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Issues FRIT 7330 Assignment 3 Joe Blackwood

Policy #1

Citation:
District cyberbullying policy. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.wrms.srvusd.net/cyberbullying

URL Link:
http://www.wrms.srvusd.net/cyberbullying

The first policy defines cyber bullying as, the use of electronic information and communication devices to willfully and repeatedly harm either a person or persons through the medium of electronic text, photos, or videos. (District CyberBullying policy, 2011). The policy I selected strictly prohibits harassment or bullying of any kind as such behavior will result in at least 1 day of suspension and may lead to expulsion. Examples of behavior given by cyber bullies are listed on the site. CyberBullying is disruptive, and is a violation of the safety and security of students. If cyber bullying becomes an issue, students or parents are given steps in which to respond to the harassment. The first policy listed does have some strengths. One strength is the fact that it is out there for students and parents to see. Listing the types of cyber bullying at the top of the page is a good way to introduce people to cyber bullying. Some students and parents may be completely unaware of what cyber bullying is. I think it is a strength that the school has a set of consequences for students who are committed of cyber bullying. I think that it is also good that the school lists steps to follow if cyber bullying occurs. Some of the weaknesses I found are in a few of the strengths. I like that the webpage lists some forms of cyber bullying, but I believe that listing several more would be beneficial. This quote from the policy is subjective to me: ..directed specifically toward a pupil or school personnel." (District CyberBullying policy, 2011). What if a student from this school is cyber bullying a student from another school and Windemere Ranch Middle gets word of it? It appears that the policy only comes into effect if the person being cyber bullied is from the school. Lastly, although I appreciate the steps to take when cyber bullying occurs, I believe these steps shouldnt always be followed in this particular order. CyberBullying can come in a variety of ways, can be passive or extremely aggressive, and may require specific and immediate attention.

Policy #2

Citation:
Jones, M. (2012). Students - bullying - cyberbullying. Retrieved from http://www.bristol.k12.ct.us/page.cfm?p=5730

URL Link:
http://www.bristol.k12.ct.us/page.cfm?p=5730

CyberBullying as implicated by policy two is all forms of harassment via the internet. It is considered a violation of policy and of school computer use. Misuse of schools computer is prohibited. CyberBullying includes, but is not limited to the following misuses of technology: harassing, teasing, intimidating, threatening, or terrorizing another person by sending or posting inappropriate and hurtful e-mail messages, instant messages, text messages, digital pictures or images, or Website postings, including blogs. (Jones, 2012). Also, cyber bullying can be defined as someone pretending to be someone they are not online. If cyber bullying is happening, documentation should be made. This policy puts responsibility on students being cyber bullied to tell administration. Consequences for cyber bullying include: the loss of computer privileges, detention, suspension, or expulsion for verified perpetrators of cyber bullying. Also, law enforcement will be contacted. Making the world aware of the cyber bullying is a strength for any school or district. The fact that this school has implemented a policy against any such acts is commendable. The level of explanation in the types of cyber bullying that can occur are very thorough in this policy, even more so than the previous policy. This policy suggests students and parents keep record of evidence of cyber bullying. I think that this is very important in any case. Administration shall fully investigate all reports of cyber bullying. This statement is a powerful standing point for the school. This school takes any type of electronic forms of harassment seriously. This is important for any school. This school policy does have a few weaknesses to discuss. The first I would like to address is the
consequences of cyber bullying. Loss of computer seems so minute when considering the possible damages of student cyber bullying. Although some forms of cyber bullying are harsher than others, I dont see how loss of computer is a strong enough consequence. Compared to the first school, I believe that this school should reassess their disciplinary measures. Also, the consequences seem very vague. ..disciplinary action shall be based upon whether the conduct is determined to be severely

disruptive of the educational process so that it markedly interrupts or severely impedes the dayto-day operations of a school. In addition, such conduct must also be violative of another District policy. Such conduct includes, but is not limited to threats made on or off school grounds, to kill or hurt a staff member or student. This portion of the policy seems a little too subjective.

Policy #3

Citation:
Student bullying and other forms of aggression. (2009). Retrieved from http://lake.k12.fl.us/16511031094951697/lib/16511031094951697/Policy_5.33.pdf

URL Link:
http://lake.k12.fl.us/16511031094951697/lib/16511031094951697/Policy_5.33.pdf

This policy is committed to providing a safe, positive, productive, and nurturing educational environment for all of its students. This policy determines action on any attempt of misconduct as being associated with the school whatsoever: on campus, field trips, ball games, etc. CyberBullying is the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cell phone, pager, text messages, instant messaging (IM), personal web sites, and online personal pooling web sites, whether on or off school campus, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to threaten or harm others, or which causes emotional distress to an individual to substantially disrupt or interfere with the operation of a school or an individual student's ability to receive an education. (Students bullying and, 2009). This policy takes a different approach to explain cyber bullies than the other two policies do. The policy degrades the very nature of cyber bullies. CyberBullying includes, but is not limited to the following: posting slurs or rumors or other disparaging remarks about a student on a web site or on a web blog; sending e-mail or instant messages that are mean or threatening, or so numerous as to drive up the victims cell phone bill; using a camera phone to take and send embarrassing photographs of students; posting misleading or fake photographs of students on web sites. (Students bullying and, 2009). This policy does a thorough job of explaining cyber bullying to students, parents, and stakeholders. I think it is good that this policy not only lists the types of cyber bullying, but also the harms it may cause to students. The harms they share may be indications for students to bring incidences up, or may be opportunity for teachers or parents to locate some issues before they become big problems. I like that this policy goes into detail as to where the school is responsible for cyber bullying. The other two policies were a little vague in this area. Listing the procedures for reporting cyber bullying is good to have in the policy as well. Although the policy had some great strengths, some weaknesses do arise as well. I dont believe that there was enough emphasis on cyber bullying. The policy discussed many issues in schools, and it would have been beneficial to have cyber bullying as its own page. I dont like how the policy uses bullying/cyberbullying as it appears here. This makes it seem like the two go together when they are quite different in nature. The two do have similarities, but I feel that they shouldnt be connected to each other in explanation. Along with the previous comment, there is a place under bullying that includes cyberbullying when there is also a different part of the policy that discusses cyberbullying alone. This can be confusing for students and parents as they may overlook the section devoted for cyberbullying.

Policy for My School

Cyberbullying is a fast-growing problem in todays schools all around the world. CyberBullying is the use of information and communication technologies such as e-mail, cell phone, pager, text messages, instant messaging (IM), personal web sites, and online personal pooling web sites, whether on or off school campus, to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group, that is intended to threaten or harm others, or which causes emotional distress to an individual to substantially disrupt or interfere with the operation of a school or an individual student's ability to receive an education. Any form of cyberbullying should be immediately tended to. Such forms of cyberbullying that may occur include, but are not limited to: posting slurs or rumors or other disparaging remarks about a student on a web site or on a web blog; sending e-mail or instant messages that are mean or threatening, or so numerous as to drive up the victims cell phone bill; using a camera phone to take and send embarrassing photographs of students; posting misleading or fake photographs of students on web sites, harassing, teasing, intimidating, threatening, or terrorizing another person by sending or posting inappropriate and hurtful e-mail messages, instant messages, text messages, digital pictures or images, or Website postings, including blogs. Specific action shall be taken on any violator convicted of cyberbullying. Any student convicted of any form of cyberbullying will receive a minimum of 1 day of in school suspension and a maximum of expulsion within the county. The consequence depends on the action of cyberbullying that occurs. Depending on the severity of the act, the law enforcement will also be notified. Students need to be aware of the dangers of cyberbullying as well as the effects. The following sites are references for how to suspect cyberbullying, how to prevent it, and how you and others can be aware of it. Please take the time to look over each/one of the sites and become familiar with the act of cyberbullying. No person ever said, I wish I was less knowledgeable of cyberbullying. http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html http://www.parentfurther.com/high-risk-behaviors/bullying?utm_campaign=parentfurthersearch&utm_medium=search&utm_source=google&utm_term=cyber%20bullying%20help http://www.cyberbullying.us/