Thing #4

Children on the playground today are not so different from the way they were forty years ago. They still enjoy being pushed in a swing, playing dodge ball, and shooting hoops. On the negative side, children still engage in teasing and bullying just like they have always done in the past. In today’s technologically advanced society, the playground bullying does not escalate into a scuffle between boys or a group of girls giving yesterday’s best friend the cold shoulder. The fights end up in an explicit text message or a humiliating post on their MySpace and Facebook page. Cyberbullying can escalate into an adolescent viciousness that extends beyond the playground, with few options for policing the electronic infighting that ensues.

The online bullying ranges from a bombardment of disturbing text messages to sexually harassing group sites. The question is eventually asked, “who should shoulder the responsibility or authority to regulate student activity off campus?” Parents are looking to schools to employ a set of rules that provide justice and protection to students who experience the blast of harassment. Of the 44 states that have bullying laws, less than half offer instruction to schools relating to the intervention of electronic communication with the intent to harm. Some states instruct local governments to develop prevention programs to combat the problem, but the states offer no direction with the implementation of discipline.

Can a student record and post a video that demeans another student? Can a teacher or principal take up and search through a student’s cell phone that is suspected of cyberbullying? These actions become unclear because of the students right to free speech and invasion of personal property. If school personnel can police cyberbullying, what is the standard protocol for correction? Should principals suspend students from school or issue a ticket to pay a fine? The issue continues to move it’s way through state and federal court, but contradictory rulings at each level have produced unclear results.

The questions of should, what, or how will continue to linger until the issue escalates into a crises. Until then, schools should take control of their jurisdiction. Any inappropriate text or messaging that occurs on school district grounds must receive disciplined by the school authorities. Cyberbullying that occurs off school district property must be turned over to the police if appropriate. The school’s authority stops once the incidents occur on non-school related property.