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Students expelled after criticizing teacher
Two female junior high students from Kediri, East Java, have been expelled from their school for allegedly defaming and insulting a teacher on Facebook
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wo female junior high students from Kediri, East Java, have been expelled from their school for allegedly defaming and insulting a teacher on Facebook.
Arum Damayanti and Rizky Amelia Wahyuningtyas, however, were hopeful they could return to school, their parents said.
“The decision [to expel them] is weighing heavily on her mind and my daughter has begun to not concentrate on studying, meanwhile the national exams are just around the corner in April,” Askandar, Arum’s father, said over the weekend.
The case follows on the heels of an incident in November last year when the school seized students’ mobile phones following a report that one student had lost their phone and some money.
Askandar said his daughter and Amelia were distraught when the school had not returning their phones, and expressed her annoyance at a teacher through Facebook.
“Arum and Amelia did not mention the school’s name or the teacher. Later, Arum deleted
the comments fearing she might get into trouble with the school,” Askandar said.
In her posts, Arum wrote that “As [the teacher] gets older and closer to death, he should adopt a more pious attitude.” Amelia responded to the post by writing “Indeed, my cell phone was also seized. The dog…he’d better be killed.”
The decision to expel students for comments posted on the Internet is not the first case of its kind in East Java.
Five senior high students were expelled from their school in Probolinggo last year after criticizing school policy. The school also threatened to sue the students, saying they violated the information law.
In a similar case, the Jember district court sentenced university student Mohammad Wahyu Muharom to three months of probation for defaming and insulting his marching band teacher after he accused the teacher of stealing in posts on Facebook.
Askandar said he was hopeful the school would accept his daughter back, but the school board has instructed him to enroll Arum at another school.
Amelia’s mother, Sholihatun Nadhiroh, criticized the school’s decision, saying it should not have punished the girls, but counseled them.
“I wish the school taught the students on how to wisely use the Internet. I have reminded my daughter to be careful about what she posts on Facebook,” she said.
Despite the case, both Askandar and Sholihatun said they would not stop their children from using Facebook. They said Facebook was a means for the girls to socialize and voice their criticism.
A fatwa (religious edict) by Muslim clerics in Kediri that using Facebook was haram has not deterred them either.
The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) has lent its voice to the growing criticism of the case.
“Punishing the girls is not an appropriate educational response because the students’ criticism is part of their freedom of expression,” Yudhie Tirzano, the chairman of the Surabaya branch of AJI, said.
Kediri deputy mayor Abdullah Abu Bakar said his administration would campaign on “proper” Internet use to prevent further occurrences of similar cases.
