ERIC Number: EJ965954
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011
Pages: 3
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1531-3174
EISSN: N/A
Cyber Misconduct, Discipline and the Law
Shipley, Gretchen
Leadership, v41 n1 p14-16 Sep-Oct 2011
Less than a decade ago, school district technology-use policies essentially focused on school computer labs and the prohibition of cell phones on campus. Today, as schools integrate technology into classroom instruction and school operations, districts are moving quickly to implement policies to encourage digital citizenship throughout the school community. One particular challenge school administrators face is determining whether a school district has jurisdiction to discipline a student or employee for cyber misconduct. Interestingly, courts have seemingly provided greater speech protections to students for cyber speech than school teachers and employees. Two recent decisions found that a school district overstepped its bounds in disciplining students for cyber speech. In those cases, the courts found that the school district violated student First Amendment rights by disciplining the students, as the cyber speech did not cause a substantial disruption at school and it was not reasonably foreseeable that substantial disruption would occur. Whereas, a recent employee dismissal was upheld by a court where the cyber speech--which was not viewed by students--caused the principal to lose confidence in the employee as a role model.
Descriptors: Role Models, Discipline, Court Litigation, Constitutional Law, School Districts, Computer Mediated Communication, Technology Integration, Telecommunications, Handheld Devices, Teacher Behavior, Student Behavior, School Policy
Association of California School Administrators. 1029 J Street Suite 500, Sacramento, CA 95814. Tel: 800-890-2272; Tel: 916-444-3216; Fax: 916-444-3739; Web site: http://www.acsa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A