Teen suspended for anti-bullying video with fake suicide

The high school freshman suspended for five days after she created an anti-bullying video and Facebook page about a fictional girl who commits suicide says she tried to explain her work to school officials to no avail.

“I just created the video in order to raise awareness of the major issue that’s bullying,” 15-year-old Jessica Barba told Matt Lauer on TODAY. “I don’t understand why I’m being punished for it.”

Teen suspended for anti-bullying video with fake suicide

Make an anti-bullying video, get suspended from school. Why, yes, it is a government-run school! Why do you ask?

As a father of a bullied child, I know first hand the mentality of this school. "Bullying isn't that bad". Yet a remarkably beautiful teenaged girl, who could easily be a bully herself, tries to help other kids that aren't a beautiful, or as smart, or as graceful. She's the best kind of kid, and she's punished for it. This is what government owned prisons...I mean schools...do to people.

/TOA

Very sad. Here is the video (from the article):



Very well done. Looks like the school willingly refused to listen to the fact the student provided disclaimers that it was for a project and was not a real case.

Smart girl. Sorry she is having to suffer for trying to send a good message. Ironically, a message that schools ingrain into the brains of students from pre-school.

Not only was she suspended, she was threatened with jail --

Last Wednesday, a day after the video was posted online, Barba said the principal suspended her from school.

“He said that I could get jail time for six months for what I did and I could get suspended for the rest of the year, including next year,” Barba said. “So, I’m sitting there and I’m having a mental breakdown. I was so distraught by everything that was going on.”

I'm guessing the school was worried about its rep if this was mistaken for real -- Nice!

newyork.cbslocal.com...

The kid is learning a valuable lesson.

Everyone in a position of "authority" is an irrational lunatic.

Doesnt understand why the punishment?

Welcome to the club kid. Get used to it.

It "seems" like she is getting bullied by the school, how ironic.

reply to post by _Phoenix_

I wouldn't necessarily use the word ironic.

It is, more often than not those in positions of authority who are the bullies after all.

reply to post by The Old American


I give this girl immense props for what she did.

The Bully Movie goes to adults, this stuff goes to the kids.

Because it's always the kids.

reply to post by Maluhia


That's a bunch of bs. Bad publicity, that's all it is. More worried about getting a crappy article in the paper than actually getting a powerful message out in the world.

Waste of priorities.

The irony is that the school is now probably going to make this child suicidal over a fake suicide in a Facebook video. Also, if I was her, I would make a video that talks about the importance of school administrators not singling out students.

Kids today are too soft. Bullying prepares you for the real world.

Originally posted by theconspirator
Kids today are too soft. Bullying prepares you for the real world.

I guess you were never bullied. Did it make me tougher? Yes, it did. But it also made me more cynical and hateful. I see it doing the same thing to my son, who I mentioned is bullied.

Torture and cruelty don't prepare you for the real world. They're just torture and cruelty. You need help.

/TOA

reply to post by The Old American


yeah I was bullied all the time in school. Just like everybody else in the world. Then we all grew up and went about our lives. Like I said, kids today are way too soft. Scared to be bullied at school. Scared to be bullied online(which makes no sense to me, get offline) Scared to go outside and play on a jungle gym. Scared to get dirty. Scared to talk to other people face to face.
If a kid in middle school wants to stop a bully, do it the old fashioned way and punch him in the mouth.

I dont mean it as insensative as I sound, but if a kid wants to get rid of a bully, they need to physically stand up for themselves, instead of getting into the mentality that if you complain about something enough, itll go away.

Originally posted by theconspirator
reply to post by The Old American

 

yeah I was bullied all the time in school. Just like everybody else in the world. Then we all grew up and went about our lives. Like I said, kids today are way too soft. Scared to be bullied at school. Scared to be bullied online(which makes no sense to me, get offline) Scared to go outside and play on a jungle gym. Scared to get dirty. Scared to talk to other people face to face.
If a kid in middle school wants to stop a bully, do it the old fashioned way and punch him in the mouth.

If only it were that easy. That's how I finally stopped being bullied. The school knew the bullies, so when I finally stood up to them, only the bullies got in trouble. Not to mention bloodied up.

I told my son to do the same thing. If a bully was to physically harm him, he was to smack the crap out of them. He did. So what's the big deal? Remember, to the government, bullies are the real victims. So my son, every time he stands up to them, gets in trouble. The lesson here is to do what you're told and let the person in charge do whatever they want to you.

You'll find out if you ever have children of your own. Children are scared because schools make them that way.

/TOA

reply to post by Starchild23

Yes - priorities are messed up, especially in the school districts on Long Island. They are definitely more concerned with how they appear than actually taking care of any problems that might exist!!

This sure did backfire on them though. It is all over the news which is pointing out how the school also tried to silence other kids who stuck up for the young girl!