Of Course They’re Stupid: Social Media for Students Karen Haase Harding & Shultz (402) 434-3000 [email protected] H & S School Law @KarenHaase
Mar 25, 2016
Of Course They’re Stupid: Social Media for Students
Karen Haase Harding & Shultz
(402) 434-3000( )[email protected]
H & S School Law@KarenHaase
Agendag FCC’s August OrdergCyberbullying Legal Issues with 1:1 Legal Issues with 1:1 Sexting (again!) g g
FCC August 2011 Order“Beginning July 1, 2012, schools’
I t t f t li i tInternet safety policies must provide for educating minors about p gappropriate online behavior, including interacting with otherincluding interacting with other individuals on social networking gwebsites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness andcyberbullying awareness and response.”
FCC August 2011 Orderg< Since 2001, CIPA required schools , q
to certify that internet safety policies and technology protectionpolicies and technology protection measures to receive “E-Rate”
< Requires schools to use “blocking technology”technology
FCC August 2011 Orderg< 2008 -- Congress passed Protecting g p g
Children in the Twenty-First Century ActCentury Act
< Required schools to educate on:• appropriate on-line behavior, • interacting on social networking• interacting on social networking
websites & chat rooms• cyberbullying
The Policyy< Must certify its existence on Form y
486 or Form 479 – must retain documentation for at least fivedocumentation for at least five years.y
< Does not have to include specifics as to the particular programas to the particular program
< FCC will not detail specific procedures or curriculum
We Need Definitions!!What is:
< inappropriate for minors< social networking< social networking< cyberbullyingy y g< Minor
• Nebraska law defines as under 19• Nebraska law defines as under 19• FCC defines as under 18
FCC did tell us:< Schools can decide for themselves
whether to block Facebook and MySpaceMySpace
< Declaring such sites categorically g g yharmful to minors would be inconsistent with focus oninconsistent with focus on “educating minors about appropriate on-line behavior
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying of Staffy y g
J.S. v. Blue Mountain Sch. Dist.Middle School Student made fake
MySpace profile for principal• Included photo from school websiteIncluded photo from school website• Initially public; then limited• Students could only access off
campuscampus• Student suspended for 10 days;
dparents sued
Layshock v. Hermitage Sch. DistHigh School Student made fake
MySpace profile for principal• Included photo from school websiteIncluded photo from school website• Other students created similar and
ff i fimore offensive profiles • Students only accessed off campusStudents only accessed off campus• Student suspended for 10 days;
l d i l h b d fplaced in alt. sch, banned from extracurriculars, no commencement
J.S. and Layshock InconsistentThird Circuit granted en banc
rehearingOral Argument June 3, 2010Oral Argument June 3, 2010Decision issued June 13, 2011The Bottom Line? Schools lost both
casescases
J.S. and LayshockKey legal points
• School can’t punish off-campus speech because it is vulgar,speech because it is vulgar, inappropriate or even criminalS i ff• School can only punish off-campus speech that is substantially p ydisruptive
What About the Staff?“We recognize that vulgar and
offensive speech such as that employed in this case – even made in p yjust – could damage the careers of teachers and administrators and weteachers and administrators and we conclude only that the punitive action taken by the school district violatedtaken by the school district violated the First Amendment free speech i ht f JS ”rights of JS.”
i.e. “We don’t care”
Cyberbullying of Studentsy y g
T.K. v. New York Dept’t of Ed., (E.D.N.Y 2011)
< LD student bullied by peers< Ct :< Ct.:< No First Amendment protection
for bullies< “…merely requires schools do…merely requires schools do
what the Department of Ed ti h t ld th t d fEducation has told them to do for years.”
J.C. v. Beverly Hills Unif. Sch. Dist. (Cal.)
8th grade girls talking smack about a l d d t Y T bpeer; uploaded to YouTube
Principal suspended student who p puploaded
Court: no disruption to school noCourt: no disruption to school, no nexus to education, no basis for punishmentpunishment
Los Angeles (CA) Unif. Sch. Dist., 46 IDELR 198 (OCR 2006)
< SpEd Student bullied and cyberbulliedcyberbullied
< “…the teacher's actions and inactions created a hostile environment for the Student basedenvironment for the Student based on disability.”
Kowalski v. Berkeley Co Schs(4th Ci 2011)(4th Cir. 2011)
Student created MySpace groupStudent created MySpace group harassing another studentCreator of the page received
• 10-day suspension from school10 day suspension from school • 90-day “social suspension”
Ct h d b t ti lCt.: speech caused substantial disruption, therefore discipline p , pappropriate
1:1 Issues< 1:1
C• Computers• Kindle/NookKindle/Nook• iPad
iP d t h• iPod touch• BYOT
< CIPA?< Use for cyberbullying?< Use for cyberbullying?< Search and seizure issues
CIPA< E-Rate application -- NOT
tif i th t kid illcertifying that you ensure kids will never be exposedp
< Does not require the tracking of Internet use by minors or adultsInternet use by minors or adults.
< It is not clear if CIPA’s filtering gextends to networks outside the school environmentschool environment
My Recommendations< Have a policy that makes clear:
filt i t• you are filtering access to information on school campus, p ,not the device itself
• Require both parents and• Require both parents and students to sign a permission slipg p p
• Remind students that they aren’t to download any content withoutto download any content without permission
Sexting
Criminal Implications Under Nebraska Law
Neb. Rev. Stat. 28-813 et. seq. Makes sexting (images) a class IV Makes sexting (images) a class IV
felony for offenders under 19 Class IIIA felony for 19 and up Class IIIA felony for 19 and up Both punishable by:
• Up to 5 years in prison and/orUp to 5 years in prison and/or• $10,000 fine• Require sex offender registrationq g
In re Katrina R.15 year old texted nude pics to her BF Was adjudicated “a child who deports
herself so as to injure or endanger j gseriously the morals or health of herself or others” e se o ot e s
• Placed in legal custody of HHS6 ’ i• 6 months’ probation
• Required counseling andRequired counseling and community service.
Holy Twitter, Batman! What education leaders need to know
about the law and technologyabout the law and technologyKaren HaaseKaren Haase
Harding & Shultz(402) 434 3000(402) 434-3000
H & S School Law@KarenHaase@