The Great Debate: Should Cyberbullying be a Criminal Offense?
We have received numerous requests from high school students and teachers over the last several weeks for information about whether or not there should be a criminal law to cover cyberbullying. It seems that this is a national high school debate topic this year. Since we have discussed this issue quite a bit on this […]
Parent’s Response to Cyberbullying: What to do when your Child is the Bully
What should you do if your child bullies others online? Elizabeth Englander, our colleague at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, provided an excellent response to this question in her answer to a parent who commented on the recent New York Times article. First of all, parents need to approach this problem like any other: with […]
Parent’s Response to Cyberbullying: What to do when your Child is the Bully
What should you do if your child bullies others online? Elizabeth Englander, our colleague at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, provided an excellent response to this question in her answer to a parent who commented on the recent New York Times article. First of all, parents need to approach this problem like any other: with […]
Parent’s Response to Cyberbullying: What to do when your Child is the Bully
Justin W. Patchin What should you do if your child bullies others online? Elizabeth Englander, our colleague at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center, provided an excellent response to this question in her answer to a parent who commented on the recent New York Times article. First of all, parents need to approach this problem like […]
Parent’s Response to Cyberbullying: What to do when your Child is Victimized
In a recent New York Times article, reporter Jan Hoffman aptly and comprehensively articulated the challenges associated with responding to cyberbullying incidents. Schools don’t want to overstep their legal authority by responding to off-campus behaviors that don’t directly impact the school; law enforcement officers aren’t going to get involved unless there is a clear violation […]
What Teachers and Administrators Can Do About Cyberbullying – Podcast
I was featured on *Audio Ed* to discuss in detail how administrators, teachers, and staff can prevent and respond to cyberbullying among school students. Please click here to download and listen (8 minutes, MP3 file). Justin and I are passionate about training and working with public districts as well as private schools to meaningfully inform […]
Is Cyberbullying Simply an Expression of Free Speech?
A colleague of mine recently posed the following questions after listening to my recent interview on Wisconsin Public Radio: Q: If a student were bullying someone & claimed they had the right of freedom of speech to say whatever they want, how would you respond? Q: If a public official felt they were being bullied […]
Schools Have a Responsibility to Proactively Stop Bullying
A federal jury recently ordered the Hudson Area School District (Michigan) to pay $800,000 in damages to a student who endured years of emotional, physical, and sexual bullying. Dane Patterson was in middle school when the bullying began as simple name calling and verbal harassment. It escalated in high school and included being pushed into […]
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, […]
Identifying anonymous or pseudonymous cyberbullies in civil suits
Though we focus on youth, we have had an increasing number of adults who call and email us asking for help regarding their own cyberbullying victimization experiences. Some of the stories we hear are extremely tragic and horribly malicious. Many times, we are at a loss for words that might help based on the fact […]
