St. Theresa’s College sued!

[erwin_rommel]

Best thing I've read so far, by UP-Diliman's former Dean Raul C. Pangalangan.

Schools as Facebook patrol | Inquirer Opinion

Schools as Facebook patrol

It’s less about whether to be libertines or prudes, or how lenient and how severe. That will merely drag us into the amorphous debate on obscenity, and lead us to say, “I know it when I see it,” in the famous words of US Justice Potter Stewart. Rather, it’s about who gets to make the call, and whether we can carve out spheres in our lives where we can be free to be ourselves without having to worry about prying eyes.

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One, concededly, the school has the power to adopt its own institutional mission. If St. Theresa’s says that its goal is to advance the moral formation of its wards in strict Catholic tradition, it will be acting within its own academic freedom. We can split hairs here—the Constitution guarantees academic freedom only to “institutions of higher learning,” which means colleges and universities, and not high schools. But I don’t see how that distinction matters here. Any school worth its license to operate should be respected in its school mission.

Also, the parents accept that mission when they enroll their children and entrust them to the school. The school’s mission is therefore binding upon the parents in two ways: legislatively, as rules adopted by the school, and contractually, as an agreement to which the parents consent on registration day.

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Two, however, under the Family Code, the school exercises “special parental authority” only during school activities. The mother says that the bikini shot was taken at a “family or private social activity [that] does not involve the school’s supervision and control” and “was not connected with the school curriculum.” The school cannot install itself as moral watchdog over a student’s entire life.

Three, the school actually intruded into the student’s privacy. The photograph was apparently posted on the girl’s Facebook account whose privacy settings allowed access only to her friends. The school officials were not her Facebook friends, and were kibitzers into the child’s zone of privacy. Indeed, if indeed the girl’s privacy settings gave access only to her friends, the girl’s Facebook posts are technically hearsay vis-à-vis the school officials because they were not privy to her posts.

Of the three arguments, the third is most empowering. In the first two, the high school student is merely the passive object as two powers, the school vis-à-vis the parent, collide over the power to run her life. In the third, she is the active subject, able to express herself among her friends, able to pick and choose who those friends are, and yes, able to choose how she wants to dress during her friend’s birthday party.

Finally, it is not fatal to the mother’s case that apparently she had earlier taken part in the disciplinary case. The school’s legal counsel insists that due process was observed because the “parents were present when the child signed the probation.” Is counsel saying that fundamental rights can be waived? Not everything can be bargained away by contract. Can a Muslim student be forced to bargain away his religion in exchange for enrolling in a Catholic school? Come on. This silly argument must be put to rest once and for all.

Last weekend, I visited a church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where I used to hear Mass the last time I taught there. I saw these words on the Sunday missal: “No matter what your present status in the Catholic Church; No matter what your current … marital situation; No matter what your personal history, age, background, race, etc.; No matter what your own self-image; You are invited, welcomed, accepted, loved and respected here at St. Peter Parish.” Given the unnecessary ruckus over the innocuous Facebook photograph, will we live to see the day when the Filipino Catholic can be as open and as welcoming? Is the Filipino Catholic capable of being truly catholic?

walay au ni nga author kay bisan gamay ra kaayo iya information nga nahibaw an about the topic, suwat2x dayon og article. maayo ni cya ipa backread ani nga forum para maka balo og dugang nga info about the case.

[istoryamember]

To sum up this whole issue, i think what happened was just a matter of those kids being unfortunate enough for someone to snitch on their pictures.

I am pretty sure that this is not an isolated issue and there are probably many many other incidents of this kind of behavior for kids this age.... Sa guys its commonly called "mga kabuang"... Its part and parcel of what makes high school "fun" and "memorable".

Its unfortunate lang that because of the internet/social media, private things like this can be easily made available to others.

Malas lang to ang mga bata nga "nasakpan" ilang kabuang... It doesnt mean nga bad sila because almost everyone else male or female have their own kabuang.

And hey, stc ur not raising nuns... These are teenagers with raging hormones and at the age of exploration... Normal ra gyud kaayo for these girls to make mistakes and questionable decisions.... Better to do it while they are still in school than when they already graduate college and those decisions will affect them for the rest of their lives.... Ergo... You should take note of this and discipline them the proper way... Not by humiliating them by not letting them join the graduation march.... Thats public humiliation at its finest.

The best penance would have been an internal arrangement for community service with the parents .... Nobody else would have to know and this issue blowing up would have been averted.

Stc admin and all other religious educational institutions want to project that they are there to mold the students and uphold moral values etc etc... But again.... A students behavior is influenced 1st by the family, 2nd by the barkada and 3rd by the teachers and institution itself.

So, dili nalang unta magpalimpyo kunohay ning mga educational institutions.... There are students engaging in far more "lewd" and provocative acts than those girls....

The key phrase here is............Sa masakpan lang.....

I maintain my stance that stc could have managed the situation better and disciplined them in a more discreet and reformative way.... Instead they publicly humiliate these students in front of their parents and peers which resulted in the parents being the primary educators going against the school admin confusing the children more. Also, defying the Tro on an alleged "technicality"... What kind of message does that send to the students? Its not okay for you kids to break the rules in our handbook but its okay for us to break the law because we found a loophole? Tsk tsk..

very well said but I think we better ask Theresians if what kind of message nakuha nila from this. There are some students who are defending their alma mater. Kinsa kaha sa duha ka group ang mas daghan? ang wala ganahi sa gibuhat sa ilang alma mater or ang giganahan? I wish I could get the stats.

[istoryamember]

What was the reason why wala nakapaso imong mga friends?

The issue here is not about academic requirements man gud... Its essentially tantamount to a scandal which should be dealt with delicately and most of all... Privately.. Dili unta pakauwawan ang babae by separating them from their peers essentially saying that they are too moraly unfit to join their batchmates in the graduation rites.

Its not the not being able to join the others on stage per se... Its the fact that the other batchmates and parents would already know who these girls are. To kids its a very big thing because they really put a big premium on their peers aside from their families.

Now, if the school had met these kids individually then talked to the parents lang then ingnon lang nga their kid would have to do community service before receiving the diploma, won't that be a better way to handle it then publicly shaming them by their not being able to join their peers?

nag meet sila bro and the madre has her say pud about the community service. Naa na sa ilang press release

I'm not questioning why the school sanctioned the girls... Ang methods lang nga ilang gi gamit were inapproprite given the context of the violation. By not allowing the girls to join school activities the school admin had essentially marked these girls as "immoral" infront of the whole batch and the stc community... That to me is public shaming and is not the proper punishment.

Kids will be kids and will make mistakes... But adults should always remember how to properly discipline them... Luoy man kaayo ang mga bata nga pakauwawan nimo infront sa ilang mga kaila.

mao bitaw nga wala nalng sila papasuha unta para dili makalat. Kay if mopaso sila daghan jud mo react then moisa ang mga kilay and all eyes to them. Kung pa community service and palimpyohon sa street then samot makit-an sa tanan. IMO

[rubz_bix08]

strict jud kaayo ni ang stc when it comes to their policies....and im sure the girl and the parents are aware of it...i dont think the issue is on the girl wearing a bikini at a pool party but on the act of uploading the photo in fb...she should have waited after graduation to post it....

[ReikoChan]

it's impossible here in the Philippines since people are not willing to stand up to institutions like the church or even it's schools. Unlike in the U.S. that privacy is valued over anything else. Once people start suing and pushing back, then there's hope. I hope there will be more people like the parents of these girls who are willing to slug it out on court.

Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with Christian schools. In fact, I would recommend them to my children in the future. And fact is, I was brought up from Kinder to College in Christian schools and universities.

Abuse of power nmn jd japn ni. Maybe if the students killed someone or did drugs, then I would surely agree with the school. What the girls did is a norm in today's life. Nothing illegal.

There's a difference between being right and being righteous. And these people are righteous and do not deserve to be leaders of a school. As what the guy I quoted said... One can welcome, teach, and influence. But, never forcibly instill your beliefs to another person. It is not only illegal, but morally wrong.

Couldn't have said it better. Although I strongly believe that 16-year-olds shouldn't be drinking and smoking anywhere (inside the school or outside), again this isn't the issue anymore. It's about how STC came up with such a punishment and whether or not it was legally and morally fair.

walay au ni nga author kay bisan gamay ra kaayo iya information nga nahibaw an about the topic, suwat2x dayon og article. maayo ni cya ipa backread ani nga forum para maka balo og dugang nga info about the case.

Before you start whining, better do a background check on the author first. Google him. I don't know about you, but his educational background and experience look pretty good to me. I believe he has the competence to form a sound opinion based on legal (even religious) expertise. Why don't you present yours? I'd like to see if you can do better.

[SPRINGFIELD_XD_40]

What I dont get from you people , why are you checking out and pointing fingers to the school administration ?

KNow first the story , lots of news links are in the net to base from what is being done , agreed , updated etc .

As what I also keep on repeating , gi himo ninyo ug KONTRABIDA na school officials when in fact , naa ang DEPERENSYA sa PARENTS sa mga bata wala gipapaso . Geez !

Basin cguro if makita na ninyo ang picture maka ingon mo na MIRISI !! But that will never happen .

I dont even know why people are so stucked with the notion na modern times na karon , 21st century etc ... still it doesnt make it right .

[rubz_bix08]

very well said but I think we better ask Theresians if what kind of message nakuha nila from this. There are some students who are defending their alma mater. Kinsa kaha sa duha ka group ang mas daghan? ang wala ganahi sa gibuhat sa ilang alma mater or ang giganahan? I wish I could get the stats.

when i was still in stc there were cases like this na g.violate ang policies sa school and hapit jud toh dili maka attend sa graduation rites but then nadala ra man tog storya ug sabot.....para nako sakto ra ang g.buhat sa school coz when the parents enrolled their child in stc they were already aware of the policies...and her being graduating she is soo aware of the do's and dont's of the school....pag after graduation nalang tah toh niya gpost....ok ra man tah toh nag bikini xa sa pool party ang nka apan lang kay g.broadcast sa fb na kahibaw na bawal na....


Commencement exercises are more than just social gatherings. They are to show the products of the school who have completed all their requirements and have lived up to the values that the school stands for.” -Father Javier

[Tenchu]

these crazy nuns and priests and the taliban in afghanistan are basically the same creature. the former just don't carry guns.

[cliff_drew]

To give the benefit of the doubt, two of the nine photos were described in the news article below -- that's aside from what we've known (the photo showing the students wearing bikini and a towel, where one was holding a cigarette and a bottle of alcohol and another photo where one was wearing a sleeveless top with her bra visible during the Sinulog festival).

STC defies court order - The Freeman » The Freeman Sections » Cebu News

[istoryamember]

these crazy nuns and priests and the taliban in afghanistan are basically the same creature. the former just don't carry guns.

stick to the issue please