Meet Justin Bird.  He’s a sophomore at Oak Forest High School in Illinois.  His family is considering suing the school district because he was suspended for criticizing a teacher on his Facebook page.   According to the article:

Oak Forest High School’s superintendent says the Facebook posting disrupted the school day, and that’s why the student was suspended.

Bird’s suspension has raised questions about whether school officials overstepped their authority.

A few keyboard strokes, a click of the mouse and a new Facebook page is born. And almost just like that, Justin Bird was suspended.

“I did this on this laptop in my room, sitting on my chair. I don’t know how they can come into my house and suspend me for what I did on my own time,” said Bird.

This type of action by school districts has happened all over the country.  Can a school district justly punish a student for what they do at home?  When I administrated after school dismissals and there was a fight after school off school property and out of the school safety zone, parents would come to the school to complain.  We explained that we have no jurisdiction about what happens off school property; a police report would have been their best recourse.

School leaders: Is the same true today?  Do you believe that you have the authority to manage what a student does off school property, and if so, explain.

Students, you’re welcome to weigh in on this as well.