Since reading about this case, whenever I hear about any conviction I compare the jail time the person receives to this case. For example, a ‘blue collar criminal’ received three years in prison for embezzlement; to me, and I’d think to most people, that is a much lesser crime. Therefore, raping a minor should have had at least that long of an incarceration. I’m shocked that 120 days is even remotely considered a ‘valid’ sentence for a severe crime, especially rape.

A teacher has a special responsibility for the children in their care since they are in a position of authority and control. It is never acceptable for an adult teacher to have sex with a minor student. It is a crime. It is rape. It is never legally consensual because of the age and relationship of the student and teacher.

Bryan Dale Farmer is a rapist as well as former Tennessee high school teacher and coach. This case, which happened at Northeast High School in Clarksville, was not his 1^st conviction, and there have been allegations from at least three different schools and over a dozen girls. He is now a registered sex offender in Tennessee.

After his 120 day sentence, when he has another victim, who will be to blame? Since I have a [minor] daughter, I am especially appalled by this case. Teenagers may act grown up and look grown up, but in many ways they are not adults. Teenage girls are under a lot of pressure to look thin, attractive and sexy. An older man could take advantage of their infatuation and inexperience. Teenagers have had crushes on their teachers for years – that is no excuse for a teacher to rape a student.

I’d like to express my sympathy to the students and their parents, friends and family who have had to endure this injustice. If you’d like to blame the teens or their parents, you are welcome to your opinion. I do not feel blaming the victim is appropriate. However, if you have other information about how this sentence was rendered, or details about this case, the public, including the parents of Tennessee students, would be interested .

For more information, refer to:

• Channel 5
• The Tennessean
• Knoxville News
• Teacher Blog

This article was submitted by a Clarksville online reader and parent of a minor student. We have exercised our option, at her request, to withhold her identity. The factual material and related news links have been verified.

With those words with the numeric ‘1′ displayed in a small black-bordered box on the social networking website, MySpace,  a boy said goodbye to family and friends before taking his life on Wednesday. Above the ID box on his page, which had been set to private and therefore viewable only to his “friends,” this Northeast High School student had written the chilling words, “wishing it would all just end.” In the notation of his mood, he had entered a single word: “Blissful.”

Thursday morning, unsuspecting NEHS students heard the announcement of 16-year-old Steven McCausland’s death over the PA system, along with a request for a moment of silence. Crisis counselors were on hand to assist students, some of whom were crying the hallways and in class. Teachers reportedly made numerous referrals for any student affected by the loss of their friend and classmate. Many students gathered after school to console each other.

According to his friends, Steven was present at lunch Wednesday, but they now know that around 12:30 he wrote a multi-paragraph blog on MySpace (which can only be accessed by his MySpace “friends”), in which he speaks of his despondency, his perception of a bleak and hopeless future, and posed a curiosity and uncertainty about what might or might not come after death. It was a lost voice also saying a slightly longer goodbye to his friends, some of whom remembered he “was happy sometimes” but also “sad a lot,” and sometimes sat at the cafeteria lunch table with his head buried in his arms. He was sitting that way the last time they sat with him, just hours before his death.

So it was that my granddaughter, one of Steven’s friends, arrived at my home, ostensibly to finish up college application paperwork, but more importantly to log in on my computer and, in the privacy of my room, read and share with me a glimpse of the brief but heartbreaking blog Steven left behind. Tears shed in classes and after school in the company of friends were shed again, and her college paperwork was set aside for another day. There is a time for everything, and this was a time to grieve.

At Clarksville Online, our heartfelt condolences go out to Steven’s family and friends. We also extend our thanks and appreciation to the faculty and staff at Northeast High School for their support of our young people as they grapple with this difficult loss. Funeral arrangements are being handled by the Neal-Tarpley Funeral Home.

A time to grieve…

Clarksville Therapist Polly Coe, in addressing the issue of teen suicide, said young people may likely feel guilt over the loss of their friend.

“It is important for [friends] to know that it is not their fault. Too often they try to second guess themselves, and wonder if there was something they could have noticed or said or done. They think they should have seen it coming. But it is not their fault.”

Coe said it is important that the students be allowed to express their grief, and schools will often hold memorial service.

“Kids need to grieve. And the boy’s parents need to know he was loved by so many friends.”

She noted that the moods and emotions teenagers experience come hard and fast, and are hard to keep up with. She encourages an awareness of changes in mood, behavior and friends, and watch for indicators of unhealthy change.

A personal response…

As as a professional journalist, I frequently write about tragedy. On a personal level, my life has been touched by both suicide and murder/suicide. As a human being, my heart and soul aches deeply over these losses, particularly when they affect the very young, who may not yet know what wonders life may have in store for them.

Watching my granddaughter’s tears resurrected many images I had set aside, and in the hard drive of memory I searched for the feelings I too had known as I tried to find the right words to comfort her. Hugs are part of the answer. I also told her to trust her judgment about funeral services, and if she chose to, to go with friends if the memorial services are open and not restricted to family. A formal ceremony can help with closure by providing a formalized opportunity to say goodbye. It would not be unusual too for Steven’s friends to have their own service, remembering his friendship and love in any way they choose. For whether he realized it or not, he was loved by many.

As I thought about the tragic events of this day, I did a bit of research and offer this additional information to our readers:

Suicide Statistics

Suicide is relatively rare among children, but the rate of suicide attempts and deaths increases tremendously during adolescence. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Only homicide and accidents claim more lives.

“The risk of suicide increases dramatically when kids and teens have access to firearms at home, and nearly 60% of all suicides in the United States are committed with a gun. That’s why any gun in your home should be unloaded, locked, and kept out of the reach of children and teens. Ammunition should be stored and locked apart from the gun, and the keys for both should be kept in a different area from where you store your household keys. Always keep the keys to any firearms out of the reach of children and adolescents.

“It’s important to understand how suicide rates are different for boys and girls. Girls think about and attempt suicide about twice as often as boys, and girls tend to attempt suicide by overdosing on drugs or cutting themselves. Boys die by suicide about four times as much as girls, perhaps because they tend to use more lethal methods, such as firearms, hanging, or jumping from heights.”

– Nemours Foundation

Warning Signs

Suicide among teens often occurs following a stressful life event, such as a perceived failure at school, a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend, the death of a loved one, a divorce, or a major family conflict.

A teen who is thinking about suicide may:

• talk about suicide or death in general

• talk about “going away”

• talk about feeling hopeless or feeling guilt

• pull away from friends or family

• lose the desire to take part in favorite things or activities

• have trouble concentrating or thinking clearly

• experience changes in eating or sleeping habitsexhibit self-destructive behavior (drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or driving too fast)

Most teens show some indicators that all is not well in their world; things that may seem relatively insignificant or innocuous to an adult can feel insurmountable to a child or teen. It is important for parents to know the warning signs and seek help if any of those signs are present.

Helping your teen cope with loss

If someone your teen knows, perhaps a friend or a classmate, has attempted or committed suicide, acknowledge your child’s many emotions. Some teens feel guilty — especially those who felt they could have interpreted their friend’s actions and words better. Others say they feel angry with the person who committed or attempted suicide for having done something so selfish. Still others say they feel no strong emotions. All of these reactions are appropriate; emphasize to your teen that there is no right or wrong way to feel.

When someone attempts suicide and survives, people may be afraid of or uncomfortable about talking with him or her about it. Tell your teen to resist this urge; this is a time when a person absolutely needs to feel connected to others. Most schools (as do Montgomery County schools) address a student’s suicide by calling in special counselors to talk with the students and help them deal with their feelings. If your teen is having difficulty dealing with a friend or classmate’s suicide, it’s best to make use of these resources or to talk to you or another trusted adult. Teens cannot always handle such trauma alone.

Material on Teen Suicide reviewed by Matthew K. Nock PhD, 6/2005 for the Nemours Foundation. Originally reviewed by David V. Sheslow PHD and Steven Dowshen MD.

The Teen Suicide Hotline number if 1-800- SUICIDE or 1-800-784-2433. The talk line is 1_800 273-TALK or 1-800-273-8255, all of these numbers are toll-free, 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. Other numbers for countries around the world can be found at http://www.befrienders.org/

Purple hair. Well, the color on the box claimed to be “ultra violet.” And for Rochelle, it’s been her normal hair color for some time.

There’s not a word — not one word — in the student handbook, code of conduct or dress code section that says anything about hair color, and bolder, wilder shades than Rochelle’s purple are seen across the social strata at Northeast — in streaks or by the whole headfull. It isn’t a case of gang colors or logo’d T-shirts or bandannas or studded belts.

On Thursday morning, ten minutes after arriving for her first day as a senior at Northeast High School, Rochelle was told by Vice-Principal Nancy Borders that she would have to change her hair back to a “normal” color or face a three day suspension. “Don’t come back with that hair on Monday,” Rochelle was told. No comment was made as to what might happen beyond that three-day suspension if Rochelle’s hair color remained unchanged.

As Rochelle moved through the entrance hall, she was in a crowd that included three students with crimson hair, three with similar purple hues, and one with green hair. None of them were challenged, nor apparently destined to be office assistants.

At the end of the day, Rochelle returned to the school on Trenton Road, hoping to speak with Miss Champion. Rochelle said she was told that while Miss Champion was “all for self expression,” she did not want Rochelle and her purple hair in the office representing the school by way of the office.

Melissa Champion, NEHS principal, admitted she personally would not necessarily suspend Rochelle for her hair color but would “not allow her to work in the office with that hair.” Nonetheless, she is apparently upholding the Vice-Principal’s challenge. According to Rochelle, she was told that she is “not on the outside” now, which was a direct reference to her upcoming work “on the inside” as an school aide.

Outside? Does that mean you are beyond something — apart (whether above or below) the average student, outside of their realm — or maybe because you are in a small number of students in the Aide program, qualified, competent and talented enough to take on the responsibility of assisting teachers in their classroom or the school office. For credit and experience. Rochelle, who has other classes like Physics and Advanced Placement English with its summer reading assignment of Crime and Punishment, is still a student. A student who has shown exemplary responsibility.

“It’s discrimination,” Rochelle says, noting that other students have bolder, brighter hair, for much longer periods of time last year alone, and nothing was done. “It isn’t fair. This is how I express myself,” she said, adding that her first reaction to the threat of a three-day suspension was to read line by line the student handbook and code of conduct. She came up empty on the issue of hair color. Nothing there.

The Dress Code Entry for the Clarksville Montgomery County School System, as posted on the school system website, reads as follows:

The (CMCSS) has established standards for students’ dress. Refer to your Student Handbook (in this case, the NEHS Eagles Handbook), for a complete list of the standards and regulations.

A quick list of Do’s and Don’ts: Tank top shirts, bare midriffs, sunglasses, hats, caps, headbands, sagging pants, cut-off shorts, cropped shirts, holes in jeans, T-shirts with profanity or tobacco and alcohol advertising, body piercing other than earrings, shorts or skirts shorter than mid-thigh/approximately knee length, skirts with slits above the knee of mid thigh.

If you aren’t certain whether your dress is appropriate for school, don’t wear it. The principals and faculty will determine whether a student’s clothing is appropriate. Disciplinary action may be taken regarding the dress code at the principals’ discretion.

That’s it. No mention of hair color. Only a troubling statement that principals can use “discretion,” which means that this portion of school policy and what constitutes acceptable lengths and styles in clothing and jewelry is highly subjective, open to individualized interpretation, and therefore wide open to unequal treatment at the whim and judgment of individual administrators.

In referencing the aforementioned “complete list” in the NEHS Eagles Student Conduct handbook, information identical to the in CMCSS handbook is presented, again without mention of hair color.

In an interview that aired on WKAG News 3 Friday at 6:30 p.m., Miss Champion backpedaled from the information and statements originally given to Rochelle Thursday morning and said that students were in fact allowed to dye their hair, as long as it was not a “distraction.” Who defines distraction? Who is distracting? Is it the boy with the green Mohawk? The girl with the crimson hairdo? If purple hair is unsuitable in the front office (as, apparently would be red, green pink etc), should it then be unsuitable throughout school?

But it’s gone beyond the hair color now; it’s the fact that Rochelle feels singled out because she was about to be an Aide. Rochelle added that several of her friends offered to dye their own hair in support of her.

“It’s made me mad,” Rochelle said, noting she is still a student and no less worthy because she chooses to express her creative edge. She was upset by the fact that creativity and thinking outside the box is supposed to be encouraged, yet the lid to the box shuts down over the potential image of one student with colorful hair working in the office for just a few hours a day.

Rochelle notes that dress code items like “sagging” (wearing one’s pants with the crotch at knee level) are rampant and blatantly against written rules, but those rules are not enforced. She asks why she is being singled out, and believes there is no good reason for her to be suspended over the streaks of purple in her hair.

There remains a discrepancy over whether or not the suspension will take place Monday morning, whether the office Aide job will still be there, and whether Rochelle will further test the waters over what she sees as her civil right. She’ll probably keep testing that water. Not because she’s defiant. Because she believes that, until and unless a uniform policy is in place, it’s her right.

Her hair color is a choice, she says, an expression of herself and her personality, and her right to wear it in this color choice is an integral part of her right to self-expression and free speech. Her hair, she says, is her personal statement.

Rochelle’s mother, Kelly LaPlante, whose hair is dyed crimson in experimentation for an annual science fiction costume event, said she supports her daughter “completely and with all my heart.” LaPlante said she has always taught her children “to stand up for what they believe in and stand up for what is right. ” She believes her daughter’s rights are about to be violated (via the potential suspension on Monday), and perused the school handbook line by line looking for a reference to hair color. She found none.

LaPlante said she believes everything her daughter said about the incident and what was said to her daughter in the school office. “If there is one thing I know, it is that Rochelle doesn’t lie… if anything she is brutally and bluntly honest. And always has been.”

Editor’s Note: I’ve worked hard at piecing this story together, working overtime to be fair, watching the footage from WKAG, in part because the Rochelle in question is my granddaughter. I love and admire her ability to hold her own against peer pressure, be herself, and be true to herself and her beliefs in all circumstances. The women in my family, all the way back to my mother, have had strong streaks of independence and extreme creativity and have always taken the road less traveled despite the potholes and bumps. If the school system wants to selectively control some aspects of the appearance of their students using the “discretion” of administrators, unequal treatment will inevitably result. If the school wants to control hair color, they need to make it system wide policy within the code of conduct and not penalize a select few — or one. If Rochelle’s assignment to the school office is revoked, and/or if suspension over her hair color is implemented, that is discrimination and a violation of her rights.