Cyberbullying and the First Amendment

Cyber-bullying and the First Amendment

Grand Canyon University: POS – 500

Cyber-bullying and the First Amendment

Cyber-bullying has become more common since the advancement of technology. Cyber-bullying is when a person is being bullied or harassed through emails, social media sites, cell phones and/or other forms of digital technology. The First Amendment of the Constitution gives us the right to free speech and free expression. Therefore, there have been conflicting issues on cyber-bullying and our First Amendment rights. First Amendments freedom of speech and expression affords the rights that may protect cyber-bullying. In tis essay, I will talk about the scenario of a student notifying school staff that she is being bullied through a classmate’s Facebook page. I will explain the steps school staff are requires to take upon being notified of any bullying situation, any arguments the student with the Facebook page might make in accordance with the First Amendment, and the responses I could make to the First Amendment arguments.

The school districts in New York abide by the Regulations set by the NYC Chancellor. The policy in NYC schools is to provide students with a safe and supportive learning environment. The schools strive to maintain a bully free environment and take several steps immediately upon being alerted of any bullying activities. Bullying can be any physical, verbal, written, and/or cyber-bullying intentionally done toward a student or group of students that is offensive and/or substantially disrupts the educational process of students or adversely affects the schools learning environment. Bullying whether the traditional bully to the now recent cyber-bully can be very detrimental to students and can lead to health related issues, mental, and emotional issues like depression, anxiety, social problems, and worse of all suicide. Can schools reprimand students for these behaviors or does the First Amendment protect these behaviors through Freedom of speech and expression is the question asked?

In the scenario of a student being bullied through Facebook my responsibility as outlined on the Chancellors regulations are to immediately report the situation to the principal or the designated staff member assigned to deal with such matters. In the event that the situation is deemed criminal the police will be notified. If the situation is out of the schools control because of the seriousness of the allegation than the principle or designated staff member must notify the Office of School and Youth Development. In this particular situation, we will say that it is not a criminal matter and it will be mediated directly by the school. Therefore, in this situation the principal or designated staff member must notify the Online Occurrence Reporting System (OORS) within 24 hours. The person investigating the situation must interview the victim and note the conversation in detail. The victim must write a statement as descriptive as possible with accurate dates, places, and possible witnesses. The accused student must also be notified of the accusation and, if in fact, the situation did occur he will be told to stop the harassment immediately. The accused would also have the opportunity to explain their version of the events and will be asked to write a statement explaining their side of the situation. If there were any witnesses to the situation in question, the designated staff member would interview them and obtain their written accounts of the situation. The parents of both, the accuser and the accused must be notified of the situation. The school must then report their findings to the alleged victim within ten days. After the investigation is complete if the findings are that such events did occur, both victim and the accused will be individually referred to the school counselor, psychologist, or appropriate staff member who will give them individual counseling or referred to outside counseling based agencies. If the offending student is found that they violated the Schools Discipline Code they will be subject to disciplinary actions.

When faced with conflicting issues like cyber-bullying the student who is accused of bullying might have an argument set fourth by our First Amendment protection of free speech and expression. The student can say that he/she was exercising their freedom of speech. They may also argue that they posted these messages outside of the school building and during non-school hours, therefore, the school has nothing to do with the situation. My counterargument to the student would be that although the First Amendment gives us the right of freedom of speech it must be done in an appropriate manner. The First Amendment does protect us with these rights but there are limitations when it comes to the public school. The freedom of speech rights would go unchallenged only if the message does not create a substantial disruption at school or invade the rights and education of others. Also, although the post might have occurred away from the school and during non-school hours the posting can still affect the school, therefore, clearly becoming the schools matter and they would be able to reprimand the behavior.

In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District a group of students symbolically protested the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands. The case was taken to the Supreme Court were the court sided with the students stating the act did not constitute substantial disruption or affect the right of others. They merely, silently exercising their first amendment rights. Another Supreme Court case where freedom of speech caused a controversy was that of Bethel School District v. Fraser. In this case the student gave a vulgar political speech. The court sided with the school explaining that a significant disturbance was caused within the school community.

These two cases helped to better define the law as it relates to students rights on free speech in public schools. With Tinker v. Bethel we learned that passive symbolic expression is protected under freedom of speech. Whereas Bethel School District v. Fraser we learned that if a student is disrupting the schools operation it is deemed as not protected under the First Amendment.

In conclusion, we as educators need to be aware of laws that we must abide by when it comes to student discipline because students have rights that protect them. We must know how to go about certain situations and make sure that we are knowledgeable of school policies so that we do not over step boundaries. We need to provide students with a safe, welcoming environment and when we deal with bullying, whether the traditional bully or cyber-bully, we need to make sure that we follow the correct policies and procedures so that we can provide all students with the best learning environment possible.

Reference:

Chancellor’s Regulations. (2017, September 28). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://schools.nyc.gov/RulesPolicies/ChancellorsRegulations/VolumeAncellor’s Regulations. (2017, September 28). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://schools.nyc.gov/RulesPolicies/ChancellorsRegulations/VolumeA

FindLaw’s United States Supreme Court case and opinions. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/478/675.html

Reilly, Brendan. Cyber-Bullying: Freedom of Expression vs. Freedom from Harassment.

Retrieved February 15, 2018, https://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/law/centers/childlaw/childed/pdfs/2011studentpapers/reilly_cyberbullying.pdf

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist. (n.d.). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/393/503