School suspends boy for abusing principal on FB

Updated on: Thursday, February 24, 2011

A 13-year-old student of a city school has been suspended for a Facebook ‘prank’ targeting his principal. Authorities at M P Shah English High School, Vile Parle, claim the class VIII boy posted “abusive language” on the principal’s Facebook wall. A source claimed the school is planning to file a police complaint against the boy, but this was not confirmed.

Principal Vandana Tandan said the boy had sent her a friend request a week ago and her daughter had accepted the request on her behalf by mistake. A week later, when Tandan logged into her account, she saw that the boy had posted obscene comments against her.

She called for a meeting with the boy’s parents, who claimed their son had not posted the messages—his friend had. They also said their son had been expelled. “I was issued my son’s school-leaving certificate at the meeting and, ever since, the principal has refused to interact with us,” said the father. “My son was studying with a friend from another school, who wrote these messages. We have a written apology from that child but the school refuses to accept it.”

Abuse or a harmless prank?
Principal says student (13) posted obscene messages on her Facebook. His parents deny it, saying their son’s friend did it. They claim the school has expelled him, but the principal says he has been suspended.

What law says
Legal experts say a student who allegedly uses profanities on his principal’s social networking account can only be expelled following an independent enquiry.

‘Principal used abusive language’
The father of a 13-year-old schoolboy accused of posting obscene messages on his principal’s Facebook page has not only denied the charge, but has also alleged that the principal replied to the posts with more abusive language.

The father said a friend of his son posted the messages. He also said his son had been expelled from school. However, the principal denied that the boy was handed a leaving certificate, but said he had been suspended for a few days.

“When we confronted the principal about this (the abusive replies), she told us her daughter was replying to the comments made by the students as she was furious,” said the father.

The principal, Vandana Tandan, has since deleted this conversation from her Facebook wall. The principal, however, refused to buy the parents’ claim. “We have decided to deal with this affair very seriously. Many children these days are misusing the internet and we want to send them a message that social networking is not child’s play. He (the boy) will have to take responsibility for his actions,” Tandan said.

The student’s older sister is a class IX student of the same school.

School suspends boy for abusing principal on FB

More Education news