understand this "proprietary information" excuse the school is using to justify not releasing the survey. Certainly the kids can go home and tell their parents what they saw (and some have). The kids didn't sign an NDA, they saw it, so why can't we see it? This story is happening in my town. There is a public hearing tomorrow night and I plan on attending.
Unless it's well-covered by other sources, I would kindly ask you to blog your observations and share them with us :)
I certainly will.
Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#7"But John Dryden said he's not the point. He wants people to focus on the issue he raised: Whether school officials considered that students could incriminate themselves with their answers to the survey that included questions about drug and alcohol use." To me, that sounds like an unusually thoughtful social studies teacher. He is relating the general concepts that he is hired to teach his students to a real-world s…
I really want to understand this "proprietary information" excuse the school is using to justify not releasing the survey. Certainly the kids can go home and tell their parents what they saw (and some have). The kids didn't sign an NDA, they saw it, so why can't we see it? This story is happening in my town. There is a public hearing tomorrow night and I plan on attending.
My guess is that the survey was bought from a private company on a contract that says it is that company's property and not to be shared. Therefore if the school released the form, they could be sued by said private company both for violating copyright and contract. (And the company would want that because they want to resell the survey to other schools.)
Stupid, yes. But I think it is likely that the school has a real legal barrier to sharing the survey.
Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#8Did they risk manage this survey? What do they do if a student reveals an alcohol problem? Or sexual abuse? Or criminal behaviour? It's potentially a good idea, but they should have thought it through a bit more before. EDIT: The company selling the tests have a lot of product available. ( http://www.mhs.com/Education.aspx ) EDIT: I might be annoyed if schools are buying these tests instead of textbooks.
Per the school's zero tolerance policy, students who reveal alcohol or drug use are expelled at no risk to the school. I don't agree with their method but it is pretty simple.
Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#9Did they risk manage this survey? What do they do if a student reveals an alcohol problem? Or sexual abuse? Or criminal behaviour? It's potentially a good idea, but they should have thought it through a bit more before. EDIT: The company selling the tests have a lot of product available. ( http://www.mhs.com/Education.aspx ) EDIT: I might be annoyed if schools are buying these tests instead of textbooks.
Per the school's zero tolerance policy, students who reveal alcohol or drug use are expelled at no risk to the school. I don't agree with their method but it is pretty simple.
Wow. Are the students told that beforehand?
I think a shocking consequence is students will now feel unsafe telling the truth about troubling events (abuse, etc.)
Re: Teacher under fire for informing kids of their Fifth Amendment rights
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
Per the school's zero tolerance policy, students who reveal alcohol or drug use are expelled at no risk to the school. I don't agree with their method but it is pretty simple.
Wow. Are the students told that beforehand? I think a shocking consequence is students will now feel unsafe telling the truth about troubling events (abuse, etc.)
> Are the students told that beforehand?
That would defeat the purpose of the survey.
I guess if there's a time for someone to learn the hard way when to keep private info private, high school is better than later.