We hate Ashley: counteracting cyberbullying inside--and outside--school grounds.

We hate Ashley: counteracting cyberbullying inside--and outside--school grounds. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] TWO OREGON STUDENTS create a racist profile on a social networkingsite A Web site that provides a virtual community for people interested in a particular subject or just to "hang out" together. Members create their own online "profile" with biographical data, pictures, likes, dislikes and any other information they choose to post. , with cartoons about lynching and racist language. Other studentslink to the profile and post ugly, racist comments. Teachers report thatmany of the school's minority students are frightened fright��en?v. fright��ened, fright��en��ing, fright��ensv.tr.1. To fill with fear; alarm.2. . In another instance, several high school students create a "WeHate Ashley" profile online that includes crude sexual innuendoesand poking fun at her weight. Ashley no longer attends school. Hergrades plummet. Her parents say she is under psychological care and onsuicide watch suicide watchn.A procedural tour of duty in a prison in which guards frequently check the cells of inmates suspected of suicidal tendencies. . Do school officials have the authority to impose discipline inresponse to harmful off-campus online speech? Should they? This is amajor challenge facing school administrators today. Many state legislatures A state legislature may refer to a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system.The following legislatures exist in the following political subdivisions: are now adding statutory provisionsrequiring schools to incorporate cyberbullying into bullying BullyingChowne, Parson Stoyleterrorizes parish; kidnaps children. [Br. Lit.: The Maid of Sker, Walsh Modern, 94–95]Claypole, Noahbully; becomes thief in Fagin’s gang. [Br. Lit. preventionpolicies. But this has presented some concerns. For example, in Oregonand Washington, language incorporated into cyberbullying legislationappears to restrict administrators from responding to any off-campusbullying regardless of the harmful impact on campus. Administrators fromthese two states are advised to check with their legal council.Administrators in other states should understand that the American CivilLiberties Union American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. is trying to use language in the cyberbullying statutesto override An arrangement whereby commissions are made by sales managers based upon the sales made by their subordinate sales representatives. A term found in an agreement between a real estate agent and a property owner whereby the agent keeps the right to receive a commission for the sale of federal case law and restrict administrators from doinganything in response to off-campus harmful speech. Effects of Cyberbullying The problem is that most incidents of cyberbullying occuroff-campus because students have more unsupervised time. But the impactis at school where students are physically together. Although there isno data on the extent of harmful impact, anecdotally, it is clear thatsome incidents lead to students avoiding or even failing school,committing suicide and even becoming violent. Studies on cyberbullying reported in the December 2007 issue ofJournal of Adolescent Health reveal that both perpetrators and targetsof cyberbullying report significant psychosocial psychosocial/psy��cho��so��cial/ (si?ko-so��shul) pertaining to or involving both psychic and social aspects. psy��cho��so��cialadj.Involving aspects of both social and psychological behavior. concerns and increasedrates of involvement in offline physical and relational aggression Relational aggression is psychological (social/emotional) aggression between people in relationships. Relational aggression is a form of aggression where the group is used as a weapon to assault others and others' relationships. .While there is some survey data on the prevalence of cyberbullying,it's difficult to distinguish how reliable it is. The NationalCrime Prevention Council says that surveys show 43 percent of youthshave been cyberbullied, but about half of them indicate the incident orincidents did not bother them. One study reported that the victims of cyberbullying were eighttimes more likely than other students to report bringing a weapon toschool. The concerns for student safety are very real. Students who donot believe school officials can help them may seek their own revenge orrefuse to come to school. The videotaping of up to six Florida girlsbeating up a female classmate in April in one of the attackers'grandmother's home is an example. The student who was beatenreportedly had been cyberbullying her assailants, using slurs andinsults, on MySpace. Historic Court Cases Federal courts have consistently ruled that school officials canrespond to off-campus student speech if that speech has caused--or areasonable person would anticipate it could cause--a substantialdisruption at school or interference with the rights of students to besecure. This is called the Tinker standard and was created after thefederal case Tinker v. Des Moines Des Moines, city, United StatesDes Moines(dĭ moin`), city (1990 pop. 193,187), state capital and seat of Polk co., S central Iowa, at the junction of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers; inc. , 393 U.S. 503 (1969). Situations thathave met this Tinker standard in cases involving off-campus andon-campus speech have included violent physical or verbal altercations,a hostile environment See: operational environment. interfering with the ability of students toparticipate in school activities, and significant interference withoperations and delivery of instruction. Along the lines of hostile environments, courts have allowed schoolofficials to restrict statements printed on students' T-shirts orother clothing that could trigger violent altercations or create ahostile environment for other students. A Second Circuit decision in May, Doninger v. Niehoff, affirmed af��firm?v. af��firmed, af��firm��ing, af��firmsv.tr.1. To declare positively or firmly; maintain to be true.2. To support or uphold the validity of; confirm.v.intr. that the Tinker standard applies to off-campus online speech. In thiscase, a student had posted speech online that had used a derogatory de��rog��a��to��ry?adj.1. Disparaging; belittling: a derogatory comment.2. Tending to detract or diminish. termto describe an administrator and called for student protest via e-mail.The court referenced a prior decision and held that "a student maybe disciplined for expressive conduct, even conduct occurring off schoolgrounds, when this conduct 'would foreseeably create a risk ofsubstantial disruption within the school environment,' at leastwhen it was similarly foreseeable fore��see?tr.v. fore��saw , fore��seen , fore��see��ing, fore��seesTo see or know beforehand: foresaw the rapid increase in unemployment. that the off-campus expression mightalso reach campus" (see sidebar (1) A Windows Vista desktop panel that holds mini applications (gadgets) such as a calendar, calculator, stock ticker and Vonage phone dialer. It is the Windows counterpart to the Dashboard in the Mac. See Windows Vista and gadget. ). Key Steps for Administrators When cyberbullying occurs, some important steps can ensure theadministrative response is legally justified: * An incident investigation should begin with the downloading andsaving of all of the hurtful hurt��ful?adj.Causing injury or suffering; damaging.hurtful��ly adv.hurt material immediately, although the bullycould delete To remove an item of data from a file or to remove a file from the disk. See file wipe, trash and undelete. 1. (operating system) delete - (Or "erase") To make a file inaccessible. some of this material if it has been reported. Look for anyevidence that material has been posted during the school day. A searchshould be conducted of the online activities of all involved studentsthrough the district Internet system. * The targeted student should be questioned about any relatedon-campus activities, including messages received via cell phone, aswell as in-person interactions, however minor. Your objective is toclearly establish a "school nexus." * Describe and document the occurrence or likelihood of asubstantial disruption or interference on campus. To strengthen yourargument related to a hostile environment, have the targeted studentindependently evaluated by a counselor or psychologist and obtain otherevidence of the student's emotional well-being and ability to focuson learning, such as attendance and grades. * Always keep in mind that cyberbullying material can be posted inretaliation RETALIATION. The act by which a nation or individual treats another in the same manner that the latter has treated them. For example, if a nation should lay a very heavy tariff on American goods, the United States would be justified in return in laying heavy duties on the manufactures and for on-campus bullying by the target, or both students couldbe equally involved in an online fight that has escalated out ofcontrol. It is essential to undestand the problem before decidingdiscipline. * Be very cautious in imposing discipline. To lower the possibilityof retaliation, the objective of any disciplinary response must be toensure that the child who has posted the harmful material and his or herparents feel remorse RemorseSee also Regret.Ayenbite of Inwit (Remorse of Conscience)Middle English version of medieval moral treatise, c. 1340. [Br. Lit. . If the disciplinary response is excessive, thiscan turn remorse into anger. Such anger can lead to vicious, potentiallyuncontrollable, online retaliation against the target. And it isnecessary to strive to remove the harmful material and help all partiesresolve it. * Carefully investigate speech targeting a staff member. However,it is essential to recognize that when a student or students havetargeted a staff member, there are frequently underlying issues thatwarrant close attention. For example, a student who has posted harmfulspeech may be overwhelmed o��ver��whelm?tr.v. o��ver��whelmed, o��ver��whelm��ing, o��ver��whelms1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline.2. a. with learning difficulties. Sometimes studentstarget staff because they perceive a staff member is inadequate orbecause the staff member has been bullying the student. Disciplining adistressed student who has posted harmful material online targeting astaff member without resolving the underlying concerns can turn thatstudent into a security risk. School officials lack the authority to respond to off-campus speechsimply because they find it objectionable or repugnant REPUGNANT. That which is contrary to something else; a repugnant condition is one contrary to the contract itself; as, if I grant you a house and lot in fee, upon condition that you shall not aliens, the condition is repugnant and void. Bac. Ab. Conditions, L. . Response to suchspeech is a parent responsibility. But when off-campus speech raiseslegitimate concerns about student safety and well-being or instruction,school officials have the authority to respond--and should. RELATED ARTICLE: Student bashes administrators, gets disciplined. A court case upholds administrators" rights to discipline astudent who used derogatory language on a blog, but questions arise. IN DONINGER V. NIEHOFF, THE U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR the SecondCircuit ruled in May that a Connecticut school district that disciplineda student for vulgar and derogatory remarks made off-campus did notviolate her free speech rights. Avery Doninger had served on the student council and was the juniorclass secretary at Lewis S. Hills High School in Burlington in the2006-2007 school year. She graduated last June. It started with a student council planned event, known as Jamfest,that had planning setbacks in the spring of 2007. Four members of thestudent council, including Doninger, sought community support through amass e-mailing encouraging the recipients to contact the superintendentand principal to schedule the event. Following the e-mail, the principaland superintendent were inundated in��un��date?tr.v. in��un��dat��ed, in��un��dat��ing, in��un��dates1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters.2. with e-mail messages and phone calls. According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. Doninger, the principal told her that Jamfest wascancelled because of the students' action. The principal deniedsaying that. That evening, Doninger posted an entry on her personal blogin which she noted that Jamfest had been cancelled, referred to thedistrict administrators as "douchebags," and encouragedcontinued contact with the superintendent to "piss her offmore." The following day the event was rescheduled. Sometime laterschool officials became aware of Doninger's blog posting and barredher from running for senior class secretary. The district court deniedDoninger's petition for an injunction. FORESEEABLY CREATING A RISK The appeals court acknowledged that the Supreme Court had not yetaddressed the scope of a school's authority to regulate off-campusspeech. The court noted a prior ruling in Wisniewski v. Board ofEducation that "a student may be disciplined for expressiveconduct, even conduct occurring off school grounds, when this conduct'would foreseeably create a risk of substantial disruption withinthe school environment,' at least when it was similarly foreseeablethat the off-campus expression might also reach campus." The appeals court found that it was reasonably foreseeable thatDoninger's posting would reach campus and that the posting createda foreseeable risk foreseeable riskn. a danger which a reasonable person should anticipate as the result from his/her actions. Foreseeable risk is a common affirmative defense put up as a response by defendants in lawsuits for negligence. of substantial disruption within the schoolenvironment because the language used was offensive. It likely disruptedefforts to resolve the controversy, and the posting that Jamfest hadbeen cancelled made it foreseeable that school operations might well bedisrupted further. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NO EVIDENCE OF DISRUPTION While the expression of the legal standard in Doninger clearlysupports the ability of school officials to rely on the Tinkersubstantial disruption standard to intervene in cyberbullying cases, itis my opinion that this standard was inappropriately applied in thesituation set forth in the Doninger case. There was no evidence of any disruption at school. The onlydisruption was to the principal and superintendent in responding to whatwas an impressive response to the student's call for complaints.There was no indication in the record that the disruption interfered inany way with the delivery of instruction or in any way impacted studentwelfare. If administrators are not being appropriately sensitive to theinterests of students or are engaging in other actions that causeconcern, students clearly should have the free speech right to protestand to call for other students and community members to register theircomplaints. Inconveniencing school administrators under suchcircumstances should not be considered to constitute substantialdisruption. Our Founding Fathers called King George King George has referred to many kings throughout history. When used, by Americans, without further reference it most often means George III of the United Kingdom, against whom the Whigs of the American Revolution rebelled. a tyrant tyrant,in ancient history, ruler who gained power by usurping the legal authority. The word is perhaps of Lydian origin and carried with it no connotation of moral censure. in the Declarationof Independence. It is my hope that this decision is reviewed by theU.S. Supreme Court and is reversed, while maintaining the legitimacy ofthe legal standard itself.--N.W. Nancy Willard Nancy Willard (born June 26, 1936, in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a children's author and poet. In 1982, she received the Newbery Medal for A Visit to William Blake's Inn. She lives in Poughkeepsie, New York and lectures at Vassar College.[1]. is an author and the director of the Center for Safeand Responsible Internet Use, csriu.org.