Again, how did they defame her? They reported she resigned and the police were investigating. Both appear to be factually correct. Where's the defamation?

Again, how did they defame her? They reported she resigned and the police were investigating. Both appear to be factually correct. Where's the defamation?

 

25 yo female teacher resigns from high school. Probably happens all the time. 25 yo has sex with 18 yo...probably happens a WHOLE lot more I'm sure. Combine the two and right now that's all that has happened. Neither in and of themselves are news worthy. Teacher having sex with student? Yes, that's newsworthy...IF it actually happened and WHEN it's confirmed. There has been no arrest made or anything, only that something might have happened. Report on it, ok...but leave the name out of it until some action has taken place, and arrest made or something's been confirmed.

25 yo female teacher resigns from high school. Probably happens all the time. 25 yo has sex with 18 yo...probably happens a WHOLE lot more I'm sure. Combine the two and right now that's all that has happened. Neither in and of themselves are news worthy. Teacher having sex with student? Yes, that's newsworthy...IF it actually happened and WHEN it's confirmed. There has been no arrest made or anything, only that something might have happened. Report on it, ok...but leave the name out of it until some action has taken place, and arrest made or something's been confirmed.

If there was nothing wrong with the relationship, then she might have a case against the Bellevue School District for releasing a false or misleading (defamatory) statement to the media. That statement certainly implied that the resignation was tendered as a result of the discovery of the relationship. I see nothing in the news report that is improper or defamatory. They reported exactly what was released to the media by the school district.

 

The statement released by the Bellevue School District:

 

"Bellevue Independent School District is aware of an alleged relationship between a former employee and an adult former student that occurred outside of the school system. We can confirm we have accepted the resignation of the employee on July 22, 2013. The Bellevue Independent School District's top priority is the safety of our students and we will have no further comments on this matter."

Exactly.

NKY teacher won't be charged over relationship with ex-student

Again, how did they defame her? They reported she resigned and the police were investigating. Both appear to be factually correct. Where's the defamation?

 

To be fair, I resigned from a small NKY high school within the past couple years and I can assure you my name and picture weren't plastered on the evening news. Obviously, the implication that an illegal relationship took place was clear. The story may have been within legal guidelines, but, IMO, the stories I read about this situation were prime examples of irresponsible, unethical journalism.

NKY teacher won't be charged over relationship with ex-student

In the end, you have to wonder if she will teach again. This will have to follow her, wouldn't you think?

 

To be fair, I resigned from a small NKY high school within the past couple years and I can assure you my name and picture weren't plastered on the evening news. Obviously, the implication that an illegal relationship took place was clear. The story may have been within legal guidelines, but, IMO, the stories I read about this situation were prime examples of irresponsible, unethical journalism.

 

What is unethical about reporting an ongoing investigation?

It seems to me these days that our local "news people" do more gossip spreading than true investigational reporting. As someone said above, it is more important to be first than right.

 

Bellevue said it was a relationship between a young teacher and an adult student. In the meantime her career is ruined.

She will have a very hard time getting a job at another school due to the smearing of her name.

 

The media is the Devil.

In the end, you have to wonder if she will teach again. This will have to follow her, wouldn't you think?

 

She didn't do anything wrong, not sure what would follow her?

To be fair, I resigned from a small NKY high school within the past couple years and I can assure you my name and picture weren't plastered on the evening news. Obviously, the implication that an illegal relationship took place was clear. The story may have been within legal guidelines, but, IMO, the stories I read about this situation were prime examples of irresponsible, unethical journalism.

 

Her resigning didn't help matters. It would have been best if she had waited, knowing she did nothing wrong. If they then fired her she would be looking at some nice compensation. But to resign the same month the relationship started and right after it's discovery sure sends a signal, right or wrong.

Exactly.

 

And no where in that statement is a name mentioned. The news station went one step further to make sure they added that.

 

Here's why I have such an opinion on the matter. We had a young female teacher at our church go through something very similar about 3 years ago. She was married with small children, and an underage (16 I believe) special education male student who she taught went to school administration and claimed an "inappropriate relationship" and that he had text messages and a "revealing" picture of her on his phone. Big scandal, her name hit the newspapers and local news. After the investigation...turned out the kid was mad at her because he had been using his phone in class and she took it away from him for the class period. Absolutely nothing untoward happened, and he admitted that it was all a lie during the investigation. The kid was in special education for some emotional/psychological issues and that may have played a role in it as well.

 

Anyway, huge embarrassment for her and her family, and much of the embarrassment could have been spared if her name would have just been kept out of it. Terrible situation.

In a perfect world the story would have been held until the facts are known but that is not how it works. The paper reported the facts of the story. To not list her name would have had parents calling all over the place trying to find out what teacher it was. You cannot withhold that information once you decide to run with the story. I believe her resigning made things worse for herself and as I said I wish she had held on for a few more days. Awful timing all around. Not an individual but a local Boys Home was closed last year because of a zealous reporter printing one side of the story without doing much investigating. Made for great news but unfortunately he got it wrong. I'm not saying it's right, just that it's not defamation.

She didn't do anything wrong, not sure what would follow her?

Do you really think with that reputation, deserved or otherwise, that she'd be chosen over other candidates similarly qualified?