Cyberbullying And The First Amendment

Cyberbullying And The First Amendment

The act of bullying is a threat from a person or persons onto another person because of who they are or their way of being. People have been known to bully others by writing on the bathroom wall, passing notes in class, or spreading information by word of mouth. Technology has grown exponentially over the years, and with it, a new way to get someone’s attention. The rapid increase of social media options and digital everything everywhere puts any thought put into words at the fingertips of billions of people. A student has to deal with bullying, and a school and the justice system handle the legalities of the bullying. They do this by addressing bullying in school policies, considering the avenues the attacker takes within the First Amendment, and creating responses that follow the law while protecting the victim.

The Steps After Cyberbullying

 Cyberbullying has a special kind of power over its victim because they can hide behind the face of the internet. One could compare it to writing something mean on the bathroom wall. The difference is they can do it from home, they can end up in long-drawn-out battles via social media, and the messages are often open to everybody’s viewing station.

School Policies on Bullying

 The policies written by Lawton Public School for students, parents, and staff have a large section covering the meaning of bullying and the steps the school uses when bullying occurs.

Lawton Public Schools policy guide meaning of bullying: As used in the School Bullying Prevention Act, “bullying” means any pattern of harassment, intimidation, threatening behavior, physical acts, or verbal or electronic communication directed toward a student or group of students that results in or is reasonably perceived as being done with the intent to cause negative educational or physical results for the targeted individual or group and is communicated in such a way as to disrupt or interfere with the school’s educational mission or the education of any student (p. 146).

When students begin each school year, they have to sign an agreement to abide by the student discipline code of conduct. Each student handbook includes this information and the Information for the consequences a student will receive if they do not abide by this information. If a student is accused of bullying another student, then the information is taken directly to the principal, along with copies of anything written online or evidence to show the bullying occurred and an investigation begins. If it appears a crime was committed, the victim is notified to contact law enforcement. If the discipline code of conduct is broken, then the principal will follow the guidance in accordance with the school policy. When the investigation is completed, the parents of both the accused and the accuser will be notified of the results within three days. Lawton Public School prefers to utilize corrective action over consequences. The corrective action and consequences have 13 steps beginning with conferences and counseling and ending with the involvement of local authorities and suspension (Lawton Public School Board, 2020).

First Amendment Arguments for Cyberbullies

The cyberbully may feel as though they have the right to say what they want online, over text, or through email. A bully’s argument will likely be that they were just speaking their mind, what they said had been taken incorrectly, and that they have the right to do these because they have freedom of speech in accordance with the First Amendment. At this moment, many schools are undergoing a huge change from traditional learning to virtual learning. This could raise the amount of cyberbullying situations that happen. Due to this change, another argument from the student may be that they were not using school property and they were not doing it during school time. Therefore they cannot be charged by the school for cyberbullying another student.

Responses to a Bully’s First Amendment Rights

 A majority of cyberbullying is done via text message, online message, or social media.

Due to the constraints in school policy, most of these incidents happen when the bully is at home and not at school time. Since cyberbullying is not a crime in every state, it leaves the question of who holds the responsibility. If the victim of cyberbullying is affected in a way that changes how school is performed or it is committed with school time, then cyberbullying becomes a responsibility of the school. If the incident occurred within those parameters and the investigation proves the cyberbullying to be true. That means the student has gone against the student discipline code of conduct and would therefore receive a corrective action based on the number of incidents and the incident itself. The legal argument to this is that the student violated a code of conduct that they agreed to abide by. In B v. Itawamba County School Board and Kowalski v. Berkeley County Schools, both arguments showed how a student disrupted the class time and functionality of the school. Depending on the nature of the cyberbullying, a student could also make the claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging equal protection violation (Sickles, 2012).

Conclusion

 When the cyberbully is attacking a student, teacher, or another staff member, the acts of a cyberbully either fall into local authority jurisdiction or the school where the victim attends.

Freedom of speech is granted to every person, but depending on how it is used, a person can violate other laws and guidelines. Just because a person has the right to speak does not mean they should say anything and everything possible. Keeping in mind the assessment of bullying in school policies, the possible responses a bully may make in accordance with the First Amendment, and the options possible to respond to the bully will help the student and the school to deal with bullying.

References

Lawton Public School Board. (2020, January 8). Lawton Public School Policy Handbook. https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/2310/lps_policy_section_f_-_students.pdf

Sickles, C. (2012). Bridging the Liability Gap: How Kowalski’s Interpretation of Reasonable Foreseeability Limits School Liability for Inaction in Cases of Cyberbullying.

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A student notifies you that she has been subjected to bullying through a classmate’s Facebook page.

Cyberbullying And The First Amendment

500-750 words addressing the following:

1. Provide the steps you are required to take that are consistent with state statutes, your district’s school board policies, the faculty handbook, and the student handbook;
2. Any First Amendment arguments you think the student with the Facebook page may raise; and
3. Responses you could make to the First Amendment arguments that are consistent with the cases in the assigned readings.