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They are now developing a Web site to help educate their peers on the same issues and plan to visit elementary and middle school students this year to pass on Internet safety messages. Students also created individual blogs this week. "We're trying to develop youth to be leaders in the city and the state and the nation and the world. With the Internet, it's not just local," said Akua Goodrich, the program's director who helped found the Power Unit for Motivating Youth, an after-school and mentoring program in the city. "We have to prepare them to be safe and help spread the message."

"When you're a kid, you don't want to listen to an adult who doesn't know what you're going through," she said. "You're much more open to listen to your peers talk to you. It's more interesting."

But before they even met with Digla, the students had been well versed with the workings of the professional world through the program’s “Real-Life Curriculum.”That covers everything from positive messaging, effective communication, interview etiquette and professional presentation to how to navigate through social programs, legal rights and the judicial system.

Miller noted that the dual experience of the program – the hands on learning in video production along with the invaluable life skills components – is what makes the program a little different than other options for high school kids during their off-season. She hopes the program will be duplicated in other areas around the country.

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.”