Freshman at Longwood High School in Middle Island, New York, Jessica Barba, created a phony account on Facebook
under the alias Hailey Bennett and an anti-bullying video for a school project,
and after all the hard work she put into the project, rather than getting an A+,
she was suspended. What? Yes, suspended. For five days!
First, you have to watch the video. It’s far beyond Freshman
level, and it brought a tear to my eye. Additionally, this video was the same quality as any commercial you would see on television! I know it's 6 minutes long, but it's really a must-see! You can watch it here:
Her Dad, Michael Barba, said in an interview with NBCNews that he was proud of his daughter and the project that she did and that he believed that the suspension should be taken off of her record. From several news reports, I've gathered that the real trouble aroused when a parent saw some of the postings on the fake Facebook page and alerted the police. Then the school suspended her.
“I just created the video in order to raise awareness of the major issue that’s bullying,” Jessica Barba lamented to Matt Lauer on the TODAY show. “I don’t understand why I’m being punished for it.”
Jessica's dad got just what he wished for. The school district won't make any comments, but they have erased the suspension from Jessica's record and she has returned back to school. However, I think they owe this 15-year-old a HUGE apology and an A+ on her anti-bullying project!
What do you think?
