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Students To Be Punished For MySpace Postings

post #1 of 27
8/19/07 at 3:19pm
Thread Starter 
http://www.wlky.com/news/13897653/detail.html

SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. -- When students in Bullitt County went back to class Thursday, a new school board policy was in place to protect them from cyber bullying.

Under the rule passed this summer, students can be suspended or expelled, in addition to any criminal proceedings they might face, for messages they post on MySpace.

Bullitt County School Board Attorney Eric Farris said the board will weigh each infraction on its own merits. He said the board will keep in mind the students’ right to free speech.

*********

"Jane, stop this crazy thing!!!"
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post #2 of 27
8/19/07 at 3:55pm
This isn't necessarily a bad move. Cyberbullying is a big problem and I don't see how this affects free speech. It could certainly become a free-speech issue -- depending on what a person writes, obviously, since no one has a right to use threatening language against someone -- but on the face of it, their policy seems fine.
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post #3 of 27
8/19/07 at 4:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Devildoubt
I don't see how this affects free speech.
They're being punished for something they write...........
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post #4 of 27
8/19/07 at 4:24pm
I think it's probably more about MySpace not being in the school's jurisdiction.
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post #5 of 27
8/19/07 at 4:27pm
Cyber-bullying's quite a serious problem in some places. Is it any different than punishing kids for verbal bullying?
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post #6 of 27
8/19/07 at 4:30pm
When my younger brother first attended high school they instituted a policy whereby they could punish students in school for bullying behavior that takes place even off of school property (evening weekends etc.). I'm not sure if this is a common policy for many schools but I would imagine this doesn't fall too far outside that same principle.
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post #7 of 27
8/19/07 at 4:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeShaynePI
I think it's probably more about MySpace not being in the school's jurisdiction.
I don't think that's much of a problem. When students do things off campus, they can still get punished in school for it (i.e. tobacco, drugs, fights, etc.)
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post #8 of 27
8/19/07 at 4:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomstick
I don't think that's much of a problem. When students do things off campus, they can still get punished in school for it (i.e. tobacco, drugs, fights, etc.)
Where I went to school you were only punished for what you did while on school grounds. I don't understand how fighting, etc. outside of school can be punishable by the school.
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post #9 of 27
8/19/07 at 4:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Boomstick
I don't think that's much of a problem. When students do things off campus, they can still get punished in school for it (i.e. tobacco, drugs, fights, etc.)
Wouldn't that only be during school hours?
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post #10 of 27
8/19/07 at 5:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by englebert
Where I went to school you were only punished for what you did while on school grounds. I don't understand how fighting, etc. outside of school can be punishable by the school.
Because it usually starts in the school and if not addressed it could continue in the school. And with lawsuit happy parents the schools have to protect themselves.
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post #11 of 27
8/19/07 at 6:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Anthony
They're being punished for something they write...........
No, if they're being punished for bullying people, or making threatening comments, it does not implicate the free speech clause since threats are not protected speech.
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post #12 of 27
8/19/07 at 6:19pm
Gimme all your lunch money, fags.
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post #13 of 27
8/19/07 at 7:05pm
That's a good example. Millette's speech here would not be protected by the first amendment since he's threatening us. Neither would my response be, when I tell him to try and fucking make me.
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post #14 of 27
8/19/07 at 7:33pm
I run into a lot of people, on both the pro and con sides, who fundamentally don't understand what the right to free speech actually means. It doesn't mean you get to say whatever you want to whoever you want without fear of consequences.
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post #15 of 27
8/19/07 at 7:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Millette
Gimme all your lunch money, fags.
I gave it to your mother.
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post #16 of 27
8/19/07 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad Millette
Gimme all your lunch money, fags.
I don't have any lunch money all I've got are these healthy sandwiches from home.
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post #17 of 27
8/19/07 at 8:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seabass
I gave it to your mother.
You give her cash? I just usually give her whatever returnable beer bottles I have in the garage...
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post #18 of 27
8/19/07 at 8:30pm
I see this as a case where the law is trying to catch up with technology. As a victim of bullying when I was younger (elementary school, mainly), I applaud the effort.
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post #19 of 27
8/19/07 at 8:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg David
I run into a lot of people, on both the pro and con sides, who fundamentally don't understand what the right to free speech actually means. It doesn't mean you get to say whatever you want to whoever you want without fear of consequences.
It was always my understanding that your rights end where another person's begin, or something like that. Basically, it's the old "it's okay unless it affects somebody else" clause.

I really don't know what to make of this. Obviously bullying is a problem, and the internet is becoming the go-to place for young people to get malicious and spread things around. If they are really making threats, what they write can and should be used against them.

However, having attended a school with that vague, flimsy "we can punish you anytime, anywhere" rule, I can say that it's something they can't really enforce without overstepping their bounds. And then there's the whole issue of who gets to police the internet. It's tricky, and cannot really be resolved in any way that works out for anyone.
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post #20 of 27
8/19/07 at 8:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Devildoubt
That's a good example. Millette's speech here would not be protected by the first amendment since he's threatening us. Neither would my response be, when I tell him to try and fucking make me.
Millette will neg rep you to death. You stand no chance. I'd just give him the money.
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post #21 of 27
8/19/07 at 9:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brendan
Millette will neg rep you to death. You stand no chance. I'd just give him the money.
Sage advice, my friend. If Millette wants to come to Pittsburgh, I'll be happy to hand over my three dollars.
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post #22 of 27
8/19/07 at 9:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary Sherman
It was always my understanding that your rights end where another person's begin, or something like that. Basically, it's the old "it's okay unless it affects somebody else" clause.
First Amendment law is stupefying. If I remember my bar course correctly, a lot of it boils down to the forum where you're "speaking". Basically, the only place where the government can't totally shut down speech is the sidewalk. But even that general rule is hampered by a lot of exceptions. And remember, the 1st Amendment only applies to state actors. Private people can do whatever they want, which is why Chud can ban anyone and they have no legal recourse. Of course, they can flatten Nick's tires if they want, but that's a different issue...
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post #23 of 27
8/19/07 at 10:46pm
Thread Starter 
What if your MySpace profile is private? Would you HAVE to allow your school on your Friends List?

Or what if the bullying was through private messages? Then they'd have to wait for the victim to step forward themselves.

What if you're being bullied mercilessly by a kid but from A DIFFERENT school, like say, a few miles away but who lives in your neighborhood? It's definitely affecting your student but there's not much you can do, is there?

Lots of questions spring up.
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post #24 of 27
8/19/07 at 10:51pm
The military recently put in place a similar rule. Basically if you post something in violation to the regs you can get in trouble. I knew a white Airman who got kicked out of the Air Force for posting harrassing racial messages about a black Airman on his Myspace page.
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post #25 of 27
8/20/07 at 5:59am
The Supreme Court has also repeatedly ruled that schools can exercise restraint on student's speech in conduct, in school for certain and perhaps out, depending largely on the context.

I don't necessarily agree with the interpretation, but basically if you're in public school you do not have equal rights to speech and behavior as an adult.
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post #26 of 27
8/20/07 at 6:34am
It's pretty much a truism that minors do not enjoy the same full rights as adults. Teenagers claim to hate it, but it really helps fuel their sense of persecution and injustice, so they actually love it.

And by the way, minors shouldn't enjoy the same rights as adults. They're still under supervision, still being protected, and still being educated in what society expects of them. This requires that a certain amount of control be exerted over them. And if our culture doesn't view them as responsible enough for their own actions to make them face full sentences for criminal behavior, then it shouldn't grant them full freedom either. That's the way it is, kids. Live with it.
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post #27 of 27
8/20/07 at 6:49am
Free speech would probably be better renamed freedom to have your opinion expressed.

If you were literally free to say anything, how would you prosecute people for fraud, defamtion of character or even purgery? Pedophiles would be free to ask little kids for sex, Bosses would be free to sexually harass employees, the list goes on. This is no different. It's just common sense, if the schools aren't allowed to step in then they'll have to bring in the FBI or someone else to deal with it and that seems like overkill.
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