Electronic communication plays a significant role in most schools and in all of our personal lives as well. The legal question of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable electronic speech for students that is constructed and delivered totally off-campus on such platforms such as Snapchat, Tic Toc, Facebook or Meta, U-Tube, and regular email,…

As society becomes increasingly dependent on technology, school leaders must navigate the evolution of websites, resources, and platforms, including social media, as part of their responsibility to facilitate a safe and productive learning environment for students. This article reviews both constitutional and case law as a means of informing…

This paper investigates the intersection of student First Amendment free speech rights and off-campus electronic speech that targets school employees. Specifically, this study researched case law involving students who were disciplined as a result of off-campus electronic speech that targeted a staff member at their school. Analysis of case law…

While freedom of speech is a defining characteristic of the United States, the First Amendment right is often regulated within certain environments. For years, schools have attempted to monitor and regulate student communication both within the educational environment and in student use of social media and other online communication tools.…

On the morning of December 16, 1965, in Des Moines, Iowa, a 13-year-old junior high school student named Beth Tinker got dressed and went to school. She wore a black armband to protest the war in Vietnam. The school promptly suspended her for wearing a symbol of political dissent. So began one of the nation's most celebrated cases involving…

Cyberbullying has emerged as one of the fastest growing issues faced by school leaders. It involves the use of technology to bully another person and can occur through the use of e-mail, instant messaging or texting, blogs, postings on websites, or through social media. The most common definition of cyberbullying is that it includes repeated,…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze the conduct implications of qualified immunity in allegations of deprivation of civil rights by public school administrators regarding the First Amendment-student speech. Methodology: Data were collected using the LexisNexis and JuriSearch online legal research systems, which…

In "Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District", the Supreme Court ruled that students have speech rights in the school environment unless the speech causes or is likely to cause (1) a substantial disruption, or (2) interferes with the rights of others. The Supreme Court has yet to hear a case involving school officials' authority…

A parent brings a cyber bullying incident to your attention and expects you to resolve it. What are the students' rights and your responsibilities according to the law? Because the laws regarding disciplinary action are still evolving, this manual fills the gap by providing public school leaders with data-driven solutions for managing cyber…

An increasingly large number of educational facilities offer online graduate education courses. Their popularity grows as busy educators search for a way to advance their careers by earning additional degrees without spending more time in the classroom as a student. One concern with online learning is that online courses lack the interaction…