District Administration - March 2010 - (Page 64)

SUPERVISOR’S OPINION fully. School districts will be challenged for overstepping boundaries in this stilldeveloping ﬁeld of student discipline. In December 2009, a video posted on YouTube that was hurtful to a student in a Beverly Hills school was brought to the attention of school oﬃcials. Citing cyberbullying concerns, school administrators decided to suspend the student who posted the video. e case was taken to court, where a judge agreed with the student that her free speech rights had been violated. e plaintiﬀ ’s attorney believed that the school had applied discipline too broadly and was quoted in the article as saying, “Yeah, sure, they can fall back on cyberbullying, but when you actually ask [school oﬃcials] questions and dig down deep into their understanding, they think it’s OK for them to be a super-parent.” As case law in this area of school discipline continues to evolve, it is important to keep two deﬁnitive legal precedents in mind. First, the classic free speech case from the Vietnam War era, Tinker v. Des Moines, states that student expression is protected speech and that school oﬃcials must demonstrate that substantial disruption to school activities is imminent or actual. Second, a search of a student’s cell phone must comply with the principles underlying all student searches as outlined in New Jersey v. T.L.O. e nexus between the problematic electronic behavior and school safety/operations must be clearly established. Other Options Discipline is not the only option for electronic misbehavior. Students can be referred to school counselors to develop a better understanding of the issues of cyberspace, privacy and personal safety. Administrators can enlist support from the parents of students. In many cases, parents are probably paying for the devices that students misuse, and they should bear some of the burden of helping their teens become ethical as well as savvy tech users. Most will be more than willing to help. Perhaps the best approach is to educate the school community about the dangers of sexting and related electronic misbehavior. Focused community programs can educate students, parents and staﬀ about the prevalence of sexting, the dangers associated with it, and provide practical steps for developing an ethical approach to electronic communication. Of course, this would also be a good opportunity to share more general school expectations for appropriate technology use. In the meantime, administrators would be wise to pay attention to the plight of Assistant Principal Ting-Yei Oei, and protect themselves from unfair or misdirected personal attacks on their own integrity. Do not transfer inappropriate pictures from student devices to your school computer or personal cell phone. If you ﬁnd out that an inappropriate image of a student or somebody else is making the rounds at school, consider contacting the police so that they can conﬁscate images lawfully. It is important to keep an orderly school and protect students, but administrators do not need to be martyrs for the cause. DA Eamonn O’Donovan is assistant superintendent of human resources in Los Alamitos Uniﬁed School District in California. District Administration You provide help everY daY. So do we. Northcentral University offers the advanced degree you want, and the support you won’t get anywhere else. Learn more about our unique Faculty Mentored Approach to online education. Call Today! 866-776-0331 or visit www.ed.ncu.edu. > One-On-One Mentoring > Undergraduate and Graduate Programs > Reasonable Costs > No Residency Requirements Independent learning. Individual attention. 64 March 2010 http://www.ed.ncu.edu http://www.ed.ncu.edu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - March 2010

District Administration - March 2010
Contents
From the Editor
News Update
Curriculum Update
Conversations
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Toward a More Perfect Union
The Moxie of Kathy Cox
Logging On to Learn
Battling Sexual Abuse
Supervisor’s Opinion
Problem/Solution
Crisis Response
Product Focus
New Products
Tech Disruptions

District Administration - March 2010