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Overview
In our preparation, it was clear that we were not arguing whether or not cyberbullying was a
problem. So we focused on finding a fair and thorough definition of cyberbullying and policy
regarding punishment.
In our Bryner and Lanning text, they outline the 1998 standards: Information Power: Building
Partnerships for Learning.
One of the “Social Responsibility” standards is as follows:
o “The student who contributes positively to the learning community and to society is
information literate and practices ethical behavior in regard to information and
information technology”
We feel this standard highlights the ideal goal of cyberbullying policies: to correct any
cyberbullying issues and redirect students towards their social responsibilities in regard to
information and information technology.
Discussion
Questions for Baltimore City
1. What is Baltimore City’s definition of cyberbullying?
a. The use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate,
repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group that is intended to harm
others.
2. How does your school minimize the use of personal phones, apps, and recreational
technology for cyberbullying?
a. Students are not allowed to use personal devices in a school day. First time it is
taken by the teacher. Second time it is returned to the office and picked up by a
parent. Third time it is to be taken to North Ave, our headquarters. If students are
caught using technology for cyberbullying there is a four level progression ending
in long-term suspension or expulsion.
3. What is Policy EGD?
a. In Baltimore City, via Board Docs, policy EGD stands for Internet Safety /
Acceptable Use of Technology Policy
4. Your summary states it must be deliberate? Are all forms of cyberbullying deliberate, or
can there be accidental harm done?
a. Any time anyone uses technology to harm another person it is deliberate. There
has to be probable cause for cyberbullying to take place. One cannot accidentally
use technology to harm another person.
The use of information and communication technologies to support deliberate, repeated, and
hostile behavior by an individual or group to harm others.
We agree with the policies stated above, and wanted to clarify a few details of cyberbullying
policy. We have do so by looking at court cases in regards to cyberbullying.
1. School Hours and Cyberbullying:
b. Both policies left open the opportunity to pursue Cyberbullying off school
grounds as it correlates to school atmosphere and a students’ education.
c. Since the case Layshock v. Hemmings (2011), most courts agree that school has
authority to punish student speech off campus as long as there’s a correlation
between student speech and occurrences at school.
d. Therefore, Cyberbullying, even off school grounds, should be pursued by the
school. So we suggest stronger language about cyberbullying: stating it can
occur anywhere and anytime. We did not add this into our definition because
we feel that it is a policy concern rather than a definition concern.
2. Punishment of Cyberbullying
a. Tinker v. Des Moines of 1969 was a Supreme Court decision which stated that
punishment of student speech must have a connection with the substantial
disruption of the education process.
b. We believe this is applicable to cyberbullying policies as well. A student who
uses technology for cyberbullying should not be able to use school technology.
c. The difficulty in regards to the case arises with personal technology. Although
one might argue that a student who uses a personal device for cyberbullying
should only lose personal device access within school hours, we believe that
revoking school technology access does have connection with the substantial
disruption of the education process. The punishment is fair regarding the crime.
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Q&A
What Librarians Can Do?
To wrap up our conversation and tie it back into our class, we want to discuss what School
Library Media Specialists can do to help.
1. Beginning the year with Cyberbullying workshops or classes.
a. Teaching students to identify, understand, and report cyberbullying will ensure
students are prepared for possible occurrences.
b. Also, stressing expectations and highlighting positive, online social interaction
and appropriate technology uses can divert possible cyberbullying.
2. If expectations are not being respected, unified discipline can be a fruitful response.
Librarians, administrators, and teachers should create a uniform approach to managing
technology behavior. This ensures unified expectations, rules, and correction procedures.
Some correction procedures can occur in various levels so that punishments increase in
varying offenses. .
a. The leveled correction procedures can also ensure that even basic misuses of
school computers (like chat rooms during instruction or unapproved websites) are
addressed.
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References
Agosto, Denise E., Forte, Andrea, & Magee, Rachel (2012). Cyberbullying and teens: What YA
librarians can do to help. Young Adult Library Services 10(2), 38-43. Retrieved from
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=1&sid=cffb3928-0eda-4efc-a0d1-
294e17950cda%40sessionmgr103&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2N
vcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=73183894&db=tfh
Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners (2015). Code of conduct: 2015-2016. Baltimore
http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/cms/lib/MD01001351/Centricity/Domain/8832/201
5-16_PDFs/2015-16_CodeOfConduct-English.pdf
Lanning, Scott, & Bryner, John (2010). Essential reference services for today’s school media
Snowman, Jack, & McCown, Rick (2015). Psychology applied to teaching (14th ed.). Stamford,
Waggoner, Charles R. (2016). Cyber bullying: The public school response. Insights to a
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=cffb3928-0eda-4efc-a0d1-
294e17950cda%40sessionmgr103&hid=122&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2N
vcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#AN=117152589&db=a9h