Chapter 11 Reflection

Top Ten Rules That Govern School Authority Over Student Cyber Expressions

Chapter 11 is an overview of the provisions of the First Amendment that apply to public schools students.  It discusses the censorship that schools can impose on students to prevent cyberbullying.  That means that although students still have the right to express their opinions, their “rights are restricted to what is appropriate for the care and tutelage of children.”  For example, if students “depict verbal or graphic violence, threatens or undermines members of the school community, or portends a violent disruption” then something can be done about it.  Also, if a student attacks core characteristics, or uses profane or vulgar language then they can be censored.  Interestingly to me, if students expression is a pedagogical concern--meaning doesn’t fit with educational norms, like grammatically incorrect, or unresearched, then that can be censored.  Unsurprisingly, if student’s views are expressed as endorsed by the school, then they can be censored; like a school website or newspaper. Also, if a student does something off campus, it is not the school’s concern unless it is directly connected with the school.  For instance, students get caught drinking underage in their school’s letterman--they can be reprimanded for that.  Students can be censored if they aren’t meeting the “shared values of civilized social order,” like if a student is promoting drug use.  The last rule discussed is threats.  If there is a ‘true’ threat, then it must be taken seriously and students can be reprimanded for it.

This chapter is very interesting to me.  I think this should be taught in education classes as well as discussed with students. I doubt that students are aware of these provisions and I think they should be.  I don’t know how many times I have heard a student say that they have the freedom of speech when they were off on a rant or arguing with another student.  I got them to stop, but it typically happened after a 5-10 minute conversation on respect--which was valuable, but not what I had in mind for an algebra class. I truly think that if there is an open dialogue with students about respect, cyber etiquette and bullying, and the law, that many of these issues would cease to exist.  Don’t get me wrong, there is no way that all cyberbullying and unwanted online behavior will stop, but if students are educated, from the beginning, on why these things are not good choices and potentially dangerous, then they will listen.