Online bullying compels states to act

A South Carolina law that took effect this year requires school districts to define bullying and outline policies and repercussions for the behavior, including cyberbullying. One school district there has proposed punishments from warnings up to expulsion for both traditional bullying and cyberbullying.

Some of Oregon’s most powerful lawmakers have lined up behind a proposed bill that would require all of the state’s 198 school districts to adopt policies that prohibit cyberbullying.

Some local school districts aren’t waiting for the state to take action: The Sisters school district in Central Oregon adopted rules that allow it to revoke cyberbullies’ school Internet privileges, or even expel a student in egregious cases.

Ted Thonstad, superintendent of the rural school district of 1,475 students, said it was important to clarify by policy how to treat cyberbullying — now prohibited under strict school hazing rules. Previously, the district had guidelines for what types of Internet sites students could visit, he said, but no policy specifically dealt with cyberbullying.

Prevention must start at home, educator says
Thonstad said no case prompted the policy, although there were some minor incidents of cyberbullying before it went into place at the beginning of the school year. Nothing has been reported since then.

“It’s difficult to monitor if you don’t have the right software,” he said. “So you rely on students to let you know when it’s going on.”

Other schools also are being proactive. Rhode Island’s McDonough sent both public and private school superintendents information and resources on cyberbullying. One school is designing lesson plans to help stop cyberbullying and protect children from Internet predators.

“I think it would be a good idea if there was a law, but I really believe it has to start at home,” said Patricia McCormick, assistant principal of the private St. Philip School in Smithfield, R.I.

McCormick said all the teachers in the school have been trained on Internet safety, and students now receive at least 15 classes on the subject, which includes cyberbullying. But she said stopping the problem will require parental participation.

MySpace prohibits cyberbullying
“Cyberbullying isn’t going on in school,” she said. “It is going on at home, and I think there needs to be more programs to educate parents about the dangers.”

News Corp.’s social-networking site MySpace prohibits cyberbullying and tells users to report abuse — to the company as well as parents and law enforcement, according to a statement issued by Hemanshu Nigam, the company’s chief security officer.

John Halligan, whose son’s suicide has turned him into an advocate for broader cyberbullying laws that would allow victims and their families to pursue civil penalties against bullies, said something must be done to stop the problem.

“I didn’t simply want it to be Ryan’s school that agreed to do something,” he said. “At the end of the day this wasn’t just a problem in Ryan’s school.”

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