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RUNNING HEAD: CYBERBULLYING AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

Cyberbullying and the First Amendment

Calandra Young

Grand Canyon University

POS 500
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RUNNING HEAD: CYBERBULLYING AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

Cyberbullying and the First Amendment

We need to understand the power of our words in a world where anything can and

seemingly has been said on the internet, even when they are not spoken face to face. One can get

on a computer at any moment, sign onto the internet, and discover phrases, images , and videos

of stuff being said "through the internet" that most will never say to a real life human. The twitter

fought a war of words through numerous Facebook sites, and also prompted the breakup of many

partnerships. What needs to be navigated lately is that free expression on the world wide web

moves from expressing my point of view to criticizing someone else in a particular way. It is

here where these terms shift from my responsibility to your misconduct.

Take that out of a general sense and share a "true" scenario. Student A notifies their

instructor of being harassed through a Facebook list of classmates. The instructor has the ability

to see this material on the Facebook account of the pupil, and to contact the student, Student B,

and address the cyberbullying that is involved. The instructor speaks to the student doing the

cyberbullying, after finding the facts on Facebook, and tells them to delete the articles and

apologize to the offended group. Student B not agreeing that you are already violating their First

Amendment rights and that they should not delete the posts because they are free to express what

they want, that it's valid, and that the other student shouldn't be too responsive. What does the

instructor have to do?

At this stage we should find the actions that this instructor will take to cope with this case

of cyberbullying. There are state laws at hand, first of all. Here in Georgia, teachers are educated

to improve their awareness of bullying and cyberbullying patterns, how to recognize them and

how to incorporate methods to counter them. Georgia often allows parents or legal guardians to

be aware of reported incidents of discrimination and, according to www.stopbullying.gov, the

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RUNNING HEAD: CYBERBULLYING AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

law frequently urges educators to "refer to school counselors, school psychologists, social

services, child protection employees, school nurses or other community service personnel for

case management, therapy, and participation in a restorative justice program, as appropriate.”

Education policy for Rockdale County Public Schools specifies that students will connect

in caring and meaningful ways. Board policy describes this requirement in any bullying scenario,

"Reporting to a teacher or supervisor instantly offensive or upsetting messages aimed at

employees, students or community members.” The Rockdale County Public Schools handbook

reassures teachers that they may report any and all bullying problems to a supervisor or

administrator promptly if they believe they are unable to manage the problem directly properly.

The Parent / Student Handbook for Rockdale County Public Schools states that any abuse must

be treated by administration and include law enforcement if required. Everything that is in order

to allow teachers the ability to manage the stuff they want, but still the flexibility and

convenience of forwarding all the items they feel uncomfortable addressing up the chain of

command.

Rather than discuss point of view points with Student B, let's articulate the

Facts on abuse and cyberbullying with real evidence from documented events. We could

continue with Morse v. Fredrick, which explicitly indicates that the school kids' right to free

expression is not as comprehensive as it is for adults. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School

District claimed free expression should not "causing" substantial disturbance "to educational

events or violating certain people's freedoms.” To illustrate the argument more, one might appeal

to Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser where the court determined it was reasonable for

schools to prohibit the usage of lewd and abusive language in a public setting, and indeed,

Facebook is a public setting in this case.

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RUNNING HEAD: CYBERBULLYING AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

Finally, a more recent ruling in the 2011 Kowalski v. Berkeley County School case,

sided with the district after Kara Kowalski was suspended from school and expelled from cheer

squad for using off-campus social media to ruthlessly cyberbully another cheerleader at her

school (Green, Lee). These cases from the case law would provide adequate precedence for

Student B to be willing to make a rational judgment in our original example to avoid

cyberbullying Student A. The purpose of this circumstance is to make all students become better

schoolmates, better peers and better citizens. Such students can never be best buddies, but we

want them to realize what they are doing, and that they can't hurt anyone else or steal away the

rights of anyone else. When we can really offer these kids a better outlook about how to handle

other individuals so we're showing them something positive will influence them for the

remainder of their life.

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RUNNING HEAD: CYBERBULLYING AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

References

Bittner, M. (2013). Beyond the Schoolhouse Gate: Students’ First Amendment Speech Rights in

the Digital Age. Clearing House, 86(5), 174–178. https://doi-

org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1080/00098655.2013.798609

Georgia Department of Education. (2011). Georgia Anti-Bullying Laws & Policies.

Retrieved from https://www.gadoe.org/schoolsafetyclimate/Documents/GaDOE

%20Bullying%20Policy_August%202011.pdf

Center for Public Education. (2006). Free Speech and Public Schools. Retrieved from

http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/research/free-speech-and-public-schools

Green, Lee. (2016). National Federation of State High School Association. Cyberbullying:

Challenging Legal Issues for Schools. Retrieved from

https://www.nfhs.org/articles/cyberbullying-challenging-legal-issues-for-schools/

Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393, 127 S. Ct. 2618, 168 L. Ed. 2d 290, 2007 U.S. LEXIS 8514,

75 U.S.L.W. 4487, 20 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 431 (Supreme Court of the United States

June 25, 2007, Decided ). Retrieved from https://advance-lexis-

com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/api/document?collection=cases&id=urn:contentItem:4P24-

BX60-004C-200V-00000-00&context=1516831.

National Professional Resources. (2011). ABC's of Bullying Prevention: A Comprehensive

Schoolwide Approach K-8. Retrieved from https://fod-infobase-

com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/p_ViewVideo.aspx?xtid=60350