March 25, 2005
FRENCH schoolchildren are being expelled, suspended and threatened with prosecution for insulting teachers and classmates on their internet blogs.
Head teachers at secondary schools are concerned at the spread of personal web logs and say that action is necessary to stop an insidious attack on their institutions.
An estimated three million French children write online diaries and 6,000 new ones are created every day. The language, much of it similar to text messages, is barely comprehensible to adults. The themes, however, are familiar: heartache, pop idols, bad jokes, swear words and insults. Where once these messages were scribbled in schoolbooks or spoken in the playground, they are now available for public consumption on the web. Teachers say that many of them fall foul of libel laws, which carry a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a €45,000 (£31,000) fine.
No children have been brought to trial yet, but four face legal action for defamation or for infringing the right to privacy by publishing unauthorised photographs on the web. Dozens have been disciplined by their colleges and lycées. At least eight pupils have been expelled this year after staff discovered what had been written about them.
http://www.timesonli...1540621,00.html
I've said all I want to say about this on my website's update for the day. Suffice to say, its nice to see the French are stamping down on the really importnet problems with society, as opposed to stupid things like just about anything else in the Universe.