Unanswered Questions Surrounding Kenneka Jenkins and a High School Teacher's Misconduct

Brianna Cook

Recently, a live video on Facebook from a friend of 19 year old Kenneka Jenkins raised eyebrows and suspicions of the cause of her death. Kenneka Jenkins body was found in the walk-in freezer in a hotel in Chicago on September 9th. One of her friends who she happened to be partying with the night before her death, posted a live video on Facebook which sparked accusations of foul play on social media and of course, cause questionable activity for all of the individuals who were present at the party. Activists urged those who were making assumptions to stop making accusations on social media because in reality, that is cyberbullying. There have yet to be any results released ruling the cause of Jenkins death, but until then people will continue to assume and point fingers.

This entire case about the death of Kenneka Jenkins has been on my mind since I first heard about it. It is so unfortunate that there are no definite answers and that nobody knows what happened or can get any answers. The videos, the Facebook statuses, all of the evidence is not enough to prove what truly happened. I honestly believe that if social media was not such a major part of our lives, Kenneka would not have wandered off or whatever foul play was involved would not have happened. I believe regardless of whether or not the people she attended the party with have anything to do with her death, they should all be questioned. She died innocently and it is unfair to her family.

High school social studies teacher, Daniel Lavelle, lost his job and was arrested as he was accused of inappropriately texting one of his students. He was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, as the messages or the nature of the conversation being held with the student was putting him or her in danger. Edenedo, N. (2017, June 2). Teacher arrested for allegedly texting student at Briarcliff High School. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from http://www.fios1news.com/lowerhudsonvalley/teacher- arrested-texting-student-Briarcliff-High-6-2-17#.WcB9MciGMdW

Connecting through technology and the communication outside of school between students and teachers needs to be limited to avoid situations as such. I believe the appropriate way for teachers and students to communicate online is through email or over the phone if necessary, not through personal phones or text messages. I understand that teachers want to be as relatable as possible, so they give their students their cellphone numbers but then it gives opportunity for situations to become too personal. It makes other students uncomfortable knowing that the teacher is having personal conversations with students and can turn very bad.

Rutgers student Amanda Serpico, was accused of plagiarizing in one of her courses which caused her to fail and prevented her from being accepted from her top two graduate schools. She claims that she did not plagiarize and that she even had her paper checked and detected and there was a flaw in the website. Serpico sued Rutgers to change her grade, but that may have no effect on the situation. Bailey, J. (2011, December 5). Lessons from the Amanda Serpico Plagiarism Case. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2011/12/05/lessons-from-the-amanda-serpico-plagiarism- case/

Plagiarism in both high school and college is very hard to avoid and it all depends on the teacher/professor that you have and how strict they are on their plagiarism policies. There is a difference between a slight detection of plagiarism and outright copying word for word from someone else s work. In this case, it is unclear as to whether or not Amanda intentionally plagiarized or if the website really did not do it s job. In turn, if she did not cite all of her sources correctly, that is what caused the issue. She learned a very big lesson from a situation that seems so small to most of us.

A 12 year old student from Jersey, Mallory was pushed to suicide due to cyberbullying through text messages by her classmates. She was a straight A student who was involved in gymnastics who started getting ill and did not want to attend school due to the constant bullying. Apparently, the administrators ignored months of pleas from the student and parents who minimized the severity of the situation. Rosenblatt, K. (2017, August 01). Cyberbullying Tragedy: New Jersey Family to Sue After 12-Year-Old Daughter's Suicide. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/new- jersey-family-sue-school-district-after-12-year-old-n788506

50% of students report being cyberbullied and 25% report it being done repeatedly. Like stated in the video such a small device can be such a lethal weapon in the hands of the wrong child. It is important for teachers and administrators to do more than just teach the students, but to also be aware of what goes on in the social media world and to actually believe the students if they claim to be getting bullied. It is such a common thing these days and students voices are not being heard enough.