Can Schools Discipline Students for Creating a Mean Facebook Page About a Teacher?
There have been a few high profile cases recently reviewed by the courts, and summarized in the media, where students have sued their schools arguing that discipline they received as a result of improper online speech was a violation of their First Amendment right. The most recent case involved a former Florida high school student, […]
Sexting – education, research, and multidisciplinary prevention and response
Earlier this week, I participated in a Summit organized by the National District Attorneys Association and the National Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse with a variety of professionals in the child protection arena. While other attendees focused in on the problem of child sex trafficking, my small group concentrated on the phenomenon of […]
Coming soon – Facebook Privacy and Security Upgrades!
If you’ve logged into Facebook over the last few hours, you may have noticed an open letter from its founder, Mark Zuckerberg. The letter discusses forthcoming improvements to better safeguard the experience and participation of users on the site. We at the Cyberbullying Research Center highly approve of these changes, and believe they will assist […]
School Facebook Pages
I’ve noticed a lot of schools now have their own Facebook pages. Here are some examples: Ramblewood Middle School; Da Vinci Arts Middle School; Lincoln High School. These pages are generally created by teachers, school administrators, or school counselors as a virtual gathering place to students and staff. Does your school have one? I can […]
Status update comment on Facebook gets student suspended for cyberbullying
Just wanted to point out this new article sharing the story of a high-schooler who responded to a friend’s status update on Facebook, and consequently received a ridiculous sanction from his school for it. He basically stated “you’re not going to bust a grape” – indicating to his friend (who posted about fighting another girl […]
Identity Theft from Facebook and Twitter use?
Justin and I study and work to reduce various forms of deviance and crime on social networking sites, and this recent article on CNN.com prompted me to talk about some of the issues therein. The main thrust of the story is that cybercriminals are now using Facebook and Twitter to victimize unsuspecting individuals through “phishing” […]
Facebook, Cyberbullying, Death Threats, Jail Time
We’ve been discussing the recent case in Britain involving 18-year-old Keeley Houghton, who posted a death threat on Facebook and was subsequently incarcerated. Specifically, the aggressor wrote the following on her own profile page, “Keeley is going to murder the bitch. She is an actress. What a ******* liberty. Emily ****head Moore.” Those with whom […]
Facebook privacy settings
Thankfully, Facebook is soon going to restructure the way it displays privacy settings to users. Currently, those settings are scattered across multiple pages, and it is a chore for individuals to customize them to their liking. When we talk to elementary, middle, and high-schoolers, we ask about those settings – and have found that very […]
Safe and Responsible Social Networking: Strategies for Keeping Yourself Safe Online
This handout provides commonsense strategies for encouraging and enabling youth to think about important issues when posting content on social networking sites. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. W. (2009). Safe and Responsible Social Networking: Strategies for Keeping Yourself Safe Online. Cyberbullying Research Center. Download PDF
Facebook Cyberbullying Policy
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 […]
