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A court case from May 2007. It was a sophomoric online video criticizing the hygiene of a teacher. Is suspension a violation of the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech?

UPDATE: In a federal court session on May 23, 2007, U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman turned down the request of Gregory Requa, 18, to grant a temporary restraining order ending the 40-day suspension. "The court has no difficulty in concluding that one student filming another student standing behind a teacher making 'rabbit ears' and pelvic thrusts in her direction, or a student filming the buttocks of a teacher as she bends over in the classroom, constitutes a material and substantial disruption to the work and discipline of the school. "The 'work and discipline of the school' includes the maintenance of a civil and respectful atmosphere toward teachers and students alike -- demeaning, derogatory, sexually suggestive behavior toward an unsuspecting teacher in a classroom poses a disruption of that mission whenever it occurs.

Bullying by students - filming teacher in the classroom - targeting a teacher and posting on YouTube ensuing court case about the accountability of the Kent School Board for making a decision on punishing a student using unsigned, unsworn statements from anonymous students

This model program for "restorative justice" is used by trained 8th grader facilitators at Del Mar Middle School to handle school incidents that would previously have been grounds for student suspensions. Cyberbullying is included in the restorative justice program. Students make amends for their actions, learn from their mistakes and become part of the solution, rather than the problem.

Existing law, the Interagency School Safety Demonstration Act of 1985, states that the intent of the Legislature in enacting its provisions is to encourage school districts, county offices of education, law enforcement agencies, and agencies serving youth to develop and implement interagency strategies, in-service training programs, and activities that will, among other things, reduce school crime and violence, including bullying. Existing law establishes the School/Law Enforcement Partnership and charges it with undertaking several efforts intended to reduce school crime, as specified,including bullying.

This bill would specify that bullying, as used in these provisions,means one or more acts by a pupil or a group of pupils directed against another pupil that constitutes sexual harassment, hate violence, or severe or pervasive intentional harassment, threats, or intimidation that is disruptive, causes disorder, and invades the rights of others by creating an intimidating or hostile educational environment, and includes\nacts that are committed personally or by means of an electronic act, as defined.

Existing law prohibits the suspension, or recommendation for expulsion, of a pupil from school unless the principal determines that the pupil has committed any of various specified acts, including, but not limited to, hazing, as defined. This bill, in addition, would give school officials grounds to suspend a pupil or recommend a pupil for expulsion for bullying, including, but not limited to, bullying by electronic act.

When school starts today, Broward County schools will be armed to take action against you.A new district policy, adopted July 22, allows a range of punishments, from "positive behavioral interventions" to suspensions for students, to sanctions against teachers' certificates for "egregious acts of bullying." Included are cyber-stalking and cyber-bullying, which experts say are becoming more common among South Florida students.

Another YouTube brawl earns suspension for two girls. Two Southwind Middle School girls were suspended Monday after their locker room fight was posted on the Internet. This follows similar beatings in Indiana and Florida where the acts were committed in order to videotape the event. School principal Marcia Crouch sent a note home to parents Monday afternoon alerting them about the fight and warning them of the school district's zero-tolerance policy regarding such misbehavior.

Students are increasingly facing lawsuits and expulsions for targeting their teachers online.Tech-savvy teenagers are increasingly paying a heavy price - including criminal arrest - for parodying their teachers on the Internet.\n\nTired of fat jokes and false accusations of teacher-lounge partying or worse, teachers and principals are fighting back against digital ridicule and slander by their students - often with civil lawsuits and long-term suspensions or permanent expulsions.\n\nA National School Boards Association (NSBA) study says that as many as one-third of American teens regularly post inappropriate language or manipulated images on the Web. Most online pranks deride other students. But a NSBA November 2006 survey reported 26 percent of teachers and principals being targeted.\n\n

More than two-dozen British schoolgirls have been suspended for using the Facebook website to engage in a hate campaign against their teacher, a school principal said.

An effective school-based strategy to address the issue of online safety should include these six key components:
EDUCATIONAL USE - Schools must ensure that when students use the Internet, their activities have an educational purpose -- class assignments, extra credit work, and perhaps some high quality enrichment activities as a reward
SUPERVISION AND MONITORING Schools must shift focus from reliance on filtering to better supervision and monitoring.
MEANINGFUL CONSEQUENCES Misuse of the Internet must lead to a meaningful consequence -- but it should be recognized that suspension of Internet access privileges just causes more work for teachers. Requiring a service contribution to the school and establishing "close monitoring status" for all Internet use are preferable consequences.
ACCIDENTAL ACCESS TO PORN - All students and staff must know that if inappropriate material appears, they should quickly turn off the monitor or turn it so it can't be seen, and then report it. Following any incident or discovery, there must be a responsible assessment of culpability.
INAPPROPRIATE BLOCKING Selected staff in every school building must have the authority and ability to quickly override the filter to provide other staff or students access to sites that have been inappropriately blocked
INTERNET SAFETY AND RESPONSIBLE USE EDUCATION Schools must provide effective Web 2.0 Internet safety and responsible use education to students and parents.

The school has an anti-bullying program and a zero-tolerance policy for bullying. And even though the bullying didn't occur on school grounds, administrators stated that the district has a responsibility to get involved when an incident creates significant disruption or concern at school.

Katherine Evans wanted everyone to know: Ms. Phelps was the worst English teacher she'd ever had. So Evans, a Florida high school senior and honors student, posted a Facebook page to publicly criticize the teacher. Two months later, though, Evans was suspended for cyberbullying the teacher with her very precisely named group, "Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I've ever had," on the social-networking site.

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.

Question posed in a high school newsletter: If a school comes across online material that depicts a star athlete or school government officer engaging in an illegal activity, should they merely ignore it? Surely, one's moral compass would dictate otherwise. Students must be disciplined for their actions in both the real and virtual worlds.