Should schools discipline students for their online
behavior?
By The Tylt Follow on Twitter on December 20, 2016 at 8:30 AM, updated December 20, 2016 at 8:32 AM
Schools are punishing students for what they post online, even when students post content outside of school hours and without
using school property. Administrators say cyberbullying has a huge effect on schools and requires attention. Others say
punishing students for what they say and do while out of school is an overreach of power. What should be done?
PERSPECTIVES
There's no precedent for a student's free speech rights within the context of the internet.
Can schools punish students for off‑campus, online speech?
Indeed, a key problem here is that the US Supreme Court has never ruled in a case involving the off‑campus speech rights of
students in the digital era.
Public school students do possess First Amendment speech rights, although those rights are not the same as those of adults
in nonschool settings.
A case in point is the Supreme Court's famous 1969 proclamation in Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School
District that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate."
As things are now, students live in a grey zone where school administrators are essentially making it up as they go along.
The bottom line is this: public school students deserve the right to know, pre‑posting and pre‑texting, what their First
Amendment rights are when they are away from campus.
They must, in other words, be given fair notice. The court should hear Bell to let them know precisely what their rights are. It
is an issue not likely to go away soon.
Many argue a common sense application of free speech is enough to clear up all the confusion. Even if the speech is offensive,
free speech is a guaranteed right. Why students have a right to mock teachers online:
In a perfect world ‑‑ or some people's perfect world ‑‑ students would all be polite and well behaved. They would respect their
principals and teachers and speak of them with reverence. But in the real world, students push back against authority figures
‑‑ they tease and mock. Now, in the social‑media age, the authority figures are more likely to find out.
There clearly can be student Facebook or MySpace speech that goes too far ‑‑ for example, serious threats that really do
disrupt educational activities. But when speech is merely offensive, and taking place outside of school hours and property,
principals and teachers should ignore it ‑‑ and think of it as the price we pay for living in a free country.
Anti‑cyberbullying activists argue it is a school's responsibility to ensure a safe environment for all students. Social media is a
huge part of student life and schools must be involved.
Can a school respond to off‑campus cyberbullying?
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969): Students have free‑speech rights. "A prohibition
against expression of opinion, without any evidence that the rule is necessary to avoid substantial interference with school
discipline or the rights of others, is not permissible under the First and Fourteenth Amendments." Students have
constitutional rights under the First Amendment. Those rights, however, do not grant students the right to substantially
interfere with school discipline or "the rights of other students to be secure and to be let alone."
Many people think schools should not punish students for actions on the internet.
Marcus @MarcusClough
Follow
I don't understand how schools can punish you for things you
say on the Internet.
9:49 PM ­ 16 Sep 2013
2 1
ike nwoye @systmbraika
Follow
But seriously how is it even legal for schools to punish kids for
what they say on the Internet unless u are threatening them.
9:44 PM ­ 12 Feb 2015
Thomas Fitzgerald @thomasfitz14
Follow
Schools should not be allowed to punish a student for what
they put on Twitter
3:03 PM ­ 28 Oct 2015
1 16
Some places, like Australia, are taking major steps to restrict students online for their safety.
The Today Show @TheTodayShow
Follow
Measures to stop students posting photos of classmates
online are being introduced in Victorian schools. #9Today
5:07 PM ­ 5 Apr 2016
5 12
ariel estrins @arielestrins
Follow
#creepy... schools track all their students online activity for
keywords, stop 'radicalisation' #sigh
theage.com.au/victoria/schoo…
10:29 AM ­ 23 Jul 2015
Schools track students' social media for signs of extremism
Australian schools are monitoring their students' every move on
their school supplied computer or tablet to spot signs of
radicalisation.
theage.com.au
2 Kristi Bonney @KristiBonney
Follow
RT @TheSingleMama: Stop the bullying. Online. In mommy
blogs. On twitter. In comments. In schools. Stop. Be the bigger
person. Just. Stop.
10:34 PM ­ 6 Oct 2010
11 ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿!!! ON ICE @EmergencyBattle
Follow
"schools block websites to stop bullying online" schools have
STILL not learned that it's not the websites, but the children
who bully 8|
6:05 AM ­ 29 Oct 2015
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