Quebec school bans cellphones after YouTube video
Teacher on stress leave, two students suspended
Last Updated: Friday, November 24, 2006 | 1:24 PM ET
CBC News
A Gatineau, Que., teacher is on stress leave and his school has banned personal electronic devices in the classroom after a video of him shouting at a student was posted on the YouTube website.
École Secondaire Mont-Bleu has also suspended two 13-year-old girls.
'If they even see an earbud coming out of your shirt, they're going to take it away.'— École Secondaire Mont-Bleu student
According to the Portages-de-l'Outaouais school board, the incident took place a month ago, when one student provoked the teacher into yelling at her while a classmate secretly taped the confrontation.
After the video was posted on the popular internet video site, the teacher was so embarrassed that he stayed home from work, where he remains.
Colleagues say the teacher has 32 years of experience and has spent many of those years instructing special classes for students with discipline problems.
Jocelyn Blondin, head of the school board, said he hopes the teacher will eventually return to the classroom.
"The kids feel bad about it," he added.
The video was taken off YouTube on Monday at the students' request and Blondin said there will be a meeting next week to determine how long the girls will be suspended from classes.
'The teacher will be the master of his class'
Meanwhile, the incident has forced classmates to unplug at school.
Abdu Mansouri, a spokesman for the teachers' union, said it's important for teachers to be able to enforce discipline.
"The teacher will be the master of his class — a closed class and confidential," Mansouri said, adding that even with the ban on everything from cellphones to iPods, teachers will likely still fear that they are being filmed.
Students have been told that they will not be searched "but if they even see an earbud coming out of your shirt, they're going to take it away," said one teen who goes to the school.
The teachers' union is trying to get cellphones and other personal electronic devices banned from all schools in western Quebec.
'Confidentiality' a problem
Parent Mike Geisterfer said he understands the teachers' perspective, but teachers need to be accountable for their actions, and he has concerns about that attitude toward "confidentiality."
"What's going to happen when doors [are] closed?" he asked. "Are students going to be taken seriously when they have complaints?"
Incidents similar to the one that took place in Gatineau are common, as a quick search of the words "angry teacher" reveals on YouTube.
In fact, one such event took place earlier this month at École Secondaire Charles-Gravel in Chicoutimi, Que. School officials called police after learning that students had posted a video of an enraged teacher from the school on YouTube.
Réjean Tremblay, the school principal, told the CBC's French language service Radio-Canada last week that students had set the scene up by provoking the teacher. They then filmed her with a cellphone camera. He added that the school could not tolerate such serious pranks.
An officer with the Sûreté municipale de Saguenay told the CBC Thursday that police will charge the culprit with damaging the teacher's reputation once they find out who made the film.
In the Ottawa-Carleton school district, union spokeswoman Kerry Houlahan said she is concerned about how easily images can be taken and manipulated without a person knowing.
"I think it's something that needs to be addressed," she said.
The Gatineau incident takes place the same week that a high-profile scandal erupted over another YouTube film — Michael Richards, who played Kramer on the Seinfeld television show, apologized publicly after a video was posted on the popular website of him in the midst of a racist tirade in a comedy club.
