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Anne Bubnic

Curbing Cyberbullying in School and on the Web - 0 views

markfranek.wordpress.com/...the-virtual-schoolyard

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shared by Anne Bubnic on 05 Sep 08 - Cached
  • Many of the most egregious acts of cyberbullying do not take place during school hours or on school networks, a situation that presents a dilemma for public school administrators: If they punish a student for off-campus behavior, they could get hit with a freedom of speech suit.  If they do nothing, students may continue to suffer and school officials theoretically could get hit with failure to act litigation. For school administrators, it appears to be an unfortunate “catch-22.” For lawyers, it’s a “perfect storm,” pitting freedom of speech advocates against the victims of cyberbullying and schools that try to intervene. There are no easy answers in this arena, few laws, and no well-established precedents that specifically deal with cyberbullying.
  • “School administrators can intervene in cyberbullying incidents, even if the incidents do not take place on school grounds, if they can demonstrate that the electronic speech resulted in a substantial disruption to the educational environment.”
  • These cases illustrate not only a lack of precedent on cyberbullying cases, but also a dilemma for school administrators on how to handle cyberbullying.  “There are few laws that address how to handle cyberbullying, and many schools don’t have an internal policy to deal with cyberbullying that takes place off-campus,” offers Deutchman.  “It may take an unfortunate and tragic event on school property to get more schools to consider tackling electronic behavior that originates off campus.  It’s only a matter of time before a cyberbully, or the victim of cyberbullying, uses deadly force during school hours.”
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • So, what should schools do in the meantime?  First, school officials should establish a consistent internal policy (much like a crisis plan) and a team (minimally made up of the principal, school counselor, and technology director) to deal with cyber-misconduct. This team should fully document disruptive incidents and the degree to which the learning environment is affected. The principal should invite the cyberbully’s parents to review the offending material before considering disciplinary action. Most parents at this point will do the right thing.
  • Second, schools should educate children, starting in elementary school, about the importance of cyber-safety and the consequences of cyberbullying, especially on the school’s own network. These rules should be clearly posted in the computer labs and written in age-appropriate language. The rules should be sent home to parents each year—and they should be posted prominently on the school’s website.
  • Third, teachers should continue incorporating in their curriculum projects that utilize the web and other powerful new technologies. This probably won’t help schools avoid lawsuits; it’s just good pedagogy. It’s not surprising that schools that keep up with the latest technology and software—and employ teachers who care about the quality of online communication—report lower incidents of cyber-misconduct.
  • In addition, schools should update their codes of conduct to include rules that can legally govern off-campus electronic communication that significantly disrupts the learning environment. They should also assign enough resources and administrative talent to deal with students who engage in cyber-misconduct. One very big caveat: Disciplining a student for off-campus electronic speech should be done only as a last resort, and certainly not before seeking legal counsel.
  • Finally, schools should realize that not all cyberbullies need to be disciplined. Schools should act reasonably, responsibly, and consistently—so as to avoid the very bullying behavior they are trying to curb. Until the courts provide clear standards in the area of off-campus electronic speech for young people, these recommendations will go a long way in making schools a safer learning environment for everyone.
  • Anne Bubnic on 05 Sep 08
     
    Most school administrators have more than one story to tell about cyberbullying. They report that victims of cyberbullying experience low self-esteem, peer isolation, anxiety, and a drop in their grades. They note that victims may miss class or other school-related activities. Principals also point to recent high-profile cases where cyberbullying, left unchecked, led to suicide. In response, some schools have created new policies and curbed free speech on the school's computer network and on all electronic devices used during school hours. This article offers practical advice for actions schools can take to curb bullying, ranging from policy development to education.
Anne Bubnic

Counteracting Cyberbullying Inside/Outside of School Grounds - 0 views

www.districtadministration.com/VIEWARTICLE.ASPX

ad4dcss cyberbullying legislation student discipline willard

shared by Anne Bubnic on 05 Sep 08 - Cached
  • The problem is that most incidents of cyberbullying occur off-campus because students have more unsupervised time. But the impact is at school where students are physically together. Although there is no data on the extent of harmful impact, anecdotally, it is clear that some incidents lead to students avoiding or even failing school, committing suicide and even becoming violent.
  • Studies on cyberbullying reported in the December 2007 issue of Journal of Adolescent Health reveal that both perpetrators and targets of cyberbullying report significant psychosocial concerns and increased rates of involvement in offline physical and relational aggression
  • One study reported that the victims of cyberbullying were eight times more likely than other students to report bringing a weapon to school. The concerns for student safety are very real. Students who do not believe school officials can help them may seek their own revenge or refuse to come to school.
  • Anne Bubnic on 05 Sep 08
     
    Do school officials have the authority to impose discipline in response to harmful off-campus online speech? Should they? This is a major challenge facing school administrators today. Many state legislatures are now adding statutory provisions requiring schools to incorporate cyberbullying into bullying prevention policies. But this has presented some concerns. For example, in Oregon and Washington, language incorporated into cyberbullying legislation appears to restrict administrators from responding to any off-campus bullying regardless of the harmful impact on campus. Administrators from these two states are advised to check with their legal council. Administrators in other states should understand that the American Civil Liberties Union is trying to use language in the cyberbullying statutes to override federal case law and restrict administrators from doing anything in response to off-campus harmful speech.
Anne Bubnic

Cyber Bullying Presents a Complex Legal Landscape - 0 views

socialworktoday.com/...index.php

ad4dcss cyberbullying legal

shared by Anne Bubnic on 04 Sep 08 - Cached
  • Cyber bullying conducted at school allows school authorities to more easily impose discipline. The use of school equipment to cyber bully also makes a stronger legal argument for action by the school. And if the student e-mails offensive speech to school or downloads it at school and then distributes it, the school is in an advantageous position regarding disciplining the student. However, speech created at home—such as the creation of a Web site—affords greater legal protection for cyber bullies.
  • “The problem with the approach that web speech created at home can—if accessed at school—become school speech that can be regulated is the very nature of the Internet. Once something is created and placed on the Internet, the author loses control over who can access the speech and where it can be accessed.”
  • Anne Bubnic on 04 Sep 08
     
    As students across the country return to school, school districts face an often complicated and confusing legal landscape on how to deal with cyber bullies in their schools, according to Todd DeMitchell, EdD, a professor of education, who studies school liability, adequate supervision, and responses to preventing bullying and cyber bullying from school administrators and state legislatures.
Anne Bubnic

CTAP 4 Cybersafety Project: School Administrator Resources - 0 views

www.ctap4.org/...hoolAdministratorResources.htm

ad4dcss ctap4 cyberbullying digital law digital responsibilities digital wellness facebook incident report myspace pta school administrator school board social networking youtube

shared by Anne Bubnic on 15 Apr 08 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 15 Apr 08
     
    CTAP Region IV has designed this collection of Administrator Resources specifically with the needs of school administrators in mind. Administrator Resources cover 6 vital areas:
    1. Legal Issues
    2. Student Misbehavior in Cyberspace: MySpace, YouTube, Facebook
    3. Cybersafety and School Board Policy Statements
    4. Cyberbullying Documentation: Incident Reports/Review Process
    5. Articles Related to Internet MisUse in the Schools
    6. Materials for PTA Presentations
Anne Bubnic

House passes Rogers' Anti-Bullying Bill [Massachusetts] - 0 views

www.wickedlocal.com/...sses-Rogers-Anti-Bullying-Bill

ad4dcss cybersafety students legal state mandate cyberbullying

shared by Anne Bubnic on 23 Mar 10 - Cached
  • By a unanimous vote, the House of Representatives passed the Anti-Bullying Bill sponsored by Norwood state Rep. John H. Rogers to fight bullying and cyber-bullying in the schools of the Commonwealth. The legislation applies to public schools, charter schools and schools providing special education services to students for school districts.  The bill prohibits bullying at school including school-sponsored events, on school buses and at school bus stops as well as the use of electronic devices to commit cyber-bullying. The ban on bullying includes bullying or cyber-bullying that takes place outside of school if the bullying affects the school environment. 
  • Anne Bubnic on 23 Mar 10
     
    A bullying/cyberbullying bill (similar to the one that passed in California in 2009) became legislation in Massachusetts this week. It requires training of teachers and students, reporting and investigation into cyberbullying incidents by school administrators if the bullying incidents that take place on campus, at school-sponsored events or bullying that affects the school environment.
Anne Bubnic

Student Speech Rights in the Digital Age - 0 views

lsr.nellco.org/...215

ad4dcss cyberbullying digital communication legal social networking

shared by Anne Bubnic on 21 Aug 08 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 21 Aug 08
     
    Last year, the Court ducked an opportunity to determine in Morse v. Frederick whether public schools have authority to restrict student speech that occurs off of school grounds. The Court's refusal to address this issue was unfortunate. For several decades lower courts have struggled to determine when, if ever, public schools should have the power to restrict student expression that does not occur on school grounds during school hours. In the last several years, however, courts have struggled with this same question in a new context -- the digital media. Around the country, increasing numbers of courts have been forced to confront the authority of public schools to punish students for speech on the Internet. In most cases, students are challenging punishments they received for creating fake websites mocking their teachers or school administrators or for making offensive comments on websites or instant messages. More often than not, the lower courts are ruling in favor of the schools.
Anne Bubnic

Student Bashes Administrators, Gets Disciplined - 0 views

www.districtadministration.com/viewarticle.aspx

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shared by Anne Bubnic on 05 Sep 08 - Cached
  • According to Doninger, the principal told her that Jamfest was cancelled because of the students’ action. The principal denied saying that. That evening, Doninger posted an entry on her personal blog in which she noted that Jamfest had been cancelled, referred to the district administrators as “douchebags,” and encouraged continued contact with the superintendent to “piss her off more.” The following day the event was rescheduled. Sometime later school officials
  • The appeals court found that it was reasonably foreseeable that Doninger’s posting would reach campus and that the posting created a foreseeable risk of substantial disruption within the school environment because the language used was offensive. It likely disrupted efforts to resolve the controversy, and the posting that Jamfest had been cancelled made it foreseeable that school operations might well be disrupted further.
  • There was no evidence of any disruption at school. The only disruption was to the principal and superintendent in responding to what was an impressive response to the student’s call for complaints. There was no indication in the record that the disruption interfered in any way with the delivery of instruction or in any way impacted student welfare. If administrators are not being appropriately sensitive to the interests of students or are engaging in other actions that cause concern, students clearly should have the free speech right to protest and to call for other students and community members to register their complaints. Inconveniencing school administrators under such circumstances should not be considered to constitute substantial disruption.
  • Anne Bubnic on 05 Sep 08
     
    A court case upholds administrators' rights to discipline a student who used derogatory language on a blog, but questions arise. In Doninger v. Niehoff, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in May that a Connecticut school district that disciplined a student for vulgar and derogatory remarks made off-campus did not violate her free speech rights.
Anne Bubnic

Cybersafety Legal Issues for School Administrators - 0 views

www.ctap4.org/...AdminLegalIssues.htm

ad4dcss cyberbullying cybersafety cyberthreats digital law digital responsibilities digital safety legal school administrator school board

shared by Anne Bubnic on 19 Apr 08 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 19 Apr 08
     
    Technology has out-paced the legal system in issues related to cyberbullying in the schools. When a cyberbullying incident happens at your school, how will you handle it? What board policies will protect you? What is appropriate discipline? What kind of documentation do you need? How will you assure a safe environment for your students? Learn from national experts who have studied court decisions related to cyberbullying of students, teachers and school administrators.
Anne Bubnic

Bullying Policy at Hudson Area School District - 0 views

www.neola.com/...po5517.01.htm

ad4dcss cyberbullying AUP

shared by Anne Bubnic on 14 Mar 10 - Cached
  • Bullying or other aggressive behavior toward a student, whether by other students, staff, or third parties, including Board members, parents, guests, contractors, vendors, and volunteers, is strictly prohibited. This prohibition includes physical, verbal, and psychological abuse, including hazing, gestures, comments, threats, or actions to a student, which cause or threaten to cause bodily harm, reasonable fear for personal safety or personal degradation. Demonstration of appropriate behavior, treating others with civility and respect, and refusing to tolerate harassment or bullying is expected of administrators, faculty, staff, and volunteers to provide positive examples for student behavior. This policy applies to all activities in the District, including activities on school property, in a school vehicle, and those occurring off school property if the student or employee is at any school-sponsored, school-approved or school-related activity or function, such as field trips or athletic events where students are under the school’s control, or where an employee is engaged in school business. Misconduct occurring outside of school may also be disciplined if it interferes with the school environment. "Bullying" is any gesture or written, verbal, graphic, or physical act (including electronically transmitted acts – i.e. internet, telephone or cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), or wireless hand held device) that is reasonably perceived as being motivated either by any actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or a mental, physical, or sensory disability or impairment; or by any other distinguishing characteristic. Such behavior is considered harassment or bullying whether it takes place on or off school property, at any school-sponsored function, or in a school vehicle.
  • Anne Bubnic on 14 Mar 10
     
    Includes a clause for cyberbullying.
Anne Bubnic

Copyright Guide for School Administrators - 0 views

www.techlearning.com/copyrightguide

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shared by Anne Bubnic on 09 Jun 08 - No Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 09 Jun 08
     
    Copyright primer for school admnistrators, developed by Hall Davidson. This resource is designed to inform school leaders of what they may do under the law. Very helpful document. We use this at all of our CTAP school administrator trainings.
Anne Bubnic

City targets Web to dull bullies' barbs - 0 views

www.boston.com/...gets_web_to_dull_bullies_barbs

ad4dcss cyberbullying facebook legal article cybersafety disruption of school environment

shared by Anne Bubnic on 04 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 04 Apr 10
     
    The calls began coming in Monday. A horrified guidance counselor, a teacher, and then a student lit up Boston's new antibullying tip line, telling officials about multiple Facebook pages that featured pictures of female high school students with derogatory and sexually explicit captions beneath them. Students and city and school officials say they have found at least 15 Facebook pages over the last few days that use obscene or hateful language to target female students, as well as a handful of male students, school administrators, and teachers at schools in Boston and surrounding communities. Boston officials have been scrambling to have the pages removed and have been meeting to figure out how to address the apparent cyberbullying and find the culprits. But as the offending Facebook pages come down, new ones go up. School officials and police are struggling to identify the perpetrators, who have been using fake names when they register with Facebook to create the pages. Police say they could pursue criminal charges if they determine that perpetrators have violated victims' civil rights.
Anne Bubnic

California School Cyberbullying Law Takes Effect Jan. 1 - 0 views

myces.bdmetrics.com/...ng-Law-Takes-Effect-Jan-1.aspx

ad4dcss cyberbullying legislation

shared by Anne Bubnic on 31 Dec 08 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 31 Dec 08
     
    A new law aimed at deterring the proliferation of cyberbullying at public schools goes into effect Jan. 1, bolstering educators' ability to tackle the problem head-on.The law gives school administrators the leverage to suspend or expel students for bullying other students by means of an electronic device such as a mobile phone or on an Internet social networking site like MySpace or Facebook; the law, however, only applies to bullying that occurs during school hours or during a school-related activity.
Anne Bubnic

Fight linked to Facebook post - 1 views

www.newsobserver.com/...t-linked-to-facebook-post.html

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shared by Anne Bubnic on 04 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 04 Apr 10
     
    A spat on Facebook over a recent killing might have led to a fight at Knightdale High School last week. Dominique Royster's Facebook page erupted into expletives and insults after Royster called for the release of Mariah Wisdom from jail. After her Facebook posting and the angry response, Royster received death threats on her cell phone. She was kept out of school for several days until emotions cooled, and her parents had a chance to talk to school administrators about the situation. A member of the school staff who deals with disciplinary problems was assigned to shadow her as she went through the day March 26, her first day back at school after the killing. Four students were cited with misdemeanor assault and released to their parents in connection with the attack.
Anne Bubnic

Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress [Book] - 0 views

new.csriu.org/...cbbook.php

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shared by Anne Bubnic on 14 Apr 08 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 14 Apr 08
     
    Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress
    This book belongs in every school district! Nancy Willard is Director of the Center for Safe & Responsible Internet Use and a noted expert and speaker on the challenges and legal issues related to technology use in the schools. Her book helps school administrators analyze and intervene in cases involving cyberbullying or cyberthreats. She includes illustrative examples, recommendations for practice, and many practical resources. Available through Amazon.com
Anne Bubnic

Cyberbullying: A Legal Review - 1 views

www.ascd.org/...rbullying@_A_Legal_Review.aspx

ad4dcss cyberbullying school administrator teacher social networking legal

shared by Anne Bubnic on 10 Apr 10 - Cached
  • If the disruption or danger can be clearly enunciated and quantified, student discipline is likely warranted and legally appropriate.
  • Anne Bubnic on 10 Apr 10
     
    School officials are justifiably concerned about when and how to respond to cyberbullying of educators. What actions, if any, should administrators and teachers take when faced with such occurrences? Which responses will stand up in a court of law? Educators' most important first response is to pause, step back, and take a deep breath. Administrators and teachers must avoid reacting to students' offensive online communications in anger or fear.
Anne Bubnic

Rosalind Wiseman TedX Talk on bullying prevention. [Video] - 8 views

www.youtube.com/watch

ad4dcss cyberbullying digital citizenship best practices professional development video

shared by Anne Bubnic on 31 Aug 12 - No Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 31 Aug 12
     
    Excellent talk, interesting insights at TEDx. Rosalind Wiseman addresses the complex problem of bullying in schools, and how administrators and parents need to support kids to make schools the safe places that they should be. Teachers, administrators and bullying prevention experts will relate to the challenges.
Anne Bubnic

Humiliation and gossip are weapons of the cyberbully - 0 views

www.pressandjournal.co.uk/...727383

ad4dcss article cellphone cyberbullying digital wellness school administrator social networking

shared by Anne Bubnic on 25 Jul 08 - Cached
  • ead teachers are being advised to draw up new rules on mobile phone use amid a growing number of cases of what is now known as “cyber-bullying”. In many secondary schools, over 90% of bullying cases are through text messages or internet chatrooms. It is hoped that the rules about mobile phone use will protect children from abusive texts, stop phones going off in class and prevent mobiles being taken into exam halls.
  • Although the majority of kids who are harassed online aren’t physically bothered in person, the cyber-bully still takes a heavy emotional toll on his or her victims. Kids who are targeted online are more likely to get a detention or be suspended, skip school and experience emotional distress, the medical journal reports. Teenagers who receive rude or nasty comments via text messages are six times more likely to say they feel unsafe at school.
  • The problem is that bullying is still perceived by many educators and parents as a problem that involves physical contact. Most enforcement efforts focus on bullying in school classrooms, corridors and toilets. But given that 80% of adolescents use mobile phones or computers, “social interactions have increasingly moved from personal contact at school to virtual contact in the chatroom,'’ write Kirk R. Williams and Nancy G. Guerra, co-authors of one of the journal reports. “Internet bullying has emerged as a new and growing form of social cruelty.'’
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Cyber-bullying tactics include humiliation, destructive messages, gossip, slander and other “virtual taunts” communicated through e-mail, instant messaging, chatrooms and blogs. The problem, of course, is what to do about it. While most schools do not allow pupils to use their mobiles in the school building, an outright ban is deemed unworkable. Advances in technology are throwing up new problems for teachers to deal with. Children use their phones to listen to music, tell the time or as a calculator. Cyber-bullies sometimes disclose victims' personal data on websites or forums, or may even attempt to assume the identity of their victim for the purpose of publishing material in their name that defames them or exposes them to ridicule.
  • Anne Bubnic on 25 Jul 08
     
    As more and more people have access to computers and mobile phones, a new risk to youngsters has begun to emerge. Electronic aggression, in the form of threatening text messages and the spread of online rumours on social networking sites, is a growing concern.
Anne Bubnic

Policy Decisions: Social networking in schools - 0 views

www.lexology.com/...detail.aspx

ad4dcss digital citizenship AUP social networking legal school administrators

shared by Anne Bubnic on 11 Apr 10 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 11 Apr 10
     
    Since social-media use is so multi-faceted, no single approach will apply to all situations. Some schools may opt to place an outright ban on social-media access at school as well as prohibit "friending" parents, students and other employees. Other schools may simply prohibit employees from identifying their school online. As the use of social-networking sites for educational and community communication purposes increases, schools may need to adapt to the mainstream use of such sites and recognize that a blanket prohibition simply isn't practical. Regardless, your school should take action now to safeguard against social media mishaps.
Anne Bubnic

A School That's Too High on Gizmos - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...AR2008020803271_pf.html

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shared by Anne Bubnic on 04 Feb 09 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 04 Feb 09
     
    "Technolust" -- a disorder affecting publicity-obsessed school administrators nationwide that manifests itself in an insatiable need to acquire the latest, fastest, most exotic computer gadgets, whether teachers and students need them or want them. Technolust is in its advanced stages at T.C., where our administrators have made such a fetish of technology that some of my colleagues are referring to us as "Gizmo High."
Anne Bubnic

Jeff's Law [Bullying and Cyberbullying in Florida] - 0 views

www.jeffreyjohnston.org/jeffslaw.htm

ad4dcss cyberbullying digital law legal legislation

shared by Anne Bubnic on 12 Aug 08 - Cached
  • Anne Bubnic on 12 Aug 08
     
    HB 669 prohibits the bullying or harassment, including cyber bullying, of any public K-12 student or employee. It requires the Department of Education to adopt a model policy to prohibit bullying and harassment and directs all school districts to adopt a similar policy. School districts are directed to work with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and local law enforcement on developing this policy. School districts will be required to report all instances of bullying or harassment and to notify the parents of the bully and the parents of the victim.
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