GA Middle School Students, Alejandra Sosa & William Lambert III, Suspended from School for Posting Nasty Facebook Message Calling Teacher a "Pedophile" & Rapist

Alejandra Sosa & William Lambert III, middle school students in Douglas County, GA, suspended for calling teacher "pedophile" & "rapist" on Facebook.

Debbie Napier-Smith, Principal of Coal Mountain Elementary in Forsyth County Ga.

Three Douglas County middle school students were disciplined for writing some horrible things on Facebook about a teacher at Chapel Hill Middle School. Honor student Alejandra Sosa and William Lambert III were suspended for writing that the teacher was a pedophile and rapist. A third student was expelled for saying the teacher had bipolar disorder. Okay, don't get me wrong, the students should be punished for what they are accused of doing, but shouldn't the same punishment be meted out to teachers and school administrators who have put questionable things on Facebook?

Take Debbie Napier-Smith, principal of Coal Mountain Elementary School in Forsyth County, Ga., for example. There was a picture on her Facebook page of her holding a gun with another woman in the background. I called the county Board of Education department and asked if this was the image they wanted to portray the school district. Candace Norton, the Human Resources official who called me about the matter, lauded a lot of praise on Napier-Smith, but failed to address the fundamental question, was that the image they wanted her to portray of her profession? I would venture to say, nothing happened to Ms. Napier-Smith, other than being told to get her privacy settings on Facebook in order. Shouldn't she have had to explain why she had such a picture up on her page, since the students are held to such a high standard. I should also add that I don't think Ms. Norton was an objective person, since she is reportedly friends with Ms. Napier-Smith.

The punishment handed down to the three students was excessive, considering Ms. Napier-Smith was not punished for holding a gun on her Facebook page. Two of the families are threatening to take legal action against the school and I don't blame them one bit. There must be a universal policy in Georgia schools for postings on Facebook. That policy should also cover teachers and administrators.