The case against Lori Drew has been dismissed in federal court today, as the judge seemingly thought it would be wrong to criminalize certain Terms of Service violations of MySpace and other social networking web sites since users often misrepresent themselves online. (Bottom line when it comes to this ruling is that the law used…
We are all waiting with baited breath to learn of the sentencing decision to be handed down this week against Lori Drew. In part because of the incredible amount of controversy surrounding this case, I believe the sentence will be minor and not amount to more than a proverbial slap on the wrist. Already we…
Another story has surfaced where a teen committed suicide after experiencing bullying. The Chicago Tribune reports that Iain Steele, a 15-year-old boy from a western suburb of Chicago, hung himself in the basement of his home. This case, like many others, illustrates the omnipresent nature of adolescent bullying in the 21st century. Iain was bullied…
Cox Communications and the NCMEC recently held a Teen Summit in Washington, and we are pleased to see that the research they conducted revealed the same findings as our own work, as it relates to the use of various technologies by adolescents, experiences with cyberbullying, and the misuse of personal pictures or content. Furthermore, one…
Our colleague Adam Thierer from the Progress & Freedom Foundation has recently published an informative white paper worth reading entitled “Cyberbullying Legislation: Why Education is Preferable to Regulation.” Justin and I keep having to point out in various conversations that strictly punitive strategies fall short in their effort to deter misbehavior, especially among a youthful…
Just a quick note to let you all know that our book is currently on sale on Amazon for $29.92 (19% off) if you haven’t already picked it up. More substantive posts will be forthcoming as we get caught up. We just completed collecting data from about 1800 middle and high school students and will…
I wanted to take a moment to clarify my position on the recent discussion regarding the need for a federal cyberbullying law. I think my perspective has been misinterpreted in the media and by many who see me as opposed to any cyberbullying legislation. I am not opposed to cyberbullying legislation. I am simply concerned…
I was a guest on the New Hampshire Public Radio show “Word of Mouth” with Virginia Prescott this morning where I talked about the proposed Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act. You can listen to the brief interview here. They were gracious enough to send me some potential questions a couple of hours before the interview…
There has been a lot of discussion lately concerning proposed or recently passed state and federal legislation designed to address cyberbullying. One particular bill, proposed by California Congresswoman Linda T. Sanchez and called the “Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act,” was re-introduced in the House of Representatives last month (the proposal was initially introduced in May…
Qik – a new software application which can be downloaded onto your phone – allows for real-time web streaming of whatever you’d like to capture. This means that anyone else can see exactly what you see as it is happening. The software is being ported for different platforms and will soon be available for the…
An article was published in the Washington Post over the weekend describing one teacher’s harrowing introduction to sexting. As they are known to do, parents and prosecutors evidently jumped to some conclusions and misinterpreted the actions this teacher was taking in investigating and dealing with a case of sexting about a year ago. As a…
As you know, today is the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. It was a horribly tragic but markedly defining event in the history of American public schooling. You can research it on your own, but evidence pointed to school administrators condoning bullying and harassment among students rather than dealing with it strictly…
We have been discussing the issue of cell phones in classrooms a lot lately. Most schools have a clear policy prohibiting the use of cell phones in classrooms and standard practice seems to be “if I see it, you lose it.” Some policies specify that the phones will be confiscated for the day, others say…
You’ve probably heard about the proposed law in New Jersey that would require social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook to police their users. This is so frustrating for me to hear, as well-intentioned but oft-misguided legislators propose solutions to overblown online fears. Social networking sites are not responsible for actively surveilling and censoring the…
This article from British Columbia refers to a high school principal who bought a cell phone signal jammer from an online dealer in China in order to thwart students from using their phones at school in violation of district policy. First off, hats off to the resourcefulness of the principal in this situation – even though…
Here’s a recent query I received from an educator who I have worked with in the past. I thought her question and my response would be of interest to others so I am posting both here. Does your school district have a policy regarding cyberbullying or Facebook? How about cyberbullying on Facebook? Question: “The reason…
Recently, we’ve received calls and inquiries about “sexting” and the Jesse Logan case, and so I thought we’d discuss the matter here. For those looking for an official definition, we characterize “sexting” as “the sending or receiving of sexually-suggestive or explicit text or pictures via one’s cell phone.” Anecdotally, it seems that the phenomenon is…
A teenager from New York has filed a lawsuit against Facebook, four high-school classmates who used the site to harass her, and their parents. Specifically, two boys and two girls created a Facebook group called password-protected “90 Cents Short Of A Dollar,” in order to “hold [her] up to public hatred, ridicule and disgrace.” Content…
More and more school districts are passing policies that forbid teachers from interacting with their students via social networking web sites. We have written about this before, but the movement seems to be gaining traction. This is a slippery slope and a challenging issue for all involved. A policy recently adopted by the Elmbrook School…
One of our good friends and fellow Internet Safety advocates Anne Collier (co-author of MySpace Unraveled) recently did a presentation on Second Life. By that, I don’t mean the topic was Second Life (an online virtual reality world in which people interact with each other via avatars), but she, through her avatar, gave a presentation…
One of the questions we field sometimes involves how private schools differ from public schools in their response to instances of cyberbullying and student misuse of technology. A case from a private Michigan college illustrates the general distinction that we’ve seen. In this situation, a 19-year-old male was placed on six-month probation after being accused…
One of my colleagues, Forrest Collier, over at InternetSafety.com, has just released a sweet new app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that helps parents protect their children from objectionable and problematic content on their mobile device. The program is called “Safe Eyes Mobile” and works just like the built-in iPhone browser with pinch and…
As you may know, Facebook recently altered its Terms of Service, essentially stating that they own all of the content that you (the user) upload to their site. This includes content that you’ve uploaded but then later removed, and your content after you have chosen to delete your account. The Terms of Service in other…
Our colleague Mike Donlin, over at the Seattle Public Schools District, recently headed up a comprehensive project to create an initial set of Internet safety curriculum materials focusing specifically on cyberbullying. His state of Washington has been very progressive in creating and promoting anti-cyberbullying legislation (see RCW 28A.300.285 for more information), and has realized that…