UPDATED> Re: K12> Now here is a new twist on off campus harmful speech

From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: NetHappenings <nethappenings@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 01 May 2003 08:36:12 -0500
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Net Happenings - From Educational CyberPlayGround
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Date: Wed, 30 Apr 2003 10:22:56 -0700
From: Nancy Willard <nwillard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Please forward this to your group. I should know not to make flippant
comments while also trying to get my 3 kids ready for school (where I am an
active member of the site council). <sigh>

There is a lot of background on the issue of harmful off-campus speech that
your readers might not be aware of. Basically, schools are extremely limited
in the actions that they can take in response to such speech. This speech
has not occurred on school district property and students do have
constitutionally-protected free speech rights to say many things that we all
would wish that they would not say.

It appears that this district did what it should have done and can do
without putting itself into a position of legal jeopardy. There have been
many cases involving student off-campus speech where the districts have
ended up paying big bucks to the student for inappropriate discipline
because of off-campus speech. So filing a law suit against a district, which
cannot take greater actions than legal justified, is an overreaction on the
part of the teacher.

We have to understand that young people are not being effectively educated
about issues of personal responsibility related to speech on the Internet.
This is something that really needs to change. Many young people are using
the Internet for harassment and bullying. They need effective education
about the boundaries of appropriate protest speech and irresponsible speech.
I have been advocating for such instruction for a long time now.

There are incidents of overreaction to such speech, including overreaction
that involves calling the police and charges filed. The worst incident was a
student web site that published mock obituaries that was referred to in the
press as a "hit list." I am perhaps reading into the situation somewhat
based on the reported results of the psychological analysis of the student.
Kids will say stuff on the Internet when they are angry and frustrated and
they simply do not understand how those statements could be misinterpreted
by others. We need to educate them. And hold them responsible in appropriate
legal ways. But we should not overreact.

Adults also have the responsibility for their actions when they are angry
and frustrated. The teacher appears to be overreacting and inappropriately
directing his anger at the district. Given the teacher's position, as head
of the teacher's union, his action appears to be exacerbating the underlying
tensions related to the problems in the bargaining process. I do not
consider this to be responsible behavior on the part of the teacher.

My fault in my early morning flippant comment was assuming, based on 2
pieces of information, that there are more issues of concern related to the
actions of this particular teacher. I should not have done this and I
apologize. The two pieces of information are an unfounded lawsuit filed by
the teacher and the fact that the student targeted this teacher on his web
site. In strike situations, students generally side with the teachers, so
this is unusual. Student speech, while perhaps not appropriate, may also
provide very insightful information about what is going on in the
educational community.

My from-a-distance analysis:
Student -- not acting responsibly in publishing inappropriate material. A
lawsuit against the student and his parents may be warranted.
Teacher -- not acting responsibly in filing lawsuit against the district.
District -- acted responsibly in suspending the student, requiring a
psychological evaluation, and contacting the police.

My apologies to those who were offended by my comments.

Nancy

Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.

Center for Advanced Technology in Education
University of Oregon, College of Education
E-mail: nwillard@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
URL: http://netizen.uoregon.edu

Responsible Netizen Institute
URL:http://responsiblenetizen.org

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UPDATED> Re: K12> Now here is a new twist on off campus harmful speech

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