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Eight Smithfield State High School students who joined a cyberbullying social networking group that branded another girl a "liar" have been suspended. The Smithfield High students, all girls, were suspended for one day and the Facebook group, which had 11 members, was shut down after The Cairns Post was alerted to it before the Easter school holidays. It is understood the Facebook group was started after an argument between friends. Smithfield High acting principal Barry Courtney said the school took a tough stance against any form of bullying."Our response is students who join any cyberbullying site will be dealt with and it is a suspendable offence and parents are contacted about it straight away," he said.

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.

Salt Lake City's Granite School District is expected to approve a new policy this month barring students and teachers from connecting on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The policy - the first of its kind in Utah - provides an exemption for teachers' sites that are educational, not personal. Officials said there was no specific incident that spurred the new guidelines. But with the popularity of social networking sites in schools, Granite wants to eliminate any gray areas when it comes to teacher-student interaction, district spokesman Ben Horsley said. "The reality is if someone is going to interact inappropriately with a student, there's certainly lots of technology out there that can help them get around those rules and guidelines in a very nonpublic way," Horsley said. "This gives us some tools to move forward on a disciplinary track."

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.

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) has compiled a database of statutes related to bullying, harrassment and hazing. They are sorted alphabetically by state and include information on latest updates and whether or not there is a state cyberbullying policy.

Adults need to be good role models. Politicians need to think about this the next time they consider demonizing (as opposed to criticizing) an opponent. Media personalities and talk show hosts need to think about the messages they're giving to children when they engage in name calling. We all need to be aware of comments we make in the presence of children and even people who comment on blogs need to think about the difference between legitimate criticism and derision. Children learn by observing our behavior, and there are plenty of adults who behave like bullies.

Changing behavior isn't easy, but it's not impossible. I've been watching episodes of the TV show Mad Men, which is set in the 1960s when it was acceptable to smoke around other people, ride in cars without seat belts, leave trash everywhere, make derogatory comments about minorities, and treat women as inferior beings. We haven't yet completely eliminated any of those dangerous or antisocial behaviors, but we've come a long way. With concerted effort and national leadership, we can do the same with bullying.

If Phoebe was bullied to the grave, it didn't stop there. When some of her former classmates set up a memorial Internet site, it was defaced by insults and slurs. When a television crew came to the school to interview students about Phoebe, Rebecca Brouillard, a student who talked on camera about the bullying, was roughed up afterward by one of Phoebe's tormenters, her father says.

School bullying is nothing new. But since Prince's suicide, it has taken on a much darker significance, one that prosecutors are taking seriously. On Monday, criminal charges were brought against the nine students who allegedly led the harassment. And parents and school administrators in South Hadley are under intense scrutiny as well. They face tough questions about what happened to Prince and whether they could have done more to prevent her death.

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.

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.

Protocol developed by Lawyer/Educator Nancy Willard for school or district involvement in investigating, documenting and disciplining sexting incidents.

Among 50 U.S. cities studied for their vulnerability to cybercrime, Seattle came out on top as the riskiest place, followed by Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, according to the report "Norton's Top 10 Riskiest Online Cities," released Monday. Results are based on the number of attempted hacking attacks and infected systems.

New Jersey Legal, a firm specializing in computer forensics, (eDiscovery, litigation support and trial service), also provides custom court room exhibits and multimedia presentations. They run a weekly comic series on their web site called CAPTAIN FORENSICS - with comics that are all related to computer crimes. This is part one of a 4-part series on Cyberbullying. Click "next" for the rest of the episodes.

In the first federal appeals court opinion dealing with "sexting" - the transmission of sexually explicit photographs by cellphone - a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Wednesday that parents could block the prosecution of their children on child pornography charges for appearing in photographs found on some classmates' cellphones.

ELEVEN Perth senior high school students have been suspended after a Facebook site was created to verbally attack and cyber-bully an experienced but unpopular teacher.

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.

A new state lawRequires Adobe Acrobat Reader requires all Louisiana districts to implement policies requiring documentation of every electronic interaction between teachers and students through a nonschool-issued device, such as a personal cellphone or e-mail account, by Nov.15. Parents also have the option of forbidding any communication between teachers and their child through personal electronic devices.

Online threats of violence and acts of cyber-bullying are not protected free speech. That's according to a California appeals court that upheld a decision from a lower court, allowing a hate crimes and defamation suit to continue. The case cited involves a 15 year old student who became the target of threats and taunts from other students after launching a web site promoting pursuit of a film and singing career.

A group of freshmen from Scituate High, who recently talked about cyberbullying with a reporter, said it's a real problem and more than a buzzword. And school officials may have to do something about it if an anti-bullying bill approved by the state Senate on Thursday is signed into law.