As a school’s principal, it is critical that you understand laws and policies related to harassment by and toward students. When legal issues arise, you will be the one who must assume the ultimate responsibility for the outcomes.
In this module’s application, you will be called upon to make decisions in a potential legal conflict regarding Julia, the sixth grader in the fictional case study.
Follow the steps to complete Parts 1 and 2 and submit two files for this assignment:
a 3- to 5-page paper (not including the title and references pages), and
a 5- to 7-slide presentation (not including the title and references slides).
Title the paper, “Responding to Student Harassment.”
Write an introduction and conclusion for your paper.
Use APA format for the title page, references page, and in-text citations.
For the slide presentation, use APA format for the references slide.
Part 1: Paper
Step 1. Review the continuation of the case study and the questions/prompts below as if you are the principal and Julia is a student at your school.
Step 2. Respond to each set of questions/prompts in a well-developed paragraph.
Cite all references used. 4 references needed
Part 2: Presentation
Step 1. Use the information you gather for questions (d)-(f) to develop a PowerPoint or other slide presentation for teacher professional development. You may use PowerPoint or a different slide presentation tool of your choice.
include the following in your presentation:
Title slide – Presentation title, your name, course number and title, date
2-3 slides each for questions (d)-(f)
A link to an effective video on cyberbullying
References (1 slide)
Case Study (Continued) and Questions
One morning, you are walking through the school hall, and you see Julia crying next to her locker. You ask what is wrong, and she informs you that she was emailed a link to a Facebook page with her picture and gun crosshairs over her face. The email subject said, “You, if I ever see you in class again.” Julia doesn’t know who created the page or who emailed it to her, and she doesn’t want to tell her parents about it because she doesn’t think they can help her. You learn from Julia that a few of her friends hinted that they saw the page while in the library and might know who created it and sent the email. Julia is clearly upset and has more difficulty than usual paying attention in class.
(a) Should you investigate Julia’s claim regarding the Facebook page? Why or why not? What procedures should you follow if you investigate? Would there be any consequences if you don’t investigate given the anonymous nature of the Facebook page and email?
(b) What should you do if your investigation reveals that the Facebook page was created by a known student at the school through his home computer? What arguments could you make to dispute that the student’s Facebook page is constitutionally protected? Support all of your arguments with facts, policies, and law.
(c) During your investigation, you find that the same student created a Facebook page with fake, photo-shopped photographs of you in compromising positions with the assistant principal. How can you legally handle this situation based on your state laws and school district policies? Is there anything you can do?
(d) What policies and procedures do your school have in place relating to students, bullying, and the Internet? What are the most effective aspects of the policies? What are the most ineffective aspects of the policies? How can the policies be improved?
(e) Suggest a professional development activity to help teachers better understand harassment and bullying through technology. Include ideas on how to help the teachers understand how students’ constitutional rights translate to virtual space, as well as how to determine what may and may not be protected.
(f) Identify the most recent court decision in your state or the federal circuit to which your state belongs, or identify the most recent state law that relates to bullying and the Internet. Explain what would happen to the student in the case study under that law for the Facebook page about Julia. Explain what would happen to the student for the Facebook page about you.
