The First Amendment in the Computer Age

According to an opinion piece in the July 20th USA Today, students in schools are turning to blogs, Facebook and all kinds of Internet sites to voice their displeasure over Teachers, Principals...and other students.

A girl in Pembroke Pines, Fla. was suspended after complaining about "the worst teacher I've ever met." Now that she's graduated she's pursuing civil claims.
The story intrigued me so I did some digging (if only the author of the article did likewise [sigh]) The REAL story, according to a NY Times article published February 2009, states the girl DID start a Facebook page about the teacher and got a few responses. Some students even stood up for the teacher. At any rate, the page was taken down within a few days. Two Months later, the girl was called into the Principal's office and suspended for "cyberbullying."
Unfortunately, what the girl did doesn't really fall under the guidelines of cyberbullying.
StopCyberbullying.org, an organization dedicated to Internet safety, security and privacy, defines cyberbullying as: "a situation when a child, tween or teen is repeatedly 'tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted' by another child or teenager using text messaging, email, instant messaging or any other type of digital technology." (Thank you, Wikipedia!)
Of course, the Principal couldn't very well call her to the office and say, "We're suspending you for exercising your right to free speech." So, I'm thinking the Principal must have taken up to a month to figure out how he could suspend the girl and cyberbullying was the only thing he could find, even though, it appears, the teacher had no clue about the Facebook page to begin with!
Pamela Brown, assistant director for the Broward County School District who oversees expulsions says “You can express an opinion on whether someone is a good teacher, but when you start inviting people to say that they hate a teacher, that crosses the line.”
Huh?
So, it's fine to follow the herd and say good things about people but as soon as you disagree and invite others who also disagree, well, then you're crossing a line. Of course you are! Because you're inciting rebellion against the status quo, isn't that right, Ms. Brown. Can't have that, can we??
Somehow, I can picture Ms. Brown sitting in her office with a huge swastika hanging behind her.
Sieg Heil!

So, does the student from Pembroke Pines, Fla. have protection under the First Amendment? I say 'yes.' If after school she was with a group of friends talking about how terrible this teacher was and the Principal happened to overhear, yes, he could try to suspend her (and the rest of the group) but he wouldn't get very far because her speech is protected by the First Amendment. Putting it down on an Internet page makes it different? Nope. She doesn't have First Amendment rights because she wasn't legally an adult? Nope.

As an update to this story: As of Feb. 2010, a Federal Judge has ruled that the former student can go ahead with the lawsuit AND has rejected the former Principal's claim of qualified immunity. You go, Girl!!

Are there any violations of Free Speech in your area? Let me hear about it!