A Minnesota teenager is now $70,000 richer after winning a lawsuit against her school for making her give up her Facebook password back in 2011, CBS Minnesota reported.
Riley Stratton was a sixth grader attending a Minnewaska school when she wrote on her Facebook page that she did not like her teacher's aide. The school's administrators made Stratton give them her email and Facebook passwords.
"I was in tears," the now 15-year-old Stratton told the Star Tribune. A police officer was present when they asked for her information. "I was embarrassed when they made me give over my password."
The American Civil Liberties union filed a lawsuit against Minnewaska Area Schools on Riley's behalf. Though the district claims they asked Stratton's parents for permission to retrieve the passwords, they agreed to pay $70,000 in damages to the teenager, CBS News reported.
"A lot of schools, like the folks at Minnewaska, think that just because it's easier to know what kids are saying off campus through social media somehow means the rules have changed, and you can punish them for what they say off campus," said lead attorney Wallace Hilke, the Star Tribune reported.
Stratton told the Star Tribune she tried to find out who told on her after the school officials called her in.
"I was a little mad at whoever turned me in 'cause it was outside school when it happened," she said.
Once the school had her password they went through her Facebook page right in front of her.
"They punished her for doing exactly what kids have done for 100 years- complaining to her friends about teachers and administrators" Hilke told the Star Tribune.
The district's superintendent, Greg Schmidt, said he knows that critics say they overstepped their boundaries.
"But we want to make kids aware that their actions outside school can be detrimental," Schmidt said, the Star Tribune reported. "The school's intent wasn't to be mean or bully this student, but to really remedy someone getting off track a little."
Stratton said she's just happy the case is over.
"I hope that schools all over see what happened and don't punish other students the way I was punished," Stratton said in a statement obtained by CBS News.
