I've long had mixed emotions about punishing students for online speech.

As a rule, I don't believe schools have any business regulating out-of-school activity.

On the other hand, I do believe that schools need to monitor -- and perhaps punish -- certain behaviors that bear a direct nexus to school and cause a major disruption.

And that raises some questions.

When high school teacher Lee Waters logged onto a popular Web site and read the demeaning sexual comments a student had posted alongside her picture, the Sarasota woman felt completely degraded.

The school district suspended the North Port High School student, but attorney Geoffrey Morris said Waters doesn't think the boy understands the humiliation she feels.

The teacher filed a lawsuit against the student in March, but she isn't looking for money. She just wants other students to understand how harmful Internet pranks can be, Morris said.

"This teacher was maligned by this kid," Morris said. "She was so upset about it and she filed this lawsuit because she says teaching is a profession and that the administration turned their back on her complaint."

The Sarasota County School District said it did what it could to help Waters, by suspending the student and taking other disciplinary action, but it's not alone as it struggles to deal with cyber-bullying. Similar lawsuits and complaints are popping up in Florida and elsewhere nationwide as bullies move from punching someone on the playground to writing nasty and sometime libelous postings about classmates, teachers and school officials on the Internet, where everyone can read them.

There is a serious question here. The First Amendment is high on my list of non-religious sacred things, but i recognize that there are limits to the First Amendment, especially for kids, when it disrupts school. At the same time, schools regularly exceed authority, and sometimes even attempt to suppress legitimate speech that teachers/administrators find inconvenient.

Ultimately, I guess it comes down to a question of whether the speech/behavior would be within the reach of school officials if it happened someplace other than MySpace or other internet venues.

Threats of violence and assualt at school would clearly be covered.

So, too, might incidents of racial/sexual/other harassment by students against students, if it can be tied to the school setting -- i.e. was part of a pattern of behavior which exists both at the school and away from it.

And at the risk of sounding quite self-serving, retaliatory attacks on teachers and other staff members might qualify, provided the goal is not an attempt to suppress true statements about matters of legitimate public concern.

And remember, sometimes a bit of school discipline might be preferable to the alternative.

Which is preferable -- a three deay suspensio from school for cyber-bullying or criminal charges 9even juvenile charges) for harassment or communicating a threat? A ten day assignment to an alternative school setting or a lawsuit for defamation? And in Texas, there is specific language in state law which protects teachers from acts of harassment (or violence) by students if it is related to the teacher's performance of his or her job, and it even applies to events that occur off school ground and outside school hours -- and the offense can rise to the level of a felony.

And then ther eis the other issue -- can the contents of websites be used for disciplinary purposes by schools.

And it's not only cyber-bullying that's a problem — it's the photos students post. Young girls in barely there clothing, cigarettes dangling from their lips. The basketball team chugging beer at a party. Blogs that threaten a Columbine repeat. All have public and private school officials debating possible disciplinary actions.

What happens when some kid posts a picture on their website of the star quarterback holding a can of beer? Can the school use that picture to punish the student under a no-drinking policy that the athlete and his parents signed as a condition of his participation in extra-curricular activities? Can the coach use it to bench the kid without involving the school?

The internet raises all sorts of questions and issues for educators. What is the solution? I don't know the answer.

Posted by: Greg at 01:43 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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