Cyber Bullying and the Schools

Cyber Bullying is being cruel or mean to others by using technology to post harmful information or to act aggressively towards another person.

The definition of cyber bulling is not very concrete and open to interpretation. Cyber bullying can manifest in many ways like harassment- when a person is barated with mean, nasty, and vulgar comments, flaming- when people use the technology to fight with another person, denigration- when someone post gossip and rumors online that could ruin or diminish a persons reputation, impersonation- when someone pretends to be another person online in order to get the impersonated person into trouble or hurt, or cyberstalking- when a person repeatedly harasses and denigrates which contain threats and creates fear in another person. Even exclusion of another person from an online social group can be considered cyber bullying, if the intent is to harm the person that is being excluded.

We are facing a problem technology that was never really touched upon until it was too late. Cyber bullying is a growing problem among school aged children. They have been taught for many years that the bully was the person in school who was mean and wanted to hurt people and it was not right to bully anybody. When they find themselves behind the safety of the computer screen children seem to through what they have learned out the window. Thinking that they are not interacting face to face with the the other person, they grow a false confidence and bullying is growing more and more. The results and reactions from this bullying are not the same as the student who was bullied on the playground.

A sad but good example of cyber bullying is the story of Megan Meier. Megan was a 13 year old living in Missouri. She had an account on Myspace. She accepted a friend request from a boy her age that was new in town. Over the course of a few months Megan established an online romantic relationship with this boy. She trusted him and was very willing to give information about herself to him. One day he breaks up with her, which normally is can be difficult for anybody. Instead of dealing with just a broken heart, Megan had to deal with embarrassment and humiliation. The boy that Megan had this relationship with started posting personal information about Megan on his page. Then it was revealed that the person that Megan thought was a 13 year boy was actually group of people(lead by a mother of a former friend of Megan's) whose sole purpose of their interactions with Megan was to humilate her. Everything was posted on social networking sites and everyone at her school had access to the information. Unable to face the humiliation of these postings and reactions from her peers, Megan killed herself. This is an extreme example of what can result from Cyber bullying, but it shows how trusting children are and how easy it is for them to be bullied.

There are now about 30 states in the country that have created laws about cyber bullying, have legislation waiting to pass into law, or have drafts of the laws written and waiting for approval. Most of these laws that are created relate to what is considered cyber bullying and how a person can be penalized for being a cyber bully. If schools are mentioned in the laws it is in reference to how a school can handle cyber bullying that occurs while students are in school. Very few allow school to intervene for cyber bullying that occurs outside of school. Washington state is the only state so far that allows schools to act on cyber bullying that occurs outside of school, but this is only if the effects of the bullying effect the student while they are at school.

The question that arises is should schools be able to penalize students for any cyber bullying that occurs outside of the school? Arguments from both opinions are very compelling.

Arguments against schools penalizing students for cyber bullying outside of school, argue the plain fact that it is not happening at school. Schools have done very well to protect students from cyber bulling during the school day, phones are not allowed to be used during class, there are filters blocking social networking sites, and students usually have to sign a users agreement about proper use at the beginning of the school year. As bad and wrong as cyber bullying is, if it occurs outside the school, the school does not have the right to intervene and penalize students for their bad behavior. The can make parents or law enforcement aware of the occurrences and behavior and allow them to act on the information, but they cannot give detention, suspend, or expel students that partake in this behavior outside of school.


Arguments for schools taking action, argue the fact that involves the well being of students. Though the bullying and other actions take place out of school, the students will bring it to school. The reactions and behaviors of those involved will interrupt learning of these students and other who get caught up in the drama. Instead of taking their own life like Megan Meier, a bullied student might retaliate by trying to hurt their bullier in the one place they know they see them on a daily basis, at school. This jeopardizes the safety of all students. By schools being able to take action when cyber bullying happens, it sends the message that it will not be tolerated and the more people who are involved and take action, hopefully the less likely people would like to participate in this behavior.



As for my personal opinion on the matter, I am torn as to which argument I feel is completely right. I am appalled by what I have read about what students will do to each other to tease and torment others and believed that cyber bullying needs to be stopped. I even teach students what cyber bullying is and how bad it is and they are in elementary school. But how far should a school be able to go against students who are cyber bullying, when it doesn't occur at school? Using the technology provided by a school and by signing use agreements, students will find it hard to be able to be cyber bullies and if they wish to partake in this behavior they would have to do it outside of school on their own time, and if they are bullies, the school has every right to take action against the student. However, while they are in school they have access to more than just the technology the school provides for them. The latest and greatest cellphones all carry internet capability and kids have easy access to them through out the day. All it takes is 2 seconds to post something inflamatory on a site like Myspace or Facebook, so students can be doing this without the teacher even realizing what is going on. So technically they are not breaking the use agreement since they are not using school servers, networks, or computers, but they are doing it during school so the school deserves the right to take action. Also many of the people who become bullies do it to get a reaction from their peers at school. They want their social group to shun another person, or humiliate a friend they may have had a fight with by posting secrets about their friend, very well knowing and hoping that people from school will read it and react to it. So if the acts are maliciously planned to be acted out at school, I feel that schools have a right to take actions against those who are posing a threat because you are never really sure that the reaction to the threat may be from those who are being bullied. I feel like I am like Washington state, schools can get involved when cyber bullying occurs outside of the school as long as somewhere in the bulling the threat is brought to school, or it is acted out with the school as an audience.

Instead of focusing on how schools can punish students for off campus cyber bullying, the focus needs to be on the prevention. Character education and lessons about cyber safety need to be a big focus. Students feel safer being able to say what they are saying when they are behind the saftey of a computer. If they were in front of the person they were bullying they probably would not say the harmful things that they say. Schools can provide education about proper computer use and cyber safety, but parents also need to be involved. If parents are not sure how to get involved the school needs to provide the opportunities for them how to become involved like providing something like workshops or have guest speakers come during PTA meetings.

Sources:
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/educators/guide_for_schools.html

http://www.socialsafety.org/law_enforcement_cyberbullying.html

http://cyberbullyalert.com