In a suburb just outside of Portland, Maine, three teenagers were suspended for “bullying” after posting sticky notes in Cape Elizabeth High School. The notes warned their peers about sexual violence with the intention of raising awareness about sexual assault in the community. One note, for example, was posted in the girl’s bathroom and read, “There’s a rapist in our school and you know who it is.”
None of the notes identified a person by name or suggested that the people posting them were survivors of assault. One of the students involved, 15-year-old Aela Mansmann is suing the school district over her three-day suspension, as reported by the Associated Press. Specifically, she believes the school violated her First Amendment rights. The lawsuit also alleges that Mansmann was punished for speaking to the media about the incident. (The two other students who were suspended have not yet come forward publicly.)
“Even though her speech did not cause a material and substantial disruption to the school day,” the complaint notes in part, “and did not otherwise fall into one of the narrow categories of student speech that can be regulated by the school, including language that is lewd and indecent."
The ACLU of Maine has taken on Mansmann’s case. It wants a federal court to stop her suspension. Even before this move, however, the suspension garnered a lot of attention. Just last week, dozens of students walked out of class in solidarity. At their walkout, the students had a list of demands, including better responses to sexual assault allegations, consent-focused education, and expunging the records of students who were “whistleblowers.”
The ACLU filed a motion on Sunday asking for a temporary restraining order against the school district.
“I think anyone that has experienced any sort of sexual violence or harassment is especially vulnerable when they are going through their healing process, and to have an ally who is willing to advocate for that, I think is crucial and beneficial,” the sophomore said in a phone interview with the Associated Press.
Now, back to this bullying accusation. In a letter sent to the community, principal Jeffrey Shedd said that a male student informed the school that he felt unsafe at school because of the notes. Why? Because he believes he’s the target of them. The district’s policy on bullying is both vague and sweeping. In the end, Shedd says that the male student missed eight days of school. He has since returned.
Most recently, on Tuesday, the AP reports that superintendent Donna Wolfrom declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for the district, as the case is now in court.
Mansmann has not yet begun her suspension; the school agreed to wait until a hearing takes place on Oct. 21. It’s unknown whether the other two students have served their suspensions already or not.
While many details are still unknown, it is true that survivors of sexual abuse often face criticism and backlash when coming forward with their stories. In this case, the ACLU is arguing that these notes serve a general purpose to raise awareness for sexual violence in the community.
The sophomore leading this movement says the same. "It was really addressing the general culture of our school, and keeping in mind several specific cases," Mansmann explained to BuzzFeed News in an interview. "But there are so many it's hard to pinpoint just one and advocate for just one of them."
Here’s an interview with Mansmann:
And here’s a clip that includes the walkout:
