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SSA Anti-Bullying Presentation June 28, 2012. Dr. Pattie Neill, Professor Samford University Retired Superintendent from Tennessee Educational Consultant. Why is Cyber-bullying so painful for our students?.
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SSA Anti-BullyingPresentationJune 28, 2012 Dr. Pattie Neill, Professor Samford University Retired Superintendent from Tennessee Educational Consultant
Why is Cyber-bullying so painful for our students? • On-line humiliation can be seen over and over again – it never goes away – it can be copied and pasted anywhere. • There is no refuge or relief – home computers and personal digital devices are in the fingertips of our youth 24/7. • The on-line audience is unlimited. It includes everyone locally, nationally and internationally. • Adults are not fully equipped to guide youth through the cyber-bullying experience because we never had to deal with this during our adolescence. • Technology is being used as a weapon that shatters a fragile, undeveloped identity.
Case Studies on Cyber-bullying that Resulted in Suicide Year Name/Age Location Social Media 2003 Ryan-13 Vermont IM and AOL Sexting 2007 Megan-13 Missouri MySpace 2006 Rachel-17 Kentucky MySpace 2010 Tyler-18 North Carolina Twitter 2010 Phoebe-15 Massachusetts Texting
Public Reaction in States that experienced Bullying Fatalities • Public outcry to State Legislators promoting anti-bullying laws • Foundations to support Bullying Prevention • Websites to teach internet safety • Legislation such as The Golden Rule Law in Kentucky • Local policy development to expand the harassment definition to include bullying and diversity awareness, tolerance and acceptance • Character Education Programs • Local school training for reporting bullying and training tips for internet safety • http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org/
Important Statistics related to Cyber-Bullying • Bullied students are more likely to bring a weapon to school. In a Secret Service study of school shootings, 75% of the attackers felt bullied or persecuted prior to the attack (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2003). • 90% of Gay or Lesbian students studied were harassed or assaulted, and they were 3 times as likely to say they do not feel safe at school (GLSEN, 2005). • Bullying prevention is crime prevention. 60% of middle school bullies had at least one criminal conviction by age 24 (Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, 2003). • School administrators report that they spend time dealing with cyber-bullying once per week.
The Law is not Current with technology related to online off-campus messaging Cyber-bullying and on-line harassment are argued in court to be within the First Amendment Right of free speech. Before bullies can be disciplined, school administrators must be able to prove that the on-line messaging caused or could likely cause a substantial disruption at school, school functions or interference with the rights of students to be secure. Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969 (Armband protest) Case where the Schools Prevailed: Doninger v. Neihoff, 2008 (Mass email protest) Cases where the Students Prevailed: Layshock v. Hermitage School District, 2010 J. S. v. Blue Mountain School District, 2010 (Created a MySpace page which was a lewd, offensive, satirical parody of the school principal)
Responding to Cyber-Bullying • Take all reports of bullying seriously. • Have a safe climate for reporting and forms for reporting in place. • Have a follow-up procedure for monitoring the escalation or de-escalation of the report. • Document the substantial disruption or a likelihood of a substantial disruption before disciplining the bully • Have a procedure for collecting all hurtful on-line messages as evidence • Look for the dates and times of postings to see if they occurred during the school day • Search the district internet server for more evidence • Interface the online bullying with any related on-campus interactions to establish a “school nexus”. • Be keenly mindful of vicious retaliation and possible escalation after the bully has been confronted.
A superintendent’s case Study of a Bullying prevention initiative 1. What: Develop a vision with community stakeholders, teachers and parents to support the school in a bullying prevention initiative. 2. Why: A positive approach to defining and disseminating rules for how students, parents and community members treat each other should be developed by school leaders. 3. How: Formulate strategies for implementation of a year-long initiative that matches the culture of the community. 4. Who: Enlist personnel to execute the bullying prevention initiative. Define who is responsible for what. 5. When: Evaluate the initiative through a feedback loop and make improvements to the plan each year.
the trend of system-wide suspension events during the Community of Character six-year implementation.
the Number of System-wide Suspension Events during the Community of Character Multi-year Initiative Year Number of System-wide Suspensions 2006 509 2007 563 2008 315 2009 236 2010 169 2011 158 http://www.k-12.state.tn.us/rptcrd06 http://edu.reportcard.state.tn.us/