A teacher accused of making homophobic comments on Facebook last week has been cleared of the charges against him reports Towleroad via NewsTalkKZRG.com.
"We've investigated and found no wrong-doing on the part of the teacher," said Joplin Superintendent Doctor CJ Huff.
Whitney was accused of replying to a former student's post about bullying in the schools by saying "Moral of the story: Don't be gay." When another Facebook user asked, "How many more kids have to kill themselves before everyone realizes that this is an actual issue?" another post attributed to Whitney stated, "11-13 ought to do it."
"It's unfortunate when you're dealing with social media and dealing with technology and the potential for people to get on to other people's accounts and say things that shouldn't be said," added Huff who says that Whitney's account was hacked.
Though the former student involved in the incident claimed that the comments seemed "out of character for Whitney," the math teacher's initial response to the accusations mentioned nothing about being hacked and could be read as taking credit for the posts:
"I do not condone bullying or harassment of any kind and I am very aware and saddened by the negative impact this type of behavior creates. I regret that the posts appeared on Facebook. They do not reflect my personal views and I apologize for any and all offenses caused by the comment."