School Slander

**cheetah202** · 05-29-2007, 02:32 PM

Last year at the end of March our school went on a big spring break field trip to France. The trip was pretty sweet for the first couple days, going to all the museums and stuff. Then on the 3rd day of the trip some chaperones went into our room and found a bag of absinthe that was lying on the ground, that we bought earlier downtown Paris. They thought it was weed so they left the room and sat in the hallway to have a little meeting while we were still in the room... so we decided to throw it out the window because we wern't too sure if it was 100% legal in France or not. When they came back into the room they searched us all down, took all of our cigarettes and threw them out. They told us that we shouldn't of had weed on the trip and that it is very illegal in France... we kept telling them that it wasn't weed and that it was absinthe. They said that they were going to send us back home and/or threatended to send us to French jail "where we would get raped" and wouldn't have a good time. Now for the whole trip for the next 9 days we're ruined, we had to sleep in chaperones room - under watch, which is against school rules to begin with. We had no free time, always had a chaperone with us for the whole trip while the other kids could do what they wanted to. Pretty much wasted my parents $3000 on the trip that we've been looking forward to for about 8 years... all down the drain....

Now that isn't the end of the story. While we we're still in France, we were threatended to get sent back. So one of the Vice Principals of the school told people/admins that we got busted for weed on the trip and that we were getting sent back - which is also against regulations, no outsider has any right to my information that's been going around on this trip but me. So by the time I got back the whole school heard about what happend, the rumor changed from "I got bused and sent back to I got thrown into jail, got raped and somehow escaped". There were some rumors that I put an ounce of weed up my butt and brought it over the border, which is very un-called for.

Now by that time the whole school thought I was a druggy, the people I used to know didn't show much respect for me that much anymore, everyones parents always gave me second looks, teachers treated me like a criminal. People kept questioning me what happend and it bothered me to the extent where in May I just dropped out of school because of all the hasseling. In June I realized I could've passed my classes but people bothering me about being a big druggy(even though weeds not that much of a drug.. but people have no business anyways). Seeing all of my childhood classmates graduate like that drawn me into a big depression, I just wasn't the same anymore. I began doing hard drugs like cocaine and ecstasy because it helped me feel much better about myself, I had nothing to worry about exept for that time I was having. Then I realized 3 months later that what I was doing was wrong and that I should stop, so I did. I've lost over 60 pounds of weight, became very unhealthy. Developed even more depression/anxiety(that still continues).

When I went back to school in September to sign up, the same teachers kept hasseling me asking me how I lost my weight, and if I was alright... I just looked at them because they're just a bunch of f----ing **********s who started all of those lies which brought me down to this.

My life has changed, people view me as a big druggy, criminal, I have depression and anxiety, my reputation is all gone. I'm just wondering what I can do about this...

panther10758 · 05-29-2007, 02:45 PM

Change Schools you brought a lot of this on yourself

**Mr. Knowitall** · 05-29-2007, 03:53 PM

You're upset because they thought you had marijuana, whereas in fact you were "only" smoking and drinking? You had the opportunity to clear yourself as to the marijuana accusation and chose instead to destroy the evidence? And this led to a cloud of suspicion that followed you (but apparently not your roommates) back to your school? And you dealt with this by proving them right?

Get over the idea that you have a lawsuit. Even assuming the statute of limitations has not run (in many states it's a year for defamation) and the fact that the acts central to your claim didn't even occur in the United States, and even assuming you could relate your damages to the accusation made in France, how would you be able to meet your burden of proof or establish that this was not a reasonable opinion under the circumstances? Recall, you destroyed the evidence.