In Norfolk, Virginia, a mother was arrested for placing a digital recording device in her daughter's backpack to prove that the school was doing nothing to address bullying. She states that she repeatedly sent emails to the school complaining about the bullying her daughter was receiving, and the emails were left unanswered. In response, she placed a recording device in her daughter's backpack to prove nothing was being done to help her daughter. However, the device was found and confiscated, and the mother, Ms. Sims, was accused of wrongfully using the device to intercept oral communication, and now faces five years in jail.
Ms. Sims shared that she felt "mortified" about possibly facing five years of jail time, and added: "The next thing I know I’m a felon. Felony charges and a misdemeanor when I’m trying to look out for my kid."
As of now, the school has not commented on the case, but a spokesperson for the Norfolk Public School District stated that electronic devices are not allowed on school premises.
Ms. Sims is due in court for a preliminary hearing on January 18.
Discussion Questions:
Is Ms. Sims' punishment justified, or is it too harsh? Considering bullying is such an epidemic, what should be done to combat it?
Articles:
15 comments:
I believe that while the mother's action was wrong, her potential punishment is too harsh. I do think that putting a recording device on her daughter is unwarranted, as she could've taken less extreme measures, perhaps by visiting the school and physically confronting the school's administration. Regardless, five years in jail seems overboard for what she did. Clearly, Sims only did this in order to look out for her kid, and felt pushed to more desperate measures when she didn't receive any reaction from the school. To combat bullying, schools should have explicit bullying policies that detail consequences students would face if they bully or harass others. Schools should ensure that these policies are enforced and that they are responsive to the parents and students who have bullying complaints.
Imagine that. Five years in jail for bringing a phone to school. We would be so much more focused on school work instead of our screens because we would literally fear for our futures. JUST KIDDING. Obviously, that's not why she was arrested, but seriously? Five years of jail for this sounds totally absurd. As a parent what are you supposed to do when you know your child is getting bullied and the school won't do anything about it? You could call the police, but what would they do besides maybe have an 'Anti-Bullying Seminar' in the classroom one day. The parents could move their kid to another school, but they really shouldn't have to do that when the problem could be so easily fixed by school officials just being responsible. Even though placing a 'wire' in the child's backpack does seem like overdoing it, is prison time really the punishment? What I think should happen is that the school board take the blame and do something about their bullying problem. Like Nathan said, bullying is an epidemic, and no child deserves to go through their early lives facing that kind of harassment and abuse.
I agree that a five year sentence would be disproportionate to Ms. Sim’s actions. Although she shouldn’t have resorted to using a hidden recording, I’m not sure what the “correct” steps Ms. Sims should have taken in order to resolve the bullying that her daughter was experiencing, short of altogether pulling her daughter out of the school. The articles seem to imply that the school was unwilling to address the issue of bullying, given the fact that the mother’s concerns were left unaddressed. In terms of what could be done to combat bullying on a larger scale, I believe that it’s essential for school administration to enforce bullying policies and instill consequences when they witness or suspect that bullying is occurring.
I don't think her punishment is justified at all, and while I think she could have done other things before placing a digital recorder in her daughter's backpack such as calling the school or talking to them in person, I don't see the issue with recording what goes on in the classroom and I think the fact that the school is against it shows that they have something to hide or cover up. Rather than punishing her so harshly, the school should be making efforts to raise awareness about this issue and teaching children not to bully and letting parents and students know that bullying is unacceptable.
I think Ms. Sims went a bit overboard putting a recording device in her daughter's backpack. That is like undercover CIA agent level stuff. That being said, being an overconcerned parent doesn't warrant jail-time. Clearly, she felt helpless and ignored by the school's administration. Granted, in the future she should probably just go into the school and talk to someone instead of sending repeated emails; that is just common sense. If you urgently need to get into contact with a school, you can't honestly expect to get results by spamming emails. Even a phone call would work better, and if you really care about getting your message across, walking in and sitting down with the principal would probably get the desired results.
Bullying in general is an unsolvable problem. Labeling it an epidemic is misleading, as it implies that it has not always been a problem and not always will be. People have always tolerated bullying, and in my opinion, expending resources trying to convince kids not to bully eachother is a waste of time and resources. Of course, people should be open and supportive to those who have been bullied, and consequences should be imposed on kids who have bullied. As Emma said, outlining strict rules regarding bullying is the most effective way to minimize it, but it will never be fully solvable.
A five year sentence does seem unjustified because of a parent who wants to protect their kid from bullies. I do think there were better alternative routes she could have went to in order to make sure her kid was in a safe place, but here intent with the recording device is totally justified and understandable, and it is pretty sad to see that she is being faced with 5 years of jail time. I also think the school should be punished in some way because of their inaction against the bullying of that child, if the school were to intervene, then this situation would not have happened in the first place.
I agree with a lot of the other comments that a five year sentence seems pretty extreme for such an act. Ms. Sims merely was looking out for her child and trying to protect her. It seems as though the school is blowing the situation out of proportion out of spite of Ms. Sims anger towards the school for not doing anything about the bullying. Ms. Sims motives were all in the right place and she clearly didn't mean to hurt anyone or gain confidential information. She was merely trying to get some evidence to support and protect her daughter and cause the school to take action. It is true that Ms. Sims did break one of the school's rules, but her action did not have any negative consequences on the students or staff nor did she gain any confidential information. I think the school should have given her a strong warning or had a conference with her to make sure she understood the school's rules and also to make sure that the school understood where she was coming from and her need for the school to step in to stop bullying. By sending Ms. Sims to jail, the school is not gaining anything. It makes no sense to send her to jail for trying to protect her child from bullies when that situation could be solved by having a conversation. Additionally, bullying is something that can't exactly be prevented completely but I do believe that enforcing stricter rules about bullying and having staff take a more involved role will help decrease the amount of bullying on campus.
Five years in jail seems like a very unreasonable punishment for a parent who is looking out for their child. If the reasoning for the punishment was "bringing an electric device to school", then I see know way to defend the school districts actions. (Playing devil's advocate here). If the punishment was something along the lines of protecting the safety of the children, I would understand why Ms. Sims' punishment would be so harsh. Although Ms. Sims probably wasn't intending on doing anything harmful, it's important to remember that there are people out there who would do something like this with the intent to harm someone. Having a listening device hidden inside the school is extremely suspicious, and justifiably warrants a harsh punishment. What if the listening device belonged to a someone with ill intentions? If they were let go for claiming they were "protecting their child", someone could get hurt. Protecting your child should not be a valid reason to excuse crimes that make the school less safe.
I think that this school is really bad because they chose not to do anything about the bullying. That was their first bad decision, then in order to cover up the fact that they did not do anything, they confiscate and put blame on the mother that was trying to stop the bullying in the first place. This school should not be allowed to put the blame on this mother and she should not have any punishment.
I think that the 5 year sentence is extreme as the mother was simply looking out for her child. She meant no harm on anyone; she only wanted to help her child and prove that the school was not doing anything about the bullying. It is a school's responsibility to ensure safety for all students and their disregard for bullying proves that they are wrong. The mother did go against the rules, but it was to protect her kid. A five year sentence is unnecessary and there are many other alternatives. Additionally, as horrible as bullying is, there is little to do in preventing it. I think it is important to create stricter rules regarding bullying, and that the staff and students becomes more aware of this problem.
I agree with others how the sentence is too harsh. I don't see the logical reasoning here to give her a sentence that long. And the reason, being that there can't be any electronic devices on campus, is ridiculous. However, I don't really understand why she chose, out of everything else she could have done, to put a secret recording device in her daughter's backpack. And although I do agree that her intentions were harmless, this could be seen as a little suspicious. I agree with Daniel about how having a face to face with the principal would have been way more effective than what she did. Furthermore, although she has every right to be mad that bullying isn't being addressed, it is hard to address it. Bullying, as horrible as it is, will always be prevalent, and I'm not sure if it can every really be fixed and truly addressed.
I agree that this punishment is too harsh because her intentions seem harmless to me. I agree that bullying is a big issue in schools. I think schools, and especially teachers, should be very conscious about the behavior that is going on in their classrooms. Therefore, I do agree Ms. Sims had a right to bring attention to the lack of attention put toward preventing bullying. However, it is slightly suspicious that she put a recording device in her child's backpack. I think that Ms. Sims could have handled the situation better, but ultimately, I think her intentions were good and that her punishment is too harsh.
So recording someone's voice without their consent is 5 years in prison? And raping someone is only 6 months in prison (Brock Turner)? Our justice system is messed up.
While I don't condone the mother's actions I believe that it is mainly the school's fault for this. Someone needs to stand up to bullies and, if the school doesn't do anything about it, it is up to the parents. This is an act of self-defense, not a method to attack other students.
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Ms. Sims’ action of putting a recording device into her child’s backpack was a little extreme, although she was only doing it to protect her child and prove that the school administration was doing little to help. Because she was only protecting her child and doing nothing that was dangerous or menacing, her sentence is extreme and impractical. Despite this, I do see the logic in Ms. Sims’ action. Bullying is a serious issue that is often overlooked, made fun of, or regarded as unimportant and the school clearly didn’t care about this case. As stated in other comments above, bullying will never really be solved but it can be regulated.
I believe that Ms. Sim's actions may have gone a little far, however I understand why her actions were so extreme. All she wanted to do was watch out for her kid. She had previously emailed the school multiple times, but was left unanswered. She must have been extremely frustrated with the situation and wanted proof to show the administration that nothing was being done to help her daughter. Yes she probably could've handled it better by going to see the administration first or taking other actions but she was just trying to help her kid. As a mom, her intentions were to only help her child. As a result of her actions, the punishment they gave her was way too harsh. 5 years for having a cell phone on campus/recording without consent compared to like Sid said, 6 months for rape is outrageous! That makes no sense! That's not fair and the punishment doesn't fit the crime whatsoever. She had no intention of harming other students, only to prevent her child from being bullied at desperate times. Regarding bullying, I don't think there's one way to combat bullying because of how judgmental society is today, but I think that to at least enforce regulations and try to prevent bullying, schools need to implement policies, which explicitly state the consequences a student would face if they were bullying other students. Bullying is not a funny matter and it is important to prevent as much bullying as possible.
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