Your Ethics Alarms Ethics Quiz of the Day is…
Should the student be punished?
I am not at all certain that punishment is not justified. In Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021), the Supreme Court held that student speech outside of school on social media could be legally punished if, though the principles articulated in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District and Bethel School District v. Fraser, the posts risked seriously disrupting education at a school.
Holding fellow students up to public ridicule, which the videos do, could be fairly regarded as disruptive. However, the videos also qualify as a public service, and even, arguably, a potential benefit to the students at the school and the school itself, if they prompt needed reform.
It doesn’t help that the students shown in the video are all “of color.” Does that mean that the student behind the camera was selectively targeting minorities? Does it mean that the white students he filmed could read? The host in the video above makes a valid point about flawed methodology: the sentences were written in script, which schools no longer teach.
I am also open to the argument that both might be true: the student should be punished, but what he found is also valuable information that requires a serious and effective response. This would make it similar to an unethically recorded conversation that reveals a planned crime and aids in its prevention. In this, the issue is a classic absolutism vs. utilitarianism clash. Kant says a human being must never be used as a means to an end. But surely—no?—the exposure of this problem is worth the momentary discomfort of the students whose ignorance has been exposed along with the failure of the school. The students are the real victims.
Ethics Alarms 
I have a couple of questions:
1. Isn’t what this student did investigative journalism followed by intentionally publishing the findings for public consumption thus giving the student all the protections granted to the news media under the first amendment?
2. Could laws protecting whistleblowers be used to protect this individual?
3. Wouldn’t the student have a first amendment case against the school and the school board if the student is punished in any way by the school?
My Opinion
I think the school district should deal with this in the exact same manner as they would if it was published by a professional journalist in the local newspaper or on the local news. As for using the possibility of school disruption to punish a student when that school disruption has not actually taken place, which would be similar to the plot of the movie “Minority Report” and would be treading on very thin morality and legal ice. Schools have to deal with behavioral disruptions from individuals regularly, and this is likely the only kind of “disruption” that I can foresee other than the public knowing how bad the schools are.
“…risked seriously disrupting education at a school.” You can’t disrupt something that isn’t happening.
That’s a really interesting way of putting it!!
Nice argument.
But “education happening” these days means the students show up in attendance. Similarly, showing up at work means they are working and should be paid for being present. It all seems related. Can’t define education, work or what a woman is.
One of my state’s gubernatorial candidates is running ads stating that the state’s public schools have an 80% failure rate in teaching kids to read. His solution is to send them to get more training from the people who trained them on how to not teach kids to read in the first place.
For every student the public schools in this country lose, they add an additional employee (900,000 fewer students in the last few years, 700,000 new employees).
Nothing will change until the public stops treating public school employees as if they are good people.
“the posts risked seriously disrupting education at a school.”
You can’t disrupt something if it is not taking place in the first place.
That being said, exposing one’s peers to ridicule is, as they say, a “dick move.” While I do not think the school should punish him for exposing the school’s failure to achieve its goals, the students in the video would have a legitimate (and possibly legal) beef with him.
-Jut
JutGory wrote, “the students in the video would have a legitimate (and possibly legal) beef with him.”
As for the legal part; only if it falls within defamation laws, as in, was it publishing something that he knew was a false aka a lie.
Steve: not quite; invasion of privacy torts, which are separate from defamation may apply. There are four of them:
appropriation of name and likeness-not applicable, unless there is some issue with him filming and publishing them. I mean, why did they let him video them. Did they give permission or waiver to show them, particularly if they are minors?
intrusion upon seclusion-not applicable
public disclosure of private facts-probably not applicable
false light-similar to defamation, which is why the State that Mondale Won has never adopted this tort, but might fit here if there was something deceptive about how he portrayed them (like the cursive writing element); and you don’t have to prove damage to your reputation, just that the act caused distress.
bottom line: there may be something there for a creative lawyer to go off of.
-Jut
Thanks, I hadn’t thought of those things – obviously.
Steve,
and why should you. There are better things to think about.
in 20-some years of legal work, I have had to think about invasion of privacy torts twice (only getting paid for it once, which is the far greater injustice). Yet, it still clutters my mind.
-Jut
You can’t disrupt something if it is not taking place in the first place.
I almost included that line in the post, but was confident someone would use it.
Furthermore…
Jack wrote, “In Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. (2021), the Supreme Court held that student speech outside of school on social media could be legally punished if, though the principles articulated in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District and Bethel School District v. Fraser, the posts risked seriously disrupting education at a school.”
The Supreme Court might want to review the based on the lack of “imminent lawless action” discussed in Brandenburg v. Ohio.
When did school systems get the ultimate authority to ignore and override a students individual 1st Amendment rights of and punish them for the possibility of disrupting education, literally a disruption that hasn’t yet taken place.
This is absurd.
No I don’t think he should be punished for exactly the reasons Steve laid out. What we should be doing is in this upcoming election season when every politician has education in their platform we should ask what the hell are we getting for our money.
Here is the charter school’s website:
https://www.philasd.org/charterschools/#aboutcharter
It seems that this charter school program might need a bit tighter oversight. Apparently, these schools are supposed to foster high-quality educational opportunities, fair and equitable treatment, and improved outcomes for students and families in Philadelphia through rigorous charter school evaluations, effective oversight, and meaningful supports. Yet, this video shows that the schools might not be achieving those goals.
jvb
My first thought: “This school has a problem.” This is particularly true if it’s a for profit school luring in black kids whose parents are looking for a better situation for their kids than what the public schools offer. I’m sure the administration would love to have the kid who filmed and posted these videos drawn and quartered. I’d say, forget about the ethical and legal niceties of what the kid has done, go after this charter school outfit hammer and tong. Don’t even think about penalizing the kid.
Humina humina humina….
Furious Philly charter school blasts TikTok videos showing multiple high schoolers unable to read basic sentences | Daily Mail Online
In response, Prep Charter said in a statement that the student was not being punished for the videos, and insisted that its students are more literate than the footage showed.
In its statement, Prep Charter said the footage ‘does not accurately reflect our school community or the values we strive to uphold every day.’
‘While some students may have agreed to be filmed, the way the footage was presented lacks important context and has led to a portrayal that is misleading and unfair,’ the school said.
‘The video titled ‘Can You Read?’ does not represent the character, effort, or abilities of our students as a whole.’ The school declined to say what context was missing from the damning clips. (Buhwahaha! Ed.)
According to state data cited by the Inquirer, Prep Charter enrolls roughly 600 students, and over 70 percent are from economically disadvantaged households.
In Pennsylvania state assessments in the 2024/2025 school year, just 46.5% of the school’s students scored proficient in English language arts tests.
The school’s state test scores also showed just 19 percent of its students were proficient in math.
I doubt he was going out of his way to cast students of color in a bad light. The student in question is black himself, and less than 6% of the student body at that particular school is white, according to US News & World Report.
https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/pennsylvania/first-philadelphia-preparatory-charter-school-200681#students-teachers
In this instance, he could be properly punished for exposing the students’ faces.
Eli Steele posted an opinion piece carried by the Fox News app a few days ago. In it he discusses the harm that more than 60 years of White Guilt have created. While the societal effects have been broad, the dumbing down, lowering of standards and abdication of basic discipline have virtually destroyed education. In the 50’s and 60’s the public school system provided a fairly high quality curriculum. Those of us who wished to attend University were able to do so. Today even elite universities provide remedial classes for students deficient in English and math. Much of the horrifying outcome can be laid squarely at the feet of administrators who prioritize social engineering over academic achievement.
I agree with Steve – a student who is publicizing the disgraceful state of affairs in education as a whistleblower or journalist is not unethical. He is a hero.
“Today even elite universities provide remedial classes for students deficient in English and math.”
“In 100 Years We’ve Gone From Teaching Latin And Greek In High School To Teaching Remedial English In College” J. Sobran
To no one’s surprise, Lefty finds this RAYcist.
PWS
If the school punishes the kid, it will become an excellent example of the Streisand Effect. The school needs to clarify that “context” remark and provide a preview of the revamping of its core business so that they won’t be taking people’s money and not returning the promised product. In short, they need to come up with a WITTS plan. And it may already have.