Thursday, August 04, 2011

St. Louis TV station: Cunningham law will also ban texting, e-mail communications

This St. Louis TV report, which includes Jane Cunningham again labeling Missouri teachers as perverts, indicates that contact through Facebook and other social networks will not be all that will be prohibited by the so-called Facebook Law.

Listen to how many claims Sen. Cunningham makes without a single bit of evidence to back them up.

 

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Randy, We get it. You don't like this law; you don't like Jane Cunningham. OK. Great.

No matter how many times you point out there are gray areas, or try to justify why you need to contact students privately, or why this is bad....IT'S STILL THE LAW.

Comply. Get over it.

(You're right, Jane IS crazy, but the republican legislature passed the bill and the democratic governor signed it - done deal).

Randy said...

Sorry. If you don't want to read about this law, you will need to find another blog. This has been my story and it would be rather shortsighted now that it is receiving nationwide attention for me to stop writing about it.

Anonymous said...

Now there's some truth from Randy:

"This has been my story and it would be rather shortsighted now that it is receiving nationwide attention for me to stop writing about it."

Attention, recognition, maybe even fame -- for Randy. That's the point here; not the students or even crazy Senator Cunningham!

Randy said...

I hate lecturing people who don't even have the guts to sign their names, but this publicity opens a real possibility that this law will be changed at some point. It is a bad, virtually unenforceable law that will not protect one child. Any teacher who is inclined to cross the line with a student is certainly not going to worry about this law. The only teachers who will be affected are the ones who have been using social networking sites in an educational way. I have to wonder what is wrong with people who can't simply state their disagreement with something I write without making cheap personal attacks. I suppose it is because cheap personal attacks are much easier to make when you hide behind a cloak of anonymity.

Anonymous said...

Well, Mr. "I want attention" Randy..any teacher who does "cross the line" is in double trouble because of this law. It's one more law they have broken which the law can use against bad teachers.

Randy, it's pathic to read that think "this is my story and it would be rather shortsighted now that it is receiving nationwide attention..."

You better get yourself under control...I wouldn't let my child in your class for a million dollars

Anonymous said...

After the public release of MAP scores today Turner that you might a bit more concerned about test scores rather than how you can communicate with children outside of school hours. Joplin East performing below state average in nearly every area. Comm arts performing poorly coming in below the state average in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade comm arts. Great job of educating kids there Turner. The administrator that tenured should lose his certificate.

Anonymous said...

**"it appears" was omitted from the above post

Anonymous said...

Are you people just jealous of Randy or what? He has the right as a citizen of the U.S. and of Missouri to protest what he believes is a bad law and ask lawmakers to change it. Sure IT'S STILL THE LAW, and sure a Republican legislature passed it and a Democratic governor signed it, but laws can be and are changed ALL THE TIME. That only happens if someone brings attention to the flaws in the law and seeks to change it. Lawmakers and citizens petition to have laws changed in America every day. That's how it works in America, it's the American way and you people are being petty and Un-American to try to tell him he can't talk about it. Sure you have the right to your opinion, but don't tell him he doesn't have the right to his.

LT Scott said...

What a Hornet's Nest. This "law" will never pass the sanity test. Please take a minute to view this short video. - www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o
This video was produced a few miles up the street from Joplin. If "lawmakers" don't ammend thier behavior to serve those that will eventually vote for them (or not) they are condemed to fail.

Question - So, if a MO. school district enacts a mass-text warning system for, say, a Tornado warning, does that qualify as texting to a student? What if the student replys? What if a teacher stumbles across communication from a distraught student and fails to communicate back? Are they culpable? I would love to work on the prosecution team for defeating this absurd "law." What's next, outlaw pencils because they can be used to illegally communicate with a student? Only in Missouri.

Dorothy Potter Snyder said...

You know, I have a pretty good "ear" for writing and Anonymous's tone here is very similar to the tone of one feller named Gary (last name witheld here) who has been lambasting me at length at my HASTAC blog (see http://hastac.org/blogs/urban-exile/2011/08/02/following-missouri-anti-social-networking-story) for writing on this topic.

@Anonymous, "It's still the law, comply, get over it." Surely you are aware that people in Germany said the same thing as their Jewish neighbors were being hauled from their houses in the 1930s? Would you have said "get over it" then?

Freedom of speech is important. Freedom of peaceful assembly, which is definted anew in the digital age where the town square is digital, is a right. Randy is right to write about it. I am writing about it too.

Randy is a journalist. The story, which he has followed since its inception, is local to him and is receiving national attention. Of course he has to follow it, because it's important.

Your childish tone is not helpful to having constructive dialogue.

Randy said...

Following the lead of the anonymous commenter who left the topic a while ago and made fun of East Middle School's scores on the annual MAP tests, you failed to mention a few things.

In fact, communication arts scores at East improved in sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. In eighth grade, 51.40 percent finished in the top two levels, which is what is used by those who are determining if schools "succeeded" on these tests. That was up from 47.72 percent in 2010. Just as importantly, though no one seems to think so, is that only three percent scored below basic. In other words, 97 percent of my student were either average or above average. Only in the public education bashing world of No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top could having 97 percent of students at C level or above be considered failure.
Seventh grade scores were up in the top two categories, from 51.30 percent to 51.87 percent, while scores in the sixth grade improved from 47.72 to 47.83 percent. You will find that in most school sixth grade schools are lower, most likely due to the transition from elementary to middle school.

I do not appreciate you going off topic to take a shot at me and in doing so ripping the hard-working teachers at my school, who did succeed last year.

Anonymous said...

I believe the next step for Cunningham should be to outlaw ministers and priest from talking to any child under the age of 18 and not allow them to have discussions with any of their young members without another adult present and no communications by any mobile device. Sound stupid? How many ministers and priest have sexually abused children? As many if not more than teachers so let's level the playing field. I am concerned about children also, maybe I should run for office.

Anonymous said...

sore losers...well, to be honest...just losers...they will appeal and they will lose..maybe when that happens Randy will have to find another cause to try and get that national television talk show...he got an ego to feed and wants that attention

Anonymous said...

Ok, wow Turner you make this too easy. Let's not misrepresent the numbers. I never referenced NCLB, you did. I did not talk about some ridiculous standard that schools are held to, you did. I simply pointed out how you were doing as compared with the rest of the schools in the state. See, they are held to the same standards and give students the same test. Joplin East Comm arts (and other areas) simply performed below the state average. It is a fact and I dare you to respond otherwise because it is a lie. Saying that you "improved" from last year is like saying that we were bad last year and performed way below the state average but this year we were a little less bad. Fact is your scores are still poor, just ask your administration. Simply answer the question: Did the students at Joplin East score below the state average in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade comm arts? We already know the answer and it speaks volumes about your "ability".

Anonymous said...

I see you did not respond. Case closed. Funny how it is okay for you to attack public figures but you are overly sensetive when you receive criticism. You always try to refer to it as a "personal attack" on you. I simply pointed out a fact that you cannot deny. Maybe you should look in the mirror.