Top Ten Rules That Govern School Authority Over Student Cyber Expressions
Jill Myers, Donna McCaw and Leaunda Hemphill
Chapter 11 discusses the majors principles brought about as the result of court rulings regarding cyber bullying. Most of these deal with what student(s) can or cannot say about another student or group of students at a school. Students still have 1st amendment rights much like any other person. However, these rights are restricted to what is appropriate for the school environment. Other rules that come up are as follows: #2 Censoring a student if they are a substantial disruption to school activities (threats of a shooting, etc.), #3 Censoring a student if they are distracting from the learning environment (racial/sexual comments), #4 Profane language not acceptable for a school setting (bullying language on campus), #5 Actions on school grounds and off (what is acceptable off school is not alway acceptable at school), #6 Schools may edit school-sponsored expressions (editing publications), #7 Regulation of school sponsored expressions based on pedagogical concerns (must be during school hours), #8 Off-campus expressions that have a direct tie to the school (must disrupt a school activity), #9 Expression restriction if it is not a shared value (school obligation to promote socially appropriate behavior), #10 True criminal threats (Must be reported). The authors point out that if followed these rules will help assist in making appropriate boundaries in cyber expression.
This chapter throws many laws out that I never knew existed and I am pretty sure that most teachers feel the same way. However, after reading it is clear how most cyber bullying goes without being detected until it is way to late. Many students, especially cyber bullying types, have an attitude that they can say whatever they want to whoever they want and the school cannot do anything about it due to the first amendment. If more teachers were aware of the the limitations that students have regarding their 1st amendment rights it would be more clear to them when students do step over the line. A good administrator should let teachers know of these kinds of laws and regulations, especially with the ever-deepening dependence on technology. In light of the current national events, keeping students safe is the one of the highest goals of many school districts. To make this a reality and really dampen school violence teachers must be informed of their duties to point out cyber bullying and stop it before it goes to far.
Given the students' attitudes about the First Amendment, would you start your school year off with a discussion about the First Amendment and the schools regulations and exceptions to this Amendment? I think you hit the nail on the head, teachers don't know the exception to the rules; thus why would students. I think I will probably open up the school year with a discuss of student rights and also regulations. How do you feel about this?
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great idea, however the point might be better made if the student's parents were present at the meeting. This could be a meeting before school or at back to school night. I think many problems could be solved ahead of time with cooperation of administrators and teachers to parents and students about their rights.
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