Principal sues kids

C

Confu3ed

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2008
Messages
135
Reaction score
0
Location
In front of my PC...............
The ex-deputy headmaster of Waterkloof High in Pretoria was in court this week suing three learners for a picture they made showing him and a colleague naked in a digitally manipulated picture, two papers reported on Saturday.

The photograph showing Dr Louis Dey (45) and the deputy headmaster was sent two years ago via MMS and bluetooth to hundreds of children in the school, the Beeld reported.

Dey testified on Thursday that the picture showed himself and Dr Christo Becker sitting naked on a couch — the photograph was manipulated to make it look as if the headmaster and the deputy were naked with "their hands on each other's genitals," with the school badge covering their hands said the Beeld.

Dey is claiming R600 000 from Christian Gildenhuys, Reinhard Janse van Rensburg, both 19, and a 17-year-old boy whose name may not be mentioned because he is still underage and still a pupil at the school.

Dey's son was one of the learners who saw the picture.

Dey said the school took disciplinary action but after consulting with the governing body, he went to the police, said the Saturday Star.

The defence suggested that the boy's actions were merely part of irresponsible youthful behaviour but Dey disagreed saying the actions were excessive and belittled him.

"I just wanted to sit in my office. I didn't want to show my face. My name had been dragged through the mud, to put it mildly. I was like the court jester who had been pelted with rotten eggs and tomatoes," he said.

The case continues.
Click to expand...
PS: this has been extracted from an article at iafrica.com
http://news.iafrica.com/sa/1043641.htm

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think that the guys did it to spite him or was it just a joke in bad taste?
 
Last edited:
Sue the buggers. Kids need to learn that there are consequences to what they do.

Doesnt matter if its a joke, or if its done to spite him.
 
Last edited:
Sue the crap out of the buggers and press criminal charges... will teach them.
 
Personally, I find this principal's actions a bit extreme. I'm sure it must be humiliating having fake pictures of yourself and a colleague (both male, from what I gather) intimately naked circulating; quite sure it's a magnificent dent to their egos as well. However, handling it in such an, "Zomg, what will the Jones think of this?!" sort of way is a bit... arrogant.

Either that, or perhaps I came from a very liberal school where something like that would cause endless gossip, they'd get a stern talking to, their parents would be brought in and a few months later jokes would be made during assembly via subtle hints and the teachers/principal would play it down.

I can't help but think that all this teaches their students is that when they're faced with a socially complicated dilemma, that running to mom will be their Get Out of Jail Free card.

Yes, going to the extremes of nudifying your principal(s) and spreading it through school is daft, facetious and in ill humour, but dealing with immaturity in an immature manner doesn't win favours with any one. They were what? Seventeen at the time? Ever heard of, "Boys will be boys?" :p

I could understand if they did something more serious like smashing someone's car up or stabbing their tires or something. But I can't help but think these guys just had their ego bruised and sexuality questioned and feel the need to plop their family jewels on the table to try garner some manhood.
 
I see what you say Lycanthrope, but I still have to disagree. How is anyone in a position of authority supposed to maintain that authority if they are ridiculed in public like this? The guy had to leave his job.

Kids want to always be treated like they are adults, but they dont have the responsibility that comes with being an adult. I am very sure they knew it was plain damn wrong, and therefore they took a conscious decision to go ahead and cause the trouble. Well there are consequences in Real life and one of them is that there is a possible legal charge against them now because of what they have done.
 
Gory51 said:
Sue the buggers. Kids HAVE to learn that there are consequences to what they do.

Doesnt matter if its a joke, or if its done to spite him.
Click to expand...

+1 Children are no longer children anymore.. My aunt is a highschool teacher.. Shocking stories.. There needs to be a consequence else it just gets worse and worse..
 
Hope he wins, it was a reallz bad "joke".

how would you feelif your family and friends saw pictures like that of you?
 
If it was me and a sheep they would fall over laughing.

We know who we are.

The internet is loaded with fake-pics - no one takes them seriously..
 
The question has to be asked, had he been a woman teacher and pics of her in compromising positions had been concocted what would the consequences have been for these 'kids"? You can bet the gender commission would have been shouting sexual harrasment very quickly. My sympathies do not lie with these kids at all. Its about time they learnt there are consequences for your actions.
 
I think they should be sued. Its just a pity he didn't catch them earlier and expel these buggers. Is it just me or does Waterkloof High seem to churn out quite a few turds? :confused:
 
There are many other ways to punish them. The courts is not the route to go. Quite frankly for the kids to have a criminal record as a result of this is ridiculous.

We might as well welcome a country that is a litigious as the United States then. Something I personally am against.
 
milomak said:
There are many other ways to punish them. The courts is not the route to go. Quite frankly for the kids to have a criminal record as a result of this is ridiculous.

We might as well welcome a country that is a litigious as the United States then. Something I personally am against.
Click to expand...

Please mention these ways?

Its not like you can give them 6 of the best anymore. So now you have to suffer with the this legal stuff. Classic spare the rod, spoil the child.
 
Surely its not a criminal record as its a civil case as far as I understand, He is claiming damages and defamation ?
 
He wanted 600 grand, he may get 45.

45 Grand - I hope he gives it to charity - ( it always worries me when people protest too loudly ).

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-10-28-pupils-rapped-with-r45-000-in-damages-for-defamation

Pupils rapped with R45 000 in damages for defamation
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA Oct 28 2008 15:04
Three schoolboys who distributed an offensive manipulated photo of their vice-principal have been ordered to pay him R45 000 in damages.

Dr Louis Dey, a former vice-principal at the school, claimed damages for the alleged harm to his dignity after Hennie le Roux (18), Christiaan Gildenhuys (19) and Reinhard Janse van Rensburg (19) distributed a manipulated picture of two naked, masturbating men with the faces of Dey and the school's principal, Dr Christo Becker, pasted on to it.

Pretoria High Court Judge Ben du Plessis ordered the three to pay the damages to Dey and said although the photo was clearly the result of an amateurish manipulation, it had exceeded the bounds of a joke.

It carried the message that the men were engaging in sexual activity and had low moral values. It associated Dey, now the principal of a private school, with such activities.

The judge said it was not in the community's interest that courts should be burdened unnecessarily with cases about the conduct of schoolchildren.

Their conduct should ideally by addressed in their schools.

He said although the viewer would not conclude that the photo truly depicted Dey's sexual behaviour, it would at least make one wonder about his sexuality and sexual orientation.

The pupils realised they had violated a societal norm, in that they conceded they would not like to see their parents' faces on such a manipulated image.

Du Plessis said every individual was entitled to have his or her convictions respected. If Dey did not want to be depicted as homosexual, society demanded that his views be respected. It was clear that the iamge had humiliated and insulted him.

The boy's parents said they would study the judgement before deciding if they would appeal the judge's decision.

Dey welcomed the judgement as a victory for the rights of all teachers to be treated with respect.

The Gauteng education department also welcomed the judgement, saying in a statement: "We have no room for sick jokes that vilify the good standing of our staff as well as the teaching profession." - Sapa

Source: Mail & Guardian Online
Click to expand...
 
Fair enough to punish the kids but their parents are going to have to fork out the cash. It may not necessarily come down to bad parenting. Teenagers seem to think calling someone gay is the biggest insult. A lot of the geeky kids get bullied by being called gay. It's mostly a peer learned behaviour. Add technology to the equation and you're going to get that sort of picture. Just naughty boys...who should rather have had to do some community service in a hospice, orphanage, or HIV/AIDS home than punish the parents with the fine.
 
One of the kids involved was actually quite popular. I know him from sight and he's had everything going for him...
 
http://www.iol.co.za/general/news/newsprint.php?art_id=vn20081118053545195C507602&sf=

Dey not satisfied with R45 000
By Zelda Venter

Former Hoërskool Waterkloof vice-principal Dr Louis Dey has launched a counter claim against the three teenagers who were earlier ordered to pay him R45 000 in damages for portraying him as gay in a manipulated picture.

The teenagers have appealed against the judgment while Dey has launched a counter-appeal in which he is complaining that the amount is "shockingly inappropriate".

Dey last month following the judgment he is now dissatisfied with, told the Pretoria News that "it was never about the money, but a case of principles".
Click to expand...

Hmmm......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X