We discuss the legal issues associated with schools responding to cyberbullying incidents quite often in this space. You can find many blog posts which attempt to clarify the variety of issues raised (see here and here) and we have a summary fact sheet that is available here. Of course the law, and our understanding of…
As we have discussed several times on this blog in recent years, there are two cases that addressed issues with off-campus online speech by students that resulted in seemingly conflicting responses by the same court. They potentially have implications for how schools can respond to cyberbullying incidents, so are important to follow. To refresh your…
The state of Virginia has recently proposed guidelines for public schools in order to prevent sexual (and other forms of) misconduct between educators and students. Justin and I have blogged about this issue here and here in the past – and it continues to be a topic of strong interest and controversy as we work…
Sameer and I recently wrote a concise “Student Guide to Personal Publishing” which was published by Jostens (the class ring and yearbook company). They contacted us looking for information they could provide to students, parents, and educators about being safe and responsible when publishing material both online and off. While we regularly discuss these issues…
Sameer and I recently wrote a concise “Student Guide to Personal Publishing” which was published by Jostens (the class ring and yearbook company). They contacted us looking for information they could provide to students, parents, and educators about being safe and responsible when publishing material both online and off. While we regularly discuss these issues…
This Research Summary summarizes how youth are modifying their use of social networking sites as it relates to online privacy and the disclosure of personal information. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2010). Cyberbullying research summary: Changes in Adolescent Online Social Networking Behaviors from 2006 to 2009. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved [insert date], from https://cyberbullying.org/changes_in_teens_online_social_networking_2006_2009.pdf Download…
Blue Mountain School District v. J.S. and Layshock v. Hermitage School District. These are two cases that we have discussed quite frequently on this blog. We have been waiting a long time to receive clarification from a high court regarding the circumstances under which schools can discipline students for their off-campus online speech and we…
I have been talking a lot lately about online reputation with teens. I think it is important for youth to recognize that anything they put online and anything they do offline that gets posted online, could end up being immortalized on the World Wide Web. I advise students to start thinking about their online reputation…
Our colleague Anne Collier from NetFamilyNews made us aware of an email that Anthony Orsini, a middle school principal from New Jersey, sent to parents a couple of weeks ago imploring them to prohibit their children from participating in social networking sites. As reported on CBS and elsewhere, the letter Orsini sent to parents included…
Let’s return to our multi-post (here, here, and here) discussion of student and teacher interaction on social networking sites or in other online venues. Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are primarily for socializing. “Socializing” involves interacting for social purposes, and “social purposes” are those marked by friendly companionship with others. It seems, therefore,…
Sameer and I have talked a lot about this issue in recent months, and while we both basically agree that teacher-student interactions online are risky business, we struggle with how to best approach the issue. Earlier today he posted his thoughts on the issue. I would like to take this opportunity to re-articulate mine to…
Sameer and I have talked a lot about this issue in recent months, and while we both basically agree that teacher-student interactions online are risky business, we struggle with how to best approach the issue. Earlier today he posted his thoughts on the issue. I would like to take this opportunity to re-articulate mine to…
As we have previously discussed, a recent article published in Education Week entitled Policies Target Teacher-Student Cyber Talk suggests that some educators and pupils are informally connecting and chatting online with increasing frequency, where relatively innocent interactions may have the potential to escalate into inappropriate relationships. While such cases seem to occur rarely, a few…
Sameer and I are just putting the finishing touches on a paper that examines the social networking behaviors of adolescents who are on MySpace. For the past five years, we have annually taken random samples of MySpace profiles and analyzed them for content to ascertain any changes in adolescent participation and information sharing on the…
MySpace has received a significant amount of negative attention from the media and many concerned adults, who point to several isolated incidents where predators have contacted, become involved with and even assaulted adolescents whom they met through the popular social networking web site. Furthermore, concerned parents have expressed discontent with the amount and type of…
Justin and I have been focusing a lot on what I like to call “Facebook Faux Pas” – or, in general, unwise practices on social networking, social media, and microblogging sites. A new site has been receiving a lot of attention lately – PleaseRobMe.com. Check it out at your convenience. Basically, it runs a simple…
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,…
Sameer and I have been exploring online social networking generally, and adolescent behaviors on MySpace in particular, for over five years. Since 2006 we have randomly selected several thousand MySpace profiles each year to determine: 1) who is on MySpace and 2) what kind of information they are posting. Our latest article, which is published in…
This Research Summary summarizes the changes that are occurring related to youth use of MySpace across multiple years. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2010). Cyberbullying research summary: Trends in Online Social Networking. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved [insert date], from https://cyberbullying.org/myspace_youth_research_over_time.pdf Download PDF
This Research Summary summarizes our MySpace research concerning the extent to which adolescents post personal information on their profile pages. Hinduja, S. & Patchin, J. (2009). Cyberbullying research summary: Personal information of adolescents on the Internet. Cyberbullying Research Center. Retrieved [insert date], from https://cyberbullying.org/myspace_youth_research.pdf Download PDF
Well, it’s official. On Sunday, U.S. District Judge George Wu acquitted Lori Drew of all federal criminal charges for her involvement in the suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier. As you may recall, back in November a jury initially found Drew guilty of three misdemeanor charges of illegally accessing a protected computer (in essence, she was…
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…
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…
This story out of New Berlin, WI, reports about very extreme case of cyberbullying. It is reported that an 18-year-old male student posed as a female student on Facebook and tricked other male students into sending him nude pictures or videos of themselves. There were at least 31 male students who apparently did so, and…