Antuana Fulgham

Grand Canyon University

POS-500
October 22, 2023

In New York state school districts must establish and implement policies and guidelines

to create a school culture and environment that will have a positive impact on students’ behavior

and achievements. The Dignity Act states New York State students in public schools must be in

an environment free of discrimination and harassment (Education Law §10). Therefore, when a

bullying incident is witnessed or reported by a student you must respond and intervene instantly

and ensure that everyone is safe. Then, you must document the incident and collect evidence of

the allegations of bullying from as many sources as possible. In fact, for this case you must get

Facebook posts and text threads. It is important to make sure that the incident is bullying as well.

Next, the incident should be reported to the school authorities as per the student Code of Conduct

and staff handbook. Furthermore, the school board policies on bullying should be followed with

thorough research, reviewing both school’s handbook, investigating to make sure it is bullying

and involving the parents to ensure that they ae aware of the incident and any disciplinary action

if necessary. Additionally, after the development of a plan and it has been implemented the

procedure is to do a follow-up with the students involved to see how things are going. Lastly, if

bullying is a threat of violence or harm, you should report the incident to law enforcement as per

state statutes.
 Moreover, Facebook provides almost limitless channels for student speech and therefore,

cyberbullying has increased in the 21st century. The first argument would be that the First

Amendment to the United States Constitution does protect the freedom of speech of the student

who made comments on Facebook and could argue that they had free will to do so. Another

would be that cyberbullying that this incident did not happen during school, at school or on

school grounds so the school does not have to get involved. However, the right to freedom of

speech allowed the student to express themself without interference from the government.

Nevertheless, it does not protect speech that violates the rights of the other student or being used

to harass or bully someone. As a result, the student who decided to bully another student on

Facebook infringes the rights of the other student because they have a right to be free from

bullying.

The First Amendment Freedom of speech rights include the case of Tinker v. Des Moines

Independent Community School District (1969) where students wore black armbands to school

to protest the Vietnam war, but the school made a policy to either remove your armband or risk

suspension. The Supreme Court argued that the First Amendment does not give the right to

express at any time and that school is for learning and the arm bands are a distraction. Therefore,

to maintain a school environment conducive to learning the school officials used their better

judgement for the interest of the school. The student’s speech was able to be controlled because it

interfered with the requirements of proper discipline of the school and was a distraction from

learning. Therefore, the school would be able to act against bullying because it is within the

rights of the First Amendment. Also, in the Bethel Sch. Dist. v. Fraser case, 478 U.S. 675, public

schools have the right to discipline a student for giving a lewd speech at a school assembly. The
First Amendment did not prevent the school from disciplining the student for giving offensive

speech because it in a public-school setting prohibits the use of offensive language.

References
Bethel Sch. Dist. v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675

Tinker v. Des Moines, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)

The White House. (2021, January 20). The Constitution | The White House.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/our-government/the-constitution/
#:~:text=The%20First%20Amendment%20provides%20that,for%20a%20redress%20of
%20grievances
What does free speech mean? (n.d.). United States Courts. https://www.uscourts.gov/about-
federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/what-does