Cyberbullying Education Needs to Begin Before Middle School Study Suggests

A new study by Stephanie Englander of Bridgewater University suggests that 83 percent of middle schoolers, 39 percent of fifth-graders, and 20 percent of third-graders have their own cell phone.  The study was conducted for the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center with the hopes of determining whether readily available technology, such as cell phones, plays a role in cyberbullying.

Cell phone use graph in Research Findings: MARC 2011 Survey Grades 3-12

(Credit: Elizabeth Englander/Bridgewater State University)

In her report, Englander recommends that "Education on cyberbullying and cyber-behaviors needs to begin well before Middle School ... Children are all online by third grade and over 20 percent report experiencing problems with peers online." Another interesting finding is that while in-school bullying decreases as children age, cyberbullying increases.

At what grade do your schools begin to address cyberbullying?  How do you talk to elementary students differently than high school students regarding cyberbullying?

Englander's full report is available here.

Meghan Covert Russell

Missouri Law Prohibits Private Interactions Between Teachers and Students on the Internet

Missouri recently passed the “Amy Hestir Student Protection Act” (the “Act”), which targets sexual misconduct between teachers and students. Among the Act’s many provisions, including imposing liability on a school district who fails to disclose a former employee’s allegations of sexual misconduct to the new employing school district, the Act seeks to curtail online interaction between students and teachers.

The Act specifically prohibits teachers from having a “nonwork-related website that allows exclusive access with a current or former student,” thus prohibiting private interaction on social networking sites such as Facebook (through private messaging and chatting) and Twitter (through direct messaging). However, the Act does not appear to prohibit social networking such as posting on Facebook walls or public group pages, provided the interaction is publicly accessible.

This law is an attempt to address a growing problem of inappropriate contact between students and teachers utilizing technology such as text messaging, emails or social networking. However, commentators have already begun to question the validity of the Missouri law and whether it will withstand review by a court due to constitutional concerns such as free speech and freedom of association.

Although school districts should discourage student and teacher interaction online, California’s free speech laws have not been interpreted in a way that would suggest school districts could prohibit appropriate interaction between students and teachers utilizing technology and social media.

Meghan Covert Russell