1 Kinsey Reber Adam Padgett April 3, 2014 Friend or Foe: Schools and Online Bullying Should schools give

consequences to students who engage in online bullying? It is not an easy question to answer whether you are on either side of the spectrum: student or school administration. In society today, more and more teenagers are hiding behind their computer screens and mobile devices to engage in bullying and school administrators are unsure of how to react. This form of bullying seems to be more painful and severe than physical confrontation. Schools should get involved and give consequences to those who are engaging in online bullying because the bullying carries into the school environment with chatter, potentially creates feelings of fear and intimidation, and because one in every ten student is currently being bullied via the Internet. First things first, lets discuss the different forms of online bullying schools, students, and parents need to become aware of. Bullies can be found sending hateful text messages, emails or Instant Messages, creating and controlling chat rooms or even websites mocking the student being bullied, and the most popular, social media posting (Andrew V. Beale). The problem is not identifying bullying, but how to act on it. School administrators are responsible for ensuring that all students are provided an opportunity to attend school free from fear and intimidation, (Andrew V. Beale).

2 You cannot blame social media sites for online bullying. Many times sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are mainly used to connect with family and friends, to catch up on life outside of our own. It is when bullies use these sites as their means of communication that causes the problem. Schools should give consequences to online bullies because the victim is so deeply affected that they do not want to go to school or turn to drugs, alcohol, and self-harm to cope with their pain. According to stopbullying.gov, students who are cyber bullied are more likely to skip school, experience in-person bullying, be unwilling to attend school, begin receiving lower grades, and have lower self-esteem. Students are supposed to feel safe and protected in the school environment and online bullies are preventing them from that sense. In addition, as with other disciplinary violations, any manner of bullying that occurs off campus may violate the Code of Student Conduct if it has a direct and immediate impact to the orderly and efficient operation of the school or the safety of individuals in the school environment (CMS Handbook). Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools are doing the right thing and other school systems should follow. If online bullying is taking place and is carrying into the school day with lunchroom chatter, inappropriate use of cellphones or computers in class, and physical bullying, the school has the right to act because it is disrupting teaching time. The next reason goes along with the topic discussed in the paragraph above. Simply put, every form of bullying causes fear and intimidation to come over the victim. From personal experience with my younger sibling, she broke down when she was being bullied by a group of girls. The last thing she wanted to do was go to

3 school. She was to young to know what to do and the bullying had gotten so bad that she could no longer defend herself. She just sat there and let them bully her. It was only until the bullying began to happen verbally in the classroom that my sister got help from school administrators. Not only do schools need to give consequences for bullying, but also they need to teach the students that online bullying is a serious issue and it is not to be taken lightly. Doctor David Whittier from Boston University has proposed cyber ethics to be slowly implemented into curriculum. The problem with unsupervised technology is that as computing creeps into all aspects of life, the ethical implications are often unexamined (David Whittier). If you teach students what is expected while on the Internet, schools would no longer have to worry as much about online bullying because it would not be as relevant. Lastly, schools need to get involved with online bullying because it affects more students than we think. One in every ten students is currently being bullied. Many will go unseen, but for the ones schools do know about they have the right to punish. Not only does it show that student that online bullying is a serious issue, but it is a warning to others as well. If a bully hears that someone got suspended or in worst cases expelled because he or she was bullying, I can almost guarantee that they will stop because they do not want to get caught and face the consequences. Teenagers act out in these kinds of ways because no one teaches them how serious these types of issues are and they think they will not get caught. Regardless of what websites tell you, your posts are not private and are not anonymous. In very serious cases of online bullying another person steps in and tells schools what they are allowed to do, the court system. The court can go two ways:

4 they can side with the school saying discipline is necessary or they will argue for Freedom of Speech and not allow the school to intervene in certain situations regarding online bullying. Two cases of online bullying got national attention while in court. In September 2013, a federal appeals court backed school officials in the suspension of a high school student who allegedly threatened his classmates with violence on MySpace (Wallace). I believe the courts made the right decision in that specific situation because he was threatening classmates and those could potentially be put in danger. After all, the number one goal for school administration is for all students to feel safe. Those who oppose school action come to play when instances teeter-totter between the line of too far and just enough. In 2010, the same court said no to two similar online bullying situations that school officials wanted to get involved in. The court believed that simply because the bullying did not happen on school grounds that the school administration did not have jurisdiction. What the court does not take into account is the way the victim feels once they enter the classroom. Victims feel intimidated, unimportant, and that he or she is alone. Courts seem to believe that online bullying does not pour over into the school environment. At this point in time, it is in the court systems hands and they can decide either way. But, if schools do not take action to online bullying that school is failing to respond to student harassment that is protected under many civil rights laws, such as, Title IV and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Stopbullying.gov). In this day and age, parents expect schools to keep their children safe and to take action when that feeling of safety is disturbed. When courts decide it is not

5 acceptable for the school to give consequences to students participating in online bullying nothing is being done to resolve the issue. The accuser is simply getting a slap on the wrist and a warning. That is no way to ensure that students stop engaging in online bullying. If you want change to occur and bullying to stop, schools must take appropriate action and punish those who believe it is okay to bully a peer on the Internet.

Beale, Andrew V, and Kimberly R. Hall. "Cyberbullying: What School Administrators (and Parents) Can Do." Clearing House: a Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas. 81.1 (2007): 8-12. Print. CMS Student Code of Conduct Handbook. Charlotte, NC: Charlotte Mecklenburg System, 2013-2014. Print. Wallace, Kelly. "At Some Schools, 'Big Brother' Is Watching." CNN.com. N.p., 4 Dec. 2 013. Web. 27 Feb.2014. <http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/08/living/schools-of-thought-socialmedia-monitoring-students/>. "What Is Cyberbullying." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014. <http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-isit/index.html#effectsofcyberbullying>. Whittier, David. "Cyberethics in the Googling Age." Journal of Education. 187.2 (2006): 1-6. Print.