The announcement that the Supreme Court will not hear any case this term involving the First Amendment rights of students punished for off-campus speech on social networking sites left one thing firmly established: That the law is not firmly established.That is not altogether a bad place to be.Considering the alternative.In 2007, the Supreme Court allowed itself to be swayed by sympathy for a put-upon high school principal in Juneau, Alaska, who made the ill-advised decision to snatch away a humorous banner that one of her students was waving at an off-campus event.
Tag: Social Networking Sites
Study shows students more supportive of free speech at school than teachers
A national survey of teachers and students released today offers a mixed bag for civic education and free expression advocates.The survey of about 12,000 students and 900 teachers from 50 high schools across the country was conducted earlier this year with funding from the Knight Foundation.
Rhode Island’s no-Facebook-in-school ban is redundant and confusing
Rhode Island’s legislature is poised to put the state atop a list that none should aspire to lead: Most backward in incorporating technology into teaching.In a well-motivated quest to respond to uncivil bullying speech, the Senate gave final passage Thursday to an anti-bullying measure that includes a blanket prohibition on the use of social networking sites on school grounds during school hours.Unless vetoed by Gov.
Indiana School District fights for right to be slumber party police
In T.V. v. Smith-Green Community School District, a pair of students are suing their school after the school removed them from extracurricular activities because the students posted pictures of themselves with penis-shaped lollipops at a slumber party.In a supplemental brief filed with the federal district court on June 10, the school makes arguments totally irreconcilable with precedent or common sense.
Layshock, J.S. and MySpace justice – Third Circuit takes a half-step toward clarifying school authority over online speech
Young people's near-universal ability to publish online -- anytime, anywhere -- has provoked a flurry of legislative responses and judicial pronouncements, many of them blurring the boundaries that once confined schools' disciplinary authority within the proverbial "schoolhouse gate."Those blurry boundaries are in somewhat clearer focus today as a result of a pair of rulings by the 3rd U.S.
Virginia approves revised, journalism-friendly social media guidelines for teachers
The Virginia Board of Education unanimously approved guidelines for the prevention of sexual misconduct March 24.The original proposal—brought forth in November—underwent months of debate, resulting in the approval of a drastically reduced version.Although intended to deter school employees from engaging in inappropriate relationships with students, the initial proposal could have been detrimental to student journalism in Virginia.The November proposal included communication restrictions such as:
- No text messaging between students and teachers.
- No communicating with students using non-school platforms, including popular social media sites Facebook and Twitter.
- No “ongoing” meetings with a student without notifying the principal and obtaining written parental consent.
Facebook, free speech and the new ‘D-word’
Apparently they don’t find douchebags funny in California, either.A Sacramento-area sophomore made headlines last week when his school reversed course on punishing him for insulting comments made on Facebook.
Kansas student wins due process case; still sentenced to go through life as “Facebook placenta girl”
It is now recognized as illegal in the state of Kansas to summarily expel a college student just for posting a photo of herself on Facebook next to a placenta.