Schools around the country are confronted with challenges on whether and how to deal with students and online bullying, according to a recent article in The New York Times.
“Cyberbullying,” an evolving term which can encompass anything from mean text messages to sexual harassment through social media sites like Facebook, has affected one in five middle school students, according to a 2010 study conducted by the Cyberbullying Research Center.
School officials are reluctant to discipline students on the issue since they feel they have little authority over what students do in their time outside of school, when most of the harassment takes place. Yet frustrated parents look to the schools for help and protection for their children. As a result, the question of who is responsible for resolving these conflicts often remains unresolved.
Whether or not a student can be suspended for posting a cruel YouTube video, or if a school principal is allowed to search a student’s cell phone are unclear, though cases like these have started to enter state and federal courts.
According to the article, though 44 states have bullying statutes, less than half offer guidance about whether or not schools can intervene in bullying that involves electronic communication. Most school district discipline guidelines say little about authority educator’s have over student cell phones, home computers, and activities students participate in outside of school.
View “Online Bullies Pull Schools Into the Fray” in its entirety.
