Researcher Published by CQ Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc. CQ www.cqresearcher.com Cyberbullying Are new laws needed to curb online aggression?

hild advocates say a growing epidemic of “cyber- bullying” — the use of computers, cell phones, social-networking sites and other technology to threaten or humiliate others — is putting young Cpeople at risk, sometimes with deadly consequences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has labeled “electronic aggres- sion” an “emerging public-health problem.” Court precedents on school discipline and students’ First Amendment rights provide limited guidance to educators grappling with the emerging world of cyber communication, especially transmissions originating off Tina Meier, of suburban St. Louis, Mo., holds pictures of her daughter Megan, 13, who committed suicide last year after receiving cruel messages on the school grounds. Nonetheless, many states and school districts are social-networking site MySpace. “Josh,” the 16- year-old boy she had been communicating taking strong steps aimed at curbing cyber abuse. In Congress, with, turned out to be hoax. bills to provide new funding for online-safety programs have been I introduced, but conflicts have arisen over how federal money for N THIS REPORT S such efforts should be spent. THE ISSUES ...... 387 I BACKGROUND ...... 394 D CHRONOLOGY ...... 395 E CURRENT SITUATION ...... 399 CQ Researcher • May 2, 2008 • www.cqresearcher.com AT ISSUE ...... 401 Volume 18, Number 17 • Pages 385-408 OUTLOOK ...... 403 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 406 THE NEXT STEP ...... 407 CYBERBULLYING CQ Researcher May 2, 2008 THE ISSUES OUTLOOK Volume 18, Number 17 MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin • Are new laws needed Guidance Needed [email protected] 387 403 As cyberbullying spreads, to curb cyberbullying? ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch • Do cyberbully laws vio- schools, police and networking [email protected] late constitutional rights? sites will need guidance from ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost • Should parents be held courts and policy-makers. liable for cyberbullying? STAFF WRITERS: Thomas J. Billitteri, SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS Marcia Clemmitt, Peter Katel BACKGROUND CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Rachel S. Cox, Sarah Glazer, Alan Greenblatt, Social Networking Facilitates Students’ Rights 388 Barbara Mantel, Patrick Marshall, 394 Cyberbullying Tom Price, Jennifer Weeks The Supreme Court’s 1969 Nearly 40 percent of teens Tinker decision defended who engage in online social DESIGN/PRODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis students’ free speech rights networking have been cyber- ASSISTANT EDITOR: Darrell Dela Rosa and schools’ right to disci- bullied. pline disruptive speech. EDITORIAL INTERNS: Joseph Rendeiro, Older Girls Typically Kristina Ryan Growing Phenomenon 389 Create Profiles Online 394 Teachers report cyberbully- Disparities are insignificant across economic and racial ing in the second grade. lines. A Division of Impact of Technology Chronology Congressional Quarterly Inc. 396 The rapid expansion in 395 Key events since 1969. communication devices has SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT/PUBLISHER: fueled cyberbullying. 396 Suicide Uncovers Adult John A. Jenkins Role in Internet Shaming DIRECTOR, REFERENCE PUBLISHING: Effect on Students Controversial practices include Alix Buffon Vance 397 Cyberbullying makes stu- attacks on sex offenders. dents feel emotions ranging CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY INC. Abusive Online Gossip from helpless to unsafe. 400 Thrives at Colleges CHAIRMAN: Paul C. Tash Juicycampus.com allows VICE CHAIRMAN: Andrew P. Corty Potential Solutions anonymous postings. 398 Approaches include self- PRESIDENT/EDITOR IN CHIEF: Robert W. Merry policing by young people At Issue Copyright © 2008 CQ Press, a division of Congres- and anti-bullying programs. 401 Should school officials be sional Quarterly Inc. (CQ). CQ reserves all copyright able to regulate off-campus and other rights herein, unless previously specified cyberbullying? in writing. No part of this publication may be re- CURRENT SITUATION produced electronically or otherwise, without prior written permission. Unauthorized reproduction or Action in Congress FOR FURTHER RESEARCH transmission of CQ copyrighted material is a violation 399 Legislation to improve online of federal law carrying civil fines of up to $100,000. safety is under consideration. For More Information 405 Organizations to contact. CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- free paper. Published weekly, except; (March wk. 4) 402 Social-Networking Sites Bibliography (May wk. 3) (July wk. 1) (July wk. 2) (Aug. wk. 2) MySpace and other sites are 406 Selected sources used. (Aug. wk. 3) (Nov. wk. 4) and (Dec. wk. 4), by CQ getting renewed scrutiny. Press, a division of Congressional Quarterly Inc. An- The Next Step nual full-service subscriptions start at $803. For pric- Action in States 407 Additional articles. ing, call 1-800-834-9020, ext. 1906. To purchase a 402 Cyberbullying has been CQ Researcher report in print or electronic format added to several anti- Citing CQ Researcher (PDF), visit www.cqpress.com or call 866-427-7737. bullying laws. 407 Sample bibliography formats. Single reports start at $15. Bulk purchase discounts and electronic-rights licensing are also available. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and ad- ditional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address Cover: AP Photo/Tom Gannam changes to CQ Researcher, 2300 N St., N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20037.

386 CQ Researcher Cyberbullying BY THOMAS J. BILLITTERI

abuse define it in different ways and many incidents are THE ISSUES difficult to tally accurately. he episodes are hurt- Studies leave little doubt, how- ful, ugly — and some- ever, that cyberbullying is T times deadly. In Lake- growing, as the following land, Fla., a group of small sampling of recent re- teenagers records the beat- search makes clear: ing of another teen and • Roughly a third of teens threatens to show the video who use the Internet said on the Internet. The local they’d received threatening sheriff says the attack was in messages, had e-mail or text retaliation for online trash- messages forwarded without talking by the victim. 1 consent, had an embarrassing At a high school near picture posted without con- Pittsburgh, an anonymous sent, had rumors about them e-mail list features sexually spread online, or experienced explicit rankings of 25 female some other kind of online ha- students, names and photos rassment, according to the Pew included. 2 Research Center. 6 In suburban Dardenne • About 9 percent of re- Prairie, Mo., near St. Louis, spondents ages 10 through 17 13-year-old Megan Meier said they were victims of hangs herself after receiving threats or other offensive be- cruel messages on the social- Talbot AP Photo/Toby havior, not counting sexual so- networking site MySpace. She After cyberbullies drove his son Ryan to suicide, John licitation, that was sent online Halligan created a Web page devoted to the 13-year-old, thinks the messages are from who had been harassed for months by classmates in to them or about them for a boy she met online, but Essex Junction, Vt., including instant messages calling others to see, according to a the messages are a hoax. 3 him gay. “He just went into a deep spiral in eighth 2005 University of New Hamp- In Essex Junction, Vt., 13- grade,” said his father, who advocates a state law shire survey. That rate was up year-old Ryan Patrick Halligan forcing schools to develop anti-bullying 50 percent from a similar sur- policies. “He couldn’t shake this rumor.” kills himself after months of vey five years earlier. 7 harassment, including instant messages abuse. While many instances are rel- • More than 70 percent of heavy calling him gay. “He just went into a atively harmless, others can have se- Internet users ages 12 through 17 deep spiral in eighth grade,” said his rious, long-lasting effects, ranging from — mostly girls — said they had father, who advocates a state law forc- acute emotional distress, academic experienced at least one incident ing schools to develop anti-bullying poli- problems and school absenteeism to of online intimidation via e-mail, cies. “He couldn’t shake this rumor.” 4 violence, a desire for revenge and vul- cell phones, chat rooms and other The cases, albeit extreme, high- nerability to sexual predation. electronic media in the previous light what school officials, child Studies show cyberbullying affects year, according to a national sur- psychologists, legal experts and gov- millions of adolescents and young vey posted on a teen Web site in ernment researchers argue is a fast- adults and can be more prevalent 2005 by Jaana Juvonen, a psy- spreading epidemic of “cyberbully- among girls than boys, especially in chology professor at the Univer- ing” — the use of the Internet, cell the earlier grades. The Centers for Dis- sity of California at Los Angeles. phones and other digital technology ease Control and Prevention last year A fifth of respondents reported to harass, intimidate, threaten, mock labeled “electronic aggression” — its seven or more incidents. 8 and defame. term for cyberbullying — an “emerg- Some cyberbullies are angry loners or Experts say cyberbullying has be- ing public-health problem.” 5 Still, a misfits, sometimes seeking revenge for come a scourge of the adolescent world, reliable profile of cyberbullying is dif- having been bullied themselves. But ex- inflicting painful scars on youngsters ficult to construct. Research is in its perts say it is common for online abusers and vexing adults unable to stop the infancy, experts who measure online to be popular students with plenty of

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 387 CYBERBULLYING

room photos snapped with cell phones Social Networking Facilitates Cyberbullying and broadcast on the Internet, fake Nearly 40 percent of teens who engage in online social networking profiles created on social-networking sites, salacious rumors spread in chat report having been cyberbullied at least once, compared to just 23 rooms, threats zapped across town in percent of non-social network users. instant messages. Child advocates also tie the increase Have you, personally, ever experienced any of the following in cyberbullying to a rise in incivility things online? in the broader culture, from gratuitous Someone forwarding or posting 17% insults on popular TV shows like “Amer- a private text, instant message ican Idol” to cynical sniping on the 12% or e-mail you sent them? presidential campaign trail. “I think the culture is angrier,” says Someone spreading a rumor 16% about you online? Mark Weiss, education director of Op- 8% eration Respect, a nonprofit group in New York City founded by folk singer Someone threatening you with an 16% Peter Yarrow (a member of the leg- e-mail, text or instant message? 8% endary trio Peter, Paul and Mary) that Social network user promotes safe and compassionate ed- Someone posting an 9% Non-social network user ucational climates. While kids have al- embarrassing picture ways picked on each other, Weiss says of you online? 2% “the virulence is greater” today than At least one form of 39% in past generations. cyberbullying [listed above]? 23% “It’s more intense, it might be more widespread, and I think you see more 0%5 10152025303540 of it. The things on TV, the laugh tracks of situation comedies, it’s all Source: Amanda Lenhart and Mary Madden, Pew Internet & American Life Project, about making fun of each other and Jan. 3, 2007 putting each other down, and reality TV is all about humiliation.” self-esteem who are trying to strengthen which can breed a cruel game of one- Cyberbullying has impelled law- their place in the social hierarchy. They upmanship, Boyd says. “That pressure makers, especially at the state level, to do it by intimidating those they perceive exerted by parents and reinforced and either pass anti-bullying laws that en- to have less status. built out in peer groups is sort of the compass cyberbullying or add cyber- “It’s not really the schoolyard thug Petri dish for bullying.” bullying to existing statutes. Some laws character” in some cases, says Nancy Of course, bullying itself is nothing are propelled by a mix of concern Willard, executive director of the Cen- new. In some respects, cyberbullying about electronic bullying and online ter for Safe and Responsible Internet is simply a new manifestation of a sexual predators. Use, a research and professional de- problem that in earlier days played But using laws and courts to stop velopment organization in Eugene, Ore. out chiefly in playground dustups and cyberbullying has been tricky and some- “It’s the in-crowd kids bullying those lunch-money shakedowns. times highly controversial. “There’s a who don’t rank high enough.” What’s new is the technology. More big conflict in knowing where to draw What fuels cyberbullying is “status than 90 percent of teens are online. 9 the line between things that are rude in schools — popularity, hierarchies, More than half of online teens have and things that are illegal,” says Parry who’s cool, who’s not,” says Danah profiles on social-networking sites. 10 Aftab, an Internet privacy and securi- Boyd, a fellow at the Berkman Cen- And cell phones — many with photo ty lawyer who is executive director of ter for Internet and Society at Harvard and instant-messaging capabilities — wiredsafety.org, an Internet safety group Law School who studies teens’ be- are ubiquitous. The rise of network- in Irvington-on-Hudson, N.Y., that bills havior on MySpace, Facebook and ing sites, personal Web pages and blogs itself as the world’s largest. other social-networking sites. Peer pres- brimming with the minutiae of teen School officials, for instance, must ne- sure for status is further aggravated by antics and angst has helped to create gotiate the treacherous shoals of cyber- adult pressure on teens to succeed, a rich climate for cyber mayhem: locker- bullying content transmitted by a student

388 CQ Researcher who is off school grounds. Legal prece- ucating students and parents on the dents on student expression allow ed- Older Girls Typically harmful consequences of online abuse, ucators to suppress speech that sub- Create Profiles instituting school-based prevention pro- stantially disrupts the educational process grams and promulgating clear school or impinges on the rights of others. Girls ages 15-17 are far more policies on harassment are more ef- Some argue that school officials’ au- likely to create profiles on social- fective than passing laws. thority to regulate cyber communication networking sites than any other Cyberbullying is “a big deal,” with stops at the schoolhouse door, while age or gender group. Disparities serious consequences for victims, says others say they should regulate it when aren’t as significant across Justin W. Patchin, an assistant professor it affects the school climate. (See “At economic and racial lines. of criminal justice at the University of Issue,” p. 401.) Wisconsin-Eau Claire who has done ex- “Even when it’s off campus, the im- Percentage of Online Teens tensive research on the phenomenon. pact is coming to school in the form But he adds, “I don’t know if it’s some- Who Create Profiles Online of young people who have been so thing that we can legislate away.” tormented they are incapable of com- Boyd, the Berkman Center fellow ing to school to study, which leads to Sex at Harvard, says highly publicized dropouts, fights, violent altercations and Boys 51% cases like the Megan Meier suicide are suicide,” says Willard, a former attorney Girls 58 “absolutely horrible,” but rare. Most and former teacher of at-risk children. cyberbullying occurs among peers “It has an incredibly long-lasting effect Age jockeying for status, and much of the on the school community.” 12-14 45 electronic bullying takes the form of But the law on that question can be taunting and jokes taken too far, she says. 15-17 64 confusing, and the U.S. Supreme Court Technologies from social-networking has yet to decide a case involving stu- Age by Sex sites to cell phones are also used to dent Internet speech. Trying to regu- extend everyday bullying beyond the Boys 12-14 46 late what students do or say on their schoolyard. home computers or in text messages Girls 12-14 44 Legislators are overreacting, Boyd sent from the local mall could wind up Boys 15-17 57 says. “These laws aren’t doing any- trampling students’ constitutional rights Girls 15-17 70 thing. What we desperately need is or the rights of parents to direct their education and discussion,” along with children’s upbringing as they see fit, Household income greater attention from parents and other say free-speech advocates. Under $50,000 55 adults to the heavy pressures and ex- “There are more questions than an- pectations weighing on adolescents. Over $50,000 56 swers in this emerging area of law,” David Still, many lawmakers are moving L. Hudson Jr., research attorney for the Race/ethnicity to add provisions to existing anti- First Amendment Center, a free-speech bullying laws or writing new codes. White, non-Hispanic 53 advocacy group, noted recently. 11 Legislatures including Iowa, Maryland, As cyberbullying grows, here are Non-white 58 Minnesota, New Jersey and Oregon some of the questions educators and have passed cyberbullying laws recently, legal experts are asking: Source: Amanda Lenhart and Mary and a number of others are consider- Madden, Pew Internet & American ing such statutes. 13 Are new laws needed to curb Life Project, Jan. 3, 2007 “Those who bully and harass stand cyberbullying? in the way of learning and threaten the Jane Clare Orie, a state senator in criminal charges for cyberbullying a safety of our children,” said Matt Blunt, Pennsylvania and majority whip for student or school employee. 12 the Republican governor of Missouri, the Republican Caucus, says criminal Bullying “has risen to a level so Megan Meier’s home state, after the laws have failed to keep up with the much further than what we grew up state Senate passed a cyberbullying bill technological revolution, including the with,” Orie says. “Anything done in a in March. 14 onset of cyberbullying. computer lasts forever.” In Florida, Republican state Sen. A former prosecutor, Orie has in- But civil libertarians and others ex- Stephen Wise (Jacksonville), chairman troduced a bill that would leave both press concerns about the wave of new of the Education Pre-K-12 Appropria- minors and adults open to potential cyberbully laws. Some argue that ed- tions Committee, relented this year

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 389 CYBERBULLYING and let the committee consider a bill Judicial rulings are evolving quickly, Aftab also argues that schools can named after a 15-year-old boy who Hutton says, and state laws can create fight cyberbullying using a little-known killed himself after enduring cyber- confusion among school districts as to federal anti-stalking provision that Pres- bullying by a classmate. The bill would the scope of their power to control on- ident George W. Bush signed into law require all school districts to develop line bullying. A new court ruling might in 2006 as part of the reauthorization anti-bullying and harassment policies limit what a school can do, putting ad- of the Violence Against Women Act. It and let school districts punish students ministrators who act more broadly in makes it a crime to anonymously “annoy, who use an electronic device to bully legal jeopardy, he says. On the other abuse, threaten or harass” someone or harass their peers, even if the acts hand, a court might broaden the power over the Internet. 18 Critics have said take place off campus and during non- of schools to fight cyberbullying beyond the law is vague and subjective. 19 school hours. 15 Aftab says she has a Wise said he had surefire way for school opposed the measure districts to attack cyber- because he thought bullying, whether or not existing law offered it originates at school: protections. 16 But write a policy that cov- proponents said it ers cyberbullying wher- sends a message about ever it occurs among stu- bullying’s gravity and dents, then ask all students potential harm. The and parents to sign the Florida bill “provides policy at the beginning a more formalized and of the school year. Once transparent process for that happens, Aftab ar- dealing with bullying gues, the document be- situations, for the comes a binding contract schools, the parents that gives the school legal and for the student,” authority to take action. said Republican state Of course, a student Getty Images/F. Micelotta/American Idol Getty Images/F. Rep. Gary Aubuchon Child advocates see a link between the increase in cyberbullying and or parent could always (Cape Coral), a cospon- the rise in incivility in the broader culture, such as gratuitous attacks wind up challenging a sor. “By making it law on popular TV shows like “American Idol” and cynical school’s interpretation of rather than school sniping on the presidential campaign trail. a particular incident or board policy, we are its definition of cyber- adding an extra layer of emphasis on what legislators contemplated when they bullying. Many experts expect the same how important it is to protect our chil- passed a state cyberbullying law. thing to occur with the raft of state dren at all times.” 17 “Let’s say a state attempts to read laws hitting the books. So far, case Thomas Hutton, senior staff at- what the courts have said thus far and law provides uneven guidance on what torney for the National School Boards boil it down to a statute,” Hutton says. constitutes electronic harassment. Association, says that while it may “Then we get a ruling saying, ‘We’re “The rub in almost all these statutes be acceptable for legislatures to re- going to allow [school districts] a little is that when you try to regulate speech, quire school districts to formulate more leeway.’ Now the statute has locked [the challenge is] writing a statute that cyberbullying policies, laws man- in place a more restrictive” approach. singles out bullying and distinguishes it dating that school districts deal with Aftab, the Internet privacy and se- from legitimate expression,” says Dale cyber abuse in a specific way are curity lawyer, argues that more state Herbeck, who teaches communications “missing the boat.” laws are unnecessary because states al- and cyber law at Boston College. “The The desire of school districts to ready have cyber stalking and harass- way to solve it is to write a statute that base policy decisions on “local con- ment laws on the books. What is need- is very, very, very specific. The problem ditions” makes specific directions to ed, she says, is uniformity in those laws is that a lot of the behavior you think is school districts a bad idea, Hutton “so we know that what’s illegal in one bullying doesn’t qualify as bullying. I’m says. Moreover, he says, “a lot of the state is illegal in the next.” Moreover, aware that a lot of states have kind of real action [on cyberbullying] is happening she says, “prosecutors need to know stepped up on this,” he says. “But I’m in the courts.” what laws are on the books.” not aware of these laws being challenged.”

390 CQ Researcher Do cyberbully laws violate consti- For example, the Supreme Court has said harassment, which would potentially fall tutional rights? that “true threats” are not protected by under the criminal code,” she contin- In 2003, New Jersey eighth-grader the First Amendment. 25 And it has al- ues, especially if it is directed at fellow Ryan Dwyer created and briefly main- lowed educators to crack down on vul- students, teachers or the administration. tained a Web site from home that in- gar student speech at school and to exert Bertin acknowledges that cyberbully- cluded criticism of his school and post- control over school-sponsored expression ing can be a “terrible problem” and un- ings by others in a “guest book.” Some such as school newspapers. 26 derstands why teachers and parents are visitors ignored his plea that they not Perhaps the most nettlesome circum- concerned about childhood cruelty. But use profanity or threats in their post- stance is cyberbullying that is transmit- on the other hand, “There are limits ings. The principal “is a fat piece of ted at home or the local mall or skat- about what schools can and should do,” crap,” one declared. “He should walk ing rink, but that nonetheless causes she argues. “Punitive, censorious response his fat a— into oncoming traffic.” 20 disruption at school. tends to be the first line of attack” by School officials punished Ryan, but “There’s always the legal discussion state lawmakers. “If people sat down in the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of ‘if it doesn’t happen at school, can a more thoughtful, dispassionate way helped him and his parents sue, claim- a district take action?’ ” said Joe Wehrli, and thought about what they’re trying ing violation of his constitutional rights. policy-services director for the Oregon to achieve, they might well reconsider In a settlement, the district apologized School Boards Association. “If a student that response.” and agreed to pay $117,500 in damages is harassed for three hours at night on Some argue, though, that the ability and attorney fees. 21 the Web and they come to school and of cyber communication to quickly “I’m hopeful this will help ensure have to sit in the same classroom with spread far and wide demands that school that free-speech rights of students aren’t the student that’s the bully, there is an officials step in even when the bully- trampled on again,” Ryan said. 22 effect on education, and in that way, ing is generated off school grounds. The case points to the difficult legal there is a direct link to schools.” 27 Rumors spread by cell phone or em- terrain surrounding abusive cyber ex- But free-speech advocates say ed- barrassing photos posted online can pression, especially when it originates ucators sometimes punish students often create a disruptive buzz at school away from school. “Schools have a grow- whose speech is protected by the First and sometimes lead to other problems, ing concern about the problem, and their Amendment. including absenteeism or violence. concern is whether they can discipline “Off-campus behavior that is not In Bethesda, Md., at Walt Whitman students and how far the bullying has connected to the school in any way — High School, known for its high aca- to go before they can get involved,” said no use of school computers, no trans- demic achievement, students got into Kim Croyle, a lawyer in Morgantown, mission of messages in school — is not fist fights twice in April to settle dis- W.Va., who represents several school within the purview of school officials,” putes that arose on Facebook. The in- boards and lectures on cyberbullying. 23 contends Joan Bertin, executive direc- cidents prompted Principal Alan Under a legal standard set by the tor of the National Coalition Against Goodwin to ask parents to monitor Supreme Court in 1969 in Tinker v. Des Censorship, an advocacy group in New their children’s postings on the site. “I Moines Independent Community School York. “It may have some play-out with- am becoming increasingly frustrated District, educators can prohibit student in school, but the actual speech took by negative incidents at school that speech if it causes substantial interfer- place in a protected zone. The school arise from students harassing other stu- ence with school discipline or the rights can’t go after the speech, but it can go dents on Facebook,” he wrote. Good- of others. 24 Tinker remains the chief after the behavior that occurs on cam- win told The Washington Post the stu- yardstick in cyberbullying cases, but it pus” as a result of the speech. dents involved “had not been involved can be tricky to apply. An exception would be speech that in such things before, and we could If, for example, a student is afraid constitutes a true threat, Bertin says, have prevented [the fights], I think, if to go to school because of a cyber- but true threats must meet a high stan- we had known.” 28 bullying incident, a school might be dard, she says. “A kid e-mailing an- In Washington, D.C., last month, hard-pressed to justify harsh action other kid saying, ‘I’m going to knock Francis Junior High School Principal under the Tinker ruling. What consti- your brains out’ or ‘I wish this teacher Stephannie Crutchfield spent two class tutes substantial interference can be in were dead’ — these are not, in my periods counseling a group of seventh- the eye of the beholder. opinion, true threats.” grade students who began arguing at The fact that Tinker isn’t the sole yard- Still, most courts would say the school as a result of a conflict over stick for deciding students’ First Amend- school could address any “speech that “boyfriend-type stuff” that started on ment rights further complicates matters. constitutes the equivalent of stalking or MySpace over the weekend. The parents

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 391 CYBERBULLYING

“They may impose discipline if . . . Many Middle-Schoolers Report Cyberbullying they’re protecting the school’s ability to deliver instruction, the security of stu- Over 40 percent of middle-school students are cyberbullied in one dents coming to school and [to avert] way or another in the course of a typical month. Only 9 percent, violence,” she says. however, report being cyberbullied when asked specifically. The But she also says that excessive dis- most common forms of abuse involve negative e-mails, instant cipline frequently exaggerates a prob- messages or postings on social-networking sites such as MySpace. lem. It can undermine feelings of re- morse among bullies and also lead to 50% Cyberbullying incidents over the past 30 days vicious online retaliation by victims. “I among 6th-, 7th- and 8th-graders 42.9% strongly encourage an approach that 40 helps bring the students to a greater level of understanding of the true 30 harm caused by these online activi- 18.1% ties,” she says. 20 15.8% 14.1% Some administrators err by coming 9.4% 9.8% 9.5% 9.1% 10 5.7% down hard on a student not because the speech endangers school order or 0 safety but simply because it angers or Have Received Received Received Made fun Became Had a Became Experienced been upsetting upsetting upsetting of in upset by private afraid any of the upsets the school officials, Willard says. cyber- e-mail instant posting on chat room Web-site online to use previous bullied message MySpace posting posting computer examples “I would remind school administra- page viewed by tors that the founders of our country others called King George a tyrant.” Source: Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin, www.cyberbullying.us Should parents be held liable for of one girl had called Crutchfield, con- argue that off-campus cyber expres- cyberbullying offenses? cerned that her child had been threat- sion is outside their purview. They When juveniles do commit serious ened. When the spat turned ugly in might be concerned, for example, that online abuses, the question often arises: the school hallways, Crutchfield didn’t if they begin to regulate speech that Where were the parents? hesitate to move in. occurs off school grounds, their lia- Shouldn’t they be held accountable, “I cannot discipline what a child has bility grows if they fail to catch a spe- or at least share the blame? written off campus, but if the end re- cific off-campus incident ahead of time “The question isn’t ‘should,’ the ques- sult is a behavior infraction inside the and violence ensues. tion is ‘can,’ and the answer is ‘yes,’ ” school, then that’s what I have to deal But schools shouldn’t back away says Willard. Under parental-liability with,” Crutchfield says. “Disorderly from confronting cyberbullying that im- statutes or parental-negligence standards, conduct or whatever behavior in my pinges on school order and safety, parents may be held liable for the harm building is what I address.” some experts contend. caused by their children, she says. The University of Wisconsin’s Patchin “Schools want to say cyberspace is Willard says she hopes cases don’t argues that “just about everything kids beyond our control, but you can’t be in reach that point. Still, “the fact that there do on or off campus ultimately will denial,” says Juvonen, the UCLA researcher. is the potential for liability can help get come back to the school,” and there- “You can’t be saying this is not our busi- parents motivated” to monitor their fore “school officials absolutely must ness. It is the schools’ responsibility to children’s actions, she says. do something.” But that doesn’t nec- address it when it is so closely connected In the civil-litigation system, “finan- essarily mean having to take punitive to what goes on at school.” cial consequences for cyberbullying are measures, he says. Schools should be Willard, at the Center for Safe and Re- now serious enough to make even the proactive in teaching students about sponsible Internet Use, strongly advises most lenient parent of a bully sit up cyberbullying and its consequences and educators to step in even when cyber- and take notice,” Millie Anne Cavanaugh, in promoting safe school climates, bullying occurs away from school if the a family-law attorney in Los Angeles, Patchin says. “We advocate doing the clear potential exists that it would affect wrote recently on the Web site of a group brunt of the work ahead of time.” students and the educational climate. Even that provides programs for troubled ado- Sometimes it is not civil libertarians so, she says the manner in which ad- lescents. “In addition to liability against but school officials themselves who ministrators act is important. the cyberbully himself on theories such

392 CQ Researcher as defamation, invasion of privacy, dis- “We’ve found that over 90 percent of In other words, Limber says, “They closure of private information and in- kids did not tell their parents about these want appropriate rules, but they don’t tentional infliction of emotional distress, incidents,” echoes Juvonen, the UCLA want parents poking into every last e-mail parents could now [be] held account- researcher. Among 12-to-14-year-old girls, or text message. But that’s a fine line.” able for their child’s cyberbullying if they almost half were concerned about their Parents can have an especially diffi- failed to properly supervise the child’s parents restricting their Internet access if cult time keeping track of what adoles- online activity.” 29 they revealed they were victimized, she cents are posting on social-networking The University of Wisconsin’s Patchin says. Half of the adolescents Juvonen sites. Some child advocates say parents sees the issue in a similar light as van- surveyed wanted to deal with incidents should create their own accounts so dalism cases. “If a parent knows it’s of cyberbullying by themselves rather they can monitor what their children going on or creates the opportunity than seeking help from adults. are doing on the sites. where they’re un- The sites allow peo- willing to supervise ple to post online pages the behavior of their featuring personal facts, kids, certainly we photos, gossip and other should consider hold- information for others to ing them responsible read. Social scientists say as well,” he says. such sites can serve a But Patchin is cau- useful, and even vital, tious on the subject. purpose by helping ado- “If you’ve got a 16- or lescents build friendships, 17-year-old kid who’s learn tolerance for oth- logging on at a friend’s ers’ views and form a house” and the parent sense of self-identity. But is unaware of what’s critics say the sites have going on, “then I don’t the potential to be incu- know. A lot of parents bators for cyber abuse, simply don’t know magnets for sexual preda- much about comput- tors and embarrassing ers and may be un- archives of a student’s im-

willing to educate CQ Press/Screenshot mature behavior that col- themselves. Is that de- Cyberbullying is fueled by “status in school — popularity, hierarchies, lege admissions officials liberate indifference? I who’s cool, who’s not,” says Danah Boyd, a fellow at the Berkman or employers may wind don’t know.” Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School who studies up seeing. teens’ behavior on MySpace and other social-networking sites. Early this Experts say parents year, in an agreement with attorneys general from 49 states and the “Putting something on are often clueless District of Columbia, MySpace said it would develop technology and the Internet is a whole lot about their children’s work with law-enforcement officials to improve children’s protection. different than whispering online activity and that it on the playground,” says adolescents tormented by cyberbullies “We’re very concerned about this Witold “Vic” Walczak, legal director of often hide their victimization from par- belief and the fear of parental restric- the ACLU in Pennsylvania. ents for fear of losing their computer tions,” Juvonen says. “It’s what is mak- Many parents and other responsi- and cell phone privileges. ing cyberbullying so very dangerous.” ble adults often neglect to impart that Researchers say both situations — vic- Susan Limber, a Clemson University message to youngsters. tims’ silence and parents’ obliviousness psychologist who studies bullying, Weiss, of Operation Respect, says en- — help cyberbullying to grow. says many adolescents in focus gaging adolescents in “conversation Aftab, of wiredsafety.org, who speaks groups say parents and teachers don’t around moral issues” like cyberbullying regularly to middle- and high-school stu- seem to talk enough with them about “is really important for kids” but that dents, says 45,000 students — 85 percent online behavior. “Kids on the one many adults — teachers among them to 97 percent of her audiences — re- hand say parents should be a little — don’t know how to do so. ported having been victims of cyberbul- more involved,” Limber says. “But as “We’re not having this conversation lying last year. Yet, “only 5 percent will one kid said, they want supervision, enough,” he says. “If we did, it would tell a trusted parent or adult,” she says. not ‘snoopervision.’ ” be the strongest thing we could do.”

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 393 CYBERBULLYING

the decision, which is being ap- An anonymous survey of nearly pealed, a “close call.” 4,000 middle-school students by Lim- BACKGROUND The school district had based its ber and fellow Clemson University psy- defense partly on an earlier Pennsyl- chologist Robin Kowalski found that vania case in which the state Supreme 18 percent reported being bullied at Students’ Rights Court upheld the expulsion of an least once in the previous two months eighth-grader — whose initials were through e-mail, instant messaging, nflammatory speech by young peo- J.S. — who created a “Teacher Sux” chat rooms, Web sites and cell-phone I ple is nothing new, and neither is Web site containing derogatory material text messaging. Girls were roughly adults’ desire to suppress it. In 1908, aimed at an algebra teacher and the twice as likely as boys to be victims. the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled principal. The court said the site cre- Eleven percent of the students — slight- that school officials could suspend two ated a substantial disruption of school ly more girls than boys — admitted students who ridiculed their teachers activities. 34 bullying someone else. 36 in a poem in a local newspaper. 30 “[T]he advent of the Internet has com- The University of Wisconsin’s Seven years later, a California appel- plicated analysis of restrictions on speech,” Patchin says in a random-sample study late court said a student could be sus- Justice Ralph J. Cappy wrote in the J.S. of about 2,000 middle-school students pended for criticizing school officials case. “Indeed, Tinker’s simple armband, in 30 schools in a major school dis- in an assembly. 31 worn silently and brought into a Des trict, he and his colleagues found that Courts gradually broadened students’ Moines, Iowa, classroom, has been re- less than 10 percent of youngsters rights, but those liberties remain limited. placed by J.S.’s complex multimedia said they had been victims of cyber- In 1969, the Supreme Court said in Web site, accessible to fellow students, bullying — defined as repeated abuse the watershed Tinker case that school teachers and the world.” — in the previous 30 days. But when officials had no right to suspend stu- asked about specific types of online dents for wearing black armbands to harassment and aggression, nearly protest the Vietnam War. “It can hard- Growing Phenomenon 43 percent said they had experienced ly be argued that either students or at least one incident in the previous teachers shed their constitutional udges aren’t the only ones who 30 days, such as receiving an e-mail rights to freedom of speech or ex- J struggle to distinguish juvenile an- or instant message that made them pression at the schoolhouse gate,” Jus- tics from truly troublesome behavior. upset, having something upsetting to tice Abe Fortas wrote. “I have been teaching in public them posted on their MySpace site or Yet, students do shed some rights. schools for 13 years. I am not sure being made fun of in a chat room. Under the Tinker standard, school of- what bullying is,” a reader responded Because cyberbullying does not ficials can discipline students whose to a newspaper blog on anti-bullying require physical confrontation and speech disrupts school activities or in- legislation in Georgia last year. “Is it is often anonymous, it can appeal terferes with the rights of others. Other when a child calls another child’s mama more to girls than boys, researchers rulings allow schools to suppress stu- ugly or fat? Is it breaking in line after say. “Girls have really taken on a dents’ lewd speech and punish those recess? . . . Children are cruel to each bullying role that has changed in who make credible threats. 32 other, and they always have been. If the last couple of years with the Cases involving cyberbullying can be a child does smell to high heaven, electronic age,” said Kristy Hagar, a especially difficult for school officials kids are going to talk about it. When neuropsychologist at Children’s Medical and judges to weigh, however. Distin- did all this become ‘bullying’? I am Center in Dallas. 37 guishing true threats and defamation just asking.” 35 Aftab of wiredsafety.org says she has from harmless adolescent high jinks can Some experts say that in many ways, noticed that online bullying is grow- be a matter of debate. face-to-face bullying remains more ing, especially among second- and third- In a decision last year, a federal problematic than online abuse, but graders, and that “by the fourth grade judge ruled that a Pennsylvania school that teachers and parents often per- it is institutionalized.” district violated a student’s First ceive cyberbullying as more of a threat “Fourth-graders use extortion as a Amendment rights when it punished because it is delivered through new form of cyberbullying: ‘If you don’t him for creating on his grandmoth- and perhaps bewildering technology. do this, I will tell,’ ” Aftab says. “Some- er’s computer a parody profile on Still, researchers say cyberbullying times they think it’s funny and say MySpace that crudely made fun of affects so many youngsters that it they don’t mean it.” By middle school, 33 his principal. Still, the judge called cannot be taken lightly. Continued on p. 396

394 CQ Researcher Chronology

1988 2003 1960s-1970s Supreme Court rules in Hazelwood Ryan Halligan, a Vermont 13-year- Supreme Court upholds stu- School District v. Kuhlmeier that old, commits suicide after online dents’ rights to free speech and school officials can limit school- harassment. due process; computers take sponsored student expression if they root in American society. have a legitimate educational reason. 2006 Suicide of Missouri teenager Megan 1969 • Meier prompts calls for tougher laws Supreme Court rules in Tinker v. on Internet harassment. Des Moines Independent Community School District that school officials 1990s Internet becomes 2007 violated students’ First Amendment big part of American life, spurring Supreme Court rules in Morse v. rights by suspending them for Congress to protect juveniles and Frederick that school officials can wearing armbands to protest the others from online abuses. punish student speech that can be Vietnam War. interpreted as advocating illegal 1997 drug use; the case involved a stu- 1975 Supreme Court rules in Reno v. dent who held up a “Bong Hits Supreme Court rules in Goss v. ACLU that Internet speech merits 4 Jesus” banner outside school Lopez that suspended students are First Amendment protection. grounds. . . . House passes bill entitled to a hearing. to provide grants to fight online 1998 crime, including cyberbullying; 1976 Congress passes Child Online Protec- Senate proposes separate measure. Apple computer is founded. tion Act in bid to limit access by mi- . . . Centers for Disease Control nors to adult-oriented Web sites, but and Prevention calls “electronic • the law runs into court challenges. aggression” among adolescents an “emerging public-health problem.” • . . . MySpace agrees to give states 1980s Supreme Court information on convicted sex of- limits students’ rights in speech fenders with accounts on the site. and discipline cases; computers 2000-Present continue to gain a foothold in Growth of technology and advent 2008 society. of social-networking sites present In an agreement with attorneys gen- school and law-enforcement offi- eral from 49 states, MySpace says it 1981 cials with new challenges in will take additional steps to protect IBM introduces its personal com- fighting adolescent bullying. children from online abuses. . . . puter. Eight Florida teens are charged as 2000 adults with battery and kidnapping 1985 Children’s Online Privacy Protection in an attack on another teen that Supreme Court rules in New Jersey Act takes effect, giving parents the was videoed and posted on the In- v. T.L.O. that school officials do power to decide whether and what ternet. . . . Consumer officials in not need to get a search warrant information can be collected online New Jersey announce investigation or show probable cause before from children under 13. of college-gossip Web site Juicy Cam- they search students at school. pus. . . . AOL enters into agreement 2002 to acquire global social-networking 1986 U.S. Secret Service says bullying site Bebo. . . . Florida Senate on Supreme Court rules in Bethel played a significant role in some April 30 is scheduled to consider an School District No. 403 v. Fraser school shootings. anti-cyberbullying measure, the Jeffrey that school officials did not vio- Johnston Stand Up for All Students late the First Amendment rights 2002 Act, named after a Cape Coral, Fla., of a student suspended for deliv- Friendster, a global social-networking teenager who killed himself in 2005 ering a vulgar speech to a school site, is launched, followed by My- after enduring two years of cyber- assembly. Space (2003) and Facebook (2004). bullying by a classmate.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 395 CYBERBULLYING

Suicide Uncovers Adult Role in Internet Shaming Controversial practices include attacks on sex offenders.

yberbullying isn’t just a problem among adolescents. “Internet shaming is done by people who want actually to Adults engage in it, too. From online vigilantism and enforce norms and to make people and society more order- C angry blogs to e-stalking and anonymous ranting on ly,” he said. But instead, “Internet shaming actually destroys newspaper Web sites, grownups can be as abusive as the mean- social control and makes things more anarchic, and it becomes est schoolhouse tyrant. very hard to regulate and stop it.” 4 The suicide of 13-year-old Megan Meier in 2006 thrust adult Among its many controversial uses, online technology is em- cyberbullying into the open. The Dardenne Prairie, Mo., girl ployed by some citizens to track or expose sex offenders — in- killed herself after receiving cruel messages on MySpace from cluding those who themselves use the Internet to exploit others. imposters posing as a 16-year-old boy named “Josh Evans.” Perverted-justice.com is famous for its efforts, sometimes in Lori Drew, the mother of one of Megan’s friends, was ac- combination with televised sting operations, to expose online cused of participating in the hoax along with her teenage predators. In 2006, a former Texas district attorney committed daughter and a former teenage employee. Drew has denied suicide when police tried to arrest him on a warrant linked to sending messages to Megan. 1 While questions remain about a child-predator sting that was a joint operation between Per- Drew’s role, the case has left no doubt that the Internet is rife verted Justice and NBC’s “Dateline.” 5 with adult cyber passion. While some criticize such stings as a form of vigilantism, After the suicide came to light, an outraged mother several states others worry about those who use state online sex-offender away ferreted out Drew’s identity and posted it on a blog. 2 registries to pursue their own brand of justice. Soon, “an army of Internet avengers . . . set out to destroy In a report last year of U.S. sex-offender policies, Human Rights Lori Drew and her family,” forcing them from their home and Watch, an advocacy group in New York, concluded that unfettered “vowing them no peace, ever,” newspaper columnist Barbara public access to online sex-offender registries left former offenders Shelly wrote. “Who are these people who have made it their open “to the risk that individuals will act on this information in ir- business to destroy her? They are a jury with laptops, their ver- responsible and even unlawful ways. There is little evidence that dict rendered without insight into the dynamics of two fami- this form of community notification prevents sexual violence.” 6 lies or the state of mind of a fragile 13-year-old girl or even In a section of the report on “vigilante violence,” Human a complete explanation of what actually occurred.” 3 Rights Watch wrote: “A number of convicted sex offenders have Internet shaming is a growing cultural phenomenon, but been targets of violence from strangers who take it upon them- Daniel Solove, a professor of law at George Washington Uni- selves to ‘eliminate’ sex offenders from communities. In April versity and author of the 2007 book The Future of Reputa- 2003, Lawrence Trant stabbed one New Hampshire registrant tion: Gossip, Rumor and Privacy on the Internet, says it can and lit fires at two buildings where registrants lived. When he backfire. was arrested, police found a printout of New Hampshire’s sex-

Continued from p. 394 next state or even overseas. “It’s not she says, cyberbullying can get “more Impact of Technology like being called ‘four eyes,’ ” Herbeck malicious.” In high school, many stu- of Boston College says. “It’s being dents will claim cyberbullying doesn’t he pell-mell expansion in the use blasted across cyberspace.” exist — not because that’s true, Aftab T of technology has fueled cyber- And cyberbullies can avoid witness- says, but because high-school students bullying’s growth. Nearly half of on- ing the damage they inflict. Researchers don’t want to admit that someone else line youths 12-17 have uploaded pho- say adolescents often don’t grasp that may have power over them and can tos where others can see them a vulnerable human being is on the re- hurt their feelings. (though many restrict access to the ceiving end of hateful words and im- “Bullying is for babies — that’s just pictures), and 14 percent have post- ages. “A lot of kids who engage [in cy- stuff that happens,” Aftab says she ed videos online, according to the berbullying], when confronted, say, ‘I hears high-school students say. Pew Research Center. 39 didn’t mean it’ or ‘I didn’t know the Aftab says cyberbullying is most Technology can make cyber abuse outcome,’ ” Wisconsin’s Patchin says. prevalent among 13- and 14-year-olds. an especially potent form of bullying. “If I am bullying in real life, I can see A Harris Poll found that the incidence For one thing, transmission is instan- the effect immediately.” is highest among 15- and 16-year-olds, taneous to a potentially limitless au- Moreover, bullies tend to think particularly girls. 38 dience — including recipients in the their messages can’t be traced back

396 CQ Researcher offender Internet registry, with check- ing at first, but will tire of the novelty marks next to the names of those al- of electronic trash talk,” David A. Furlow, ready targeted.” a Houston attorney, wrote in a recent Cyber vigilantism also can occur commentary. “Folk wisdom suggests that in the realm of global terrorism. Some one should not wrestle with a pig, both experts say that private citizens because the wrestler gets dirty and the who seek to monitor and close down pig likes the challenge. The best re- terror-linked Web sites are hurting the sponse to the venom and vitriol of spite government’s own investigations. 7 speech is to ignore it.” 10 “It is very unlikely they will find something of significance on the In- 1 Kim Zetter, “Cyberbullying Suicide Stokes the ternet that the government doesn’t al- Internet Fury Machine,” Wired, Nov. 21, 2007. 2 Rebecca Cathcart, “MySpace Is Said to Draw ready know,” said Michael Radu — Subpoena in Hoax Case,” The New York Times, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Jan. 10, 2008, p. A19. Research Institute, a think tank in 3 Barbara Shelly, “Online avengers perpetuate the Getty Images/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic Philadelphia — who studies revolu- Actress Tricia Walsh Smith, who is being problem,” Kansas City Star, Dec. 7, 2007, p. 9B. 4 divorced by Philip Smith, president of the Quoted in Zetter, op. cit. tionary and terrorist groups. “They 5 8 biggest theater chain on Broadway, posted Richard Abshire, Marissa Alanis and Jennifer are redundant at best.” Emily, “Sex sting leads to suicide for former Kauf- Sometimes it’s an adult’s private a video on YouTube containing derogatory man D.A.,” Dallas Morning News, Nov. 6, 2006. blog, podcast or video that gets oth- information about their sex life. 6 “U.S.: Sex Offender Laws May Do More Harm Than Good,” Human Rights Watch, Sept. 12, 2007. ers the most upset. In April, Tricia The report, “No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the United States,” Walsh Smith, being divorced by Philip Smith — president of http://hrw.org/reports/2007/us0907/. the Shubert Organization, Broadway’s biggest theater chain — 7 See, for example, Carmen Gentile, “Cyber Vigilantes Track Extremist Web put a video on YouTube containing derogatory information Sites, Intelligence Experts Balk at Effort,” Fox News, March 22, 2008, 9 www.foxnews.com. about their sex life. 8 Quoted in ibid. Yet, just as adolescents may learn to ignore the online gos- 9 Leslie Kaufman, “When the Ex Blogs, the Dirtiest Laundry Is Aired,” The sip and cyber belittling that course through their cell phones and New York Times, April 18, 2008, p. A1. MySpace pages, adults may tire of what some call “net-venting.” 10 David A. Furlow, “Net-Venting: Should a Server or a Speaker Face Civil Liability for Spite Speech on the World Wide Web?,” Privacy Litigation Re- “Most people who confront Web sites devoted to ‘getting porter, September 2007, www.tklaw.com/resources/documents/PRV0501_Fur- back’ at other people for social sins may find them entertain- lowComm.pdf. to them — often a faulty assump- short-term effects of cyberbullying,” she tion. “They may think they have Effect on Students adds, but “there are elements of cy- achieved anonymity,” says Willard of berbullying that may make it even the Center for Safe and Responsible hile experts contend that cyber- more disturbing for kids. In many Internet Use, “but they’re really bad W bullying is a large and growing cases kids don’t know the identity of at hiding their identity.” social problem, it is too new for de- the individual doing the bullying. That Cyberbullying also has staying finitive data on its effects to have been can create higher rates of anxiety.” power. Words and images in the vir- collected. Nonetheless, Clemson Uni- More than half of adolescent girls tual world can exist in perpetuity in versity’s Limber says some clues can responding to a survey by Patchin and cyberspace. That means victims may be drawn from past studies on tradi- two colleagues reported no negative ef- review tormenting words and images tional bullying. fects from cyberbullying, but others “re- again and again. In fact, in charting In the short term, children who are ported a wide variety of emotional ef- cyberbullying incidents, some re- victims of traditional, face-to-face bul- fects . . . including feeling ‘sad,’ ‘angry,’ searchers wrestle with whether to count lying are more likely than their peers ‘upset,’ ‘depressed,’ ‘violated,’ ‘hated,’ only the initial transmission or the num- to have lower self-esteem and higher ‘annoyed,’ ‘helpless,’ ‘exploited’ and ‘stu- ber of times a victim views it. rates of anxiety, she says: “One can pid and put down.’ Some girls de- hypothesize that there may be similar scribed how the victimization made them

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 397 CYBERBULLYING feel unsafe.” Many girls responded to One reason for cyberbullying’s growth, access to technology. For example, the the bullying by retaliating or “cyber- experts say, is adults’ unfamiliarity with Deleting Online Predators Act, which bullying back,” the study found. 40 the alien landscape of chat rooms and sailed through the then-Republican- Jean Sunde Peterson, an associate social networking, allowing online controlled U.S. House of Representa- professor of educational studies at abuse to slip by unnoticed. tives in 2006, would have required Purdue University, in West Lafayette, “Parents are kept in the dark in- schools and libraries receiving special Ind., studies the effects of bullying on tentionally by the kids,” says Aftab of federal technology funds to block minors gifted students, a group that she says wiredsafety.org. “Even the victims hide from accessing chat rooms and social- is generally highly sensitive, acutely from parents. The only time they tell networking sites like MySpace. The bill perceptive and disinclined to seek help. is if they’re under 10.” apparently has stalled. While her work has not focused on Patchin of the University of Wis- “I’m concerned that this [crackdown] cyberbullying per se, she says many consin says teens often refrain from is going to be as simplistic and thought- of her findings apply to it. reporting cyberbullying because they less as the drug programs out there, When Peterson which is ‘Just say no,’ and doctoral student when that is not a fea- Karen E. Ray asked sible, meaningful way 432 gifted eighth- to go about it,” says graders in 11 states UCLA’s Juvonen. if they had experi- Juvonen says that enced name-calling, used properly, technol- pushing, hitting, teas- ogy can help adolescents ing or other abuses navigate through periods during their school of angst and insecurity. years, 67 percent said “Online communication yes. Among the ef- with even an unknown fects the respondents peer can alleviate the reported: depression, temporary stress of feel- unexpressed rage ing rejection,” Juvonen and absenteeism says. “The online world 41 from school. Bettmann/Corbis enables them to con- “You’re really Iowa high-school students Mary Beth and John Tinker, shown in 1968, nect even from that lone- talking about post- were suspended along with three other students for wearing black ly bedroom at home. It armbands to oppose the Vietnam War. In 1969, the Supreme Court said traumatic stress and in the watershed Tinker v. Des Moines School District case that school would be a pity if par- school phobia,” Pe- officials had no right to suspend the students. “It can hardly ents restrict all commu- terson says. be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional nication without better Gifted students rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” understanding how rich may not be used to Justice Abe Fortas wrote. However, under Tinker school officials this world is. It has its can discipline students whose speech disrupts school aggression, Peterson activities or interferes with the rights of others. pluses and negatives.” adds. When a bully strikes, they can feel betrayed, espe- don’t think adults can or will do any- cially if the bully is part of their close thing about it. School administrators Potential Solutions social network, she says. “It’s about frequently say they can’t address off- what is real versus what is unreal. You campus behavior, Patchin points out, hild advocates and researchers can think something is real, like a and police and prosecutors typically C continue to look for ways to curb friendship, and all of a sudden it’s not.” go after only the most egregious or cyber abuse. One approach encour- One casualty can be a student’s self- threatening kinds of cyber harassment. ages young people to police them- identity, particularly if a rumor spreads In deciding not to tell adults, Patchin selves. Social-networking sites offer about the victim’s sexuality, she says. says, many young victims conclude: tools to help them do that, including While Peterson’s research focuses on “What’s really going to change?” safety tips, settings to block unwant- regular bullying, she says cyberbullying Sometimes adults respond to cyber- ed communications and protect users’ “kind of hits you without warning and bullying in what many experts say is privacy and admonitions to report hate- [thus] might even have more impact.” the wrong way: by trying to ban teens’ ful or harassing content.

398 CQ Researcher For example, Bebo, a San Francisco- over five years, half to i-SAFE — a non- based social-networking site aimed at users profit group in Carlsbad, Calif., that pro- 13 and older, has an online “safety” tab CURRENT vides Internet safety programs in all 50 that includes anti-bullying animations, states — and half for a competitive grant resources for schools and advice for SITUATION program under which online-safety parents. 42 groups could vie for funding. Schoolwide programs designed to A coalition of online safety groups change a school environment to re- criticized the bill, saying it was funnel- duce or prevent behavior problems Action in Congress ing too much money to i-SAFE and are also being used to fight cyber- would suppress competition and inno- bullying. The Olweus Bullying Pre- oves to improve online safety vation in cyber-protection programs. 47 vention Program, for instance, M have been building in Congress The coalition expressed support in- founded by Dan Olweus, a Euro- and the states for years, spurred in stead for a Senate measure introduced pean researcher who has studied bul- part by concerns over the vulnerabil- by Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., that lying for more than three decades, ity of children to online predators and calls for a $50-million competitive is being used by about 2,000 ele- pornography. For example, the Chil- grant program for Internet education mentary and middle schools in the dren’s Online Privacy Protection Act, through 2012. 49 United States, according to Clemson which took effect in 2000, gives par- “There are many good Internet safe- University’s Limber, who leads its U.S. ents the power to decide whether and ty organizations working hard in our implementation. what information can be collected on- schools and communities, and we feel The approach includes training line from children under 13 and how that all organizations should have an programs for teachers and adminis- the information can be used. equal opportunity to receive funding trators, surveys of students, classroom A bill sponsored by Sen. Ted Stevens, through an open and transparent grant discussions about the effects of tra- R-Alaska, would direct the Federal Trade process,” said Judi Westberg-Warren, ditional and online harassment, ef- Commission to carry out a public- president of Web Wise Kids, an online forts to raise community awareness awareness campaign focusing on the safety group in Santa Ana, Calif. 49 of bullying, and when needed, in- safe use of the Internet by children. 43 Willard, of the Center for Safe and dividualized intervention with victims It also would substantially increase fines Responsible Internet Use, criticized or perpetrators. for Internet service providers, or those i-SAFE’s approach and called the The program’s effectiveness at who provide computers for Internet Sanchez legislation “a very bad bill fighting cyberbullying remains unclear, access, such as café owners, who fail that, if passed in its current form, will Limber says, because questions to assess to report online child pornography. 44 ensure mediocrity in the delivery of cyberbullying were added only in the In addition, it would require schools Internet safety education for years.” 50 past year. But schools using the pro- receiving special federal “E-Rate” tech- But Sanchez stood up for her bill. gram to fight traditional bullying often nology funds to educate students about “Authorizing i-SAFE ensures that this see a 20 percent reduction in inci- cyberbullying and “appropriate online program, which has already helped dents, she says. behavior,” including interaction with over 3 million children in all 50 states, Limber acknowledges that some others on social-networking sites and in will be able to continue its work,” she cases of cyberbullying call for strong chat rooms. 45 said, adding that the group has a action by school authorities and that Congressional efforts to fight Internet “proven track record for teaching kids online abuse that occurs off-site can crime are not without controversy, though. how to be safe on the Internet.” 51 create havoc at school. In November 2007, for example, Likewise, Teri Schroeder, founder and Still, she says, “there is a lot a the House passed a bill sponsored president of i-SAFE, defends her group school and school personnel can do by Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., who and its curriculum, which is distributed to raise kids’ and kids’ parents’ aware- has proposed several anti-bullying free to schools. She says the House bill ness about cyberbullying even if it does measures in Congress. The bill would is more comprehensive than the Sen- happen off school grounds. It’s im- authorize grants for educational pro- ate’s and would protect the federal gov- portant to focus on prevention and in- grams to fight Internet crime, in- ernment’s investment in i-SAFE, which tervention. I’m more a proponent of cluding cyberbullying, sexual ex- has totaled $13 million since 2002. the carrot than the stick.” ploitation and privacy violations. 46 I-SAFE faces several financial pres- Specifically, the measure would au- sures, Schroeder says. It has received thorize the appropriation of $50 million Continued on p. 402

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 399 CYBERBULLYING

Abusive Online Gossip Thrives on College Campuses Juicycampus.com allows anonymous postings.

ibrarian Graham Mallaghan wondered why students at the tions recounted her experience when her name surfaced on the Kent University library in Canterbury, England, would laugh site in a discussion about the “biggest slut” on campus. “ ‘I’m try- L at him and sometimes take his picture. After a suggestion ing to get a job in business,’ she said. ‘The last thing I need or from a colleague, Mallaghan went to Facebook.com and found out want is this kind of maliciousness and lies about me out there on why. On the site he found a page titled “For Those Who Hate the the Internet.’ ” 2 Little Fat Library Man,” with hateful comments from many of the As of late April, Juicy Campus had not been banned on any students he had disciplined in the library, telling them to stop eat- campus, but student governments at several schools, including Pep- ing or not to make noise. perdine, Columbia and Yale uni- After Mallaghan notified versities, have called for school ad- school authorities, his bike’s ministrators to block the sites. At the brakes were cut and he was University of California at Berkeley, threatened with violence while Panhellenic Council President Christi- leaving work. When the stu- na Starzak urged sorority leaders in dents responsible for the page an e-mail not to use the site. Stu- had their computer access sus- dents at Pepperdine asked campus pended, they simply passed administrators to block the site from on the password and user in- campus servers, but administrators formation to other students, declined on free-speech grounds. who continued the abuse. Some administrators, however, say Mallaghan says he was so that blocking Juicy Campus will troubled that he sought ther- force them to regulate hundreds of apy over the abuse and be- other offensive sites. Additionally, ad- came underweight. The site ministrators and students simply hope

eventually was removed. AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes the sites will eventually become less At George Washington Andy Canales, student body president at Pepperdine popular and fade away. 3 University in Washington, D.C., University in Malibu, Calif., opposes the Attorneys general in New Jersey juicycampus.com gossip site. an argument between two and Connecticut, meanwhile, have female roommates led one of the young women to post negative recently subpoenaed the records of Juicycampus.com in hope of comments on Facebook about her roommate, who had accused shutting down the site using consumer fraud statutes. 4 her of using drugs. The roommate complained about the mean- “Me, I’m waiting for a horrific tragedy to happen — followed spirited comments to campus authorities, but the school said it by a huge lawsuit (or 20) that cuts into the profits of Juicycam- did not have the authority to act. Facebook eventually stepped pus.com,” wrote columnist Debra J. Saunders in the San Francisco in, however, threatening to block the bullying roommate from Chronicle. “I’ll be rooting for the plaintiff’s attorneys. There have to using the social-networking site if she continued to run the page. be some advantages to living in an overly litigious society.” 5 One of the latest and most abusive gossip sites is eight-month- For his part, Facebook victim Mallaghan says his experience old Juicycampus.com, now being used at some 60 campuses na- with cyberbullying has made one thing clear to him: Children tionwide, including the U.S. Naval Academy and West Point. 1 must be taught that things “could get worse by staying quiet about The site promises posters complete anonymity. Many of the com- Internet abuse. You need to find someone you trust to take you ments posted about sorority girls, football players and professors to the authorities. If nobody knows, nobody can protect you.” are sexist, homophobic, racist or anti-Semitic. Juicycampus post- — Kristina Ryan ings at such schools as Loyola Marymount University in Los An- geles, Colgate University in New York state and the University 1 Richard Morgan, “A Crash Course in Online Gossip,” The New York Times, of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have included students threat- March 6, 2008. ening shooting rampages, a fake “sex tape” of murdered UNC 2 Ibid. student-body President Eve Carson and a crude “photo-shopped” 3 Debra J. Saunders, “Tawdry, Not Juicy,” SF Gate (the online edition of picture of a female Vanderbilt University student. the San Francisco Chronicle), March 25, 2008, www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ar- “For students who have been identified by name on Juicy ticle.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/03/24/EDCPVPK55.DTL. 4 “California Scrutinizes Juicy Campus Web Site for Potential Legal Viola- Campus, the results can be devastating,” wrote Richard Morgan tions,” California Attorney Lawyers Web site, http://attorney2california.com/cal- recently in The New York Times. “In a tearful phone conversa- ifornia-scrutinizes-juicy-campus-web-site-for-potential-legal-violations/. tion, a 21-year-old junior at Baylor who majors in public rela- 5 Saunders, op. cit.

400 CQ Researcher At Issue:

ShouldYes schools be able to regulate off-campus cyberbullying?

NANCY WILLARD WITOLD J. WALCZAK EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR LEGAL DIRECTOR, AMERICAN CIVIL SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE INTERNET USE LIBERTIES UNION OF PENNSYLVANIA

WRITTEN FOR CQ RESEARCHER, APRIL 2008 WRITTEN FOR CQ RESEARCHER, APRIL 2008

wo high-school students have created a racist profile on a f a school principal observed two students bullying another social-networking site, including racist language and cartoons student at the local park or mall, she might speak to the tabout lynching. Other students are linking to the site and ichildren, alert the parents or, if really serious, call the po- have posted ugly comments. Teachers report that many of the lice. Most likely she would not, however, contemplate using her school’s minority students are frightened. principal’s authority to suspend or otherwise discipline the bul- At another high school, students created a “We Hate Ashley” lies. Like most people, she would think that’s outside of school profile that includes crude sexual innuendos and cracks about and beyond her authority. The same standard should apply to their classmate’s weight. Ashley is no longer willing to come to cyberbullying. school, and her grades have plummeted. Her parents report School officials act in loco parentis (in place of a parent) she is under psychological care and on suicide watch. when children are in school or in school-sponsored activities. Do school officials have the authority to impose discipline in Teachers are given leeway to instruct, direct and discipline to response to harmful off-campus online speech? Should they? ensure a safe environment conducive to learning. And while This is a major challenge facing school administrators today. students don’t shed all their constitutional rights at the school- The problem is grounded in the fact that the most harmful house gate, courts have given administrators some leeway to incidents of cyberbullying occur when students post or send restrict students’ free speech, privacy and other rights while in material whileyes they are off-campus, because they have more school custody. no unsupervised time. But the harmful impact is at school, be- Once students leave the school’s custody, they not only reac- cause this is where students are physically together. Cyberbul- quire their full constitutional rights, but their parents or guardians lying incidents lead to school avoidance and failure, youth regain theirs too, including their right to direct and control their suicide and school violence. children’s upbringing. Parents’ values and families’ dynamics dif- Studies on cyberbullying reported in the December 2007 fer. Some parents prefer to turn the other cheek while others Journal of Adolescent Health reveal that both perpetrators and promote an eye for an eye. School officials have their own val- targets of cyberbullying report significant psychosocial concerns ues and ways of addressing problems, and those may differ from and increased rates of involvement in off-line physical and rela- the parents’. When it comes to their children’s out-of-school be- tional aggression. Targets of cyberbullying were eight times havior, parents have the right to decide if and how to discipline. more likely than other students to report bringing a weapon to Limiting schools’ disciplinary authority for out-of-school school. The concerns for student safety are very real. Students speech does not preclude school officials from taking steps, who do not believe school officials can help them may seek short of discipline, to address problems. Parents typically don’t their own revenge — or refuse to come to school. know everything their children do, and that’s particularly true Courts have consistently ruled that school officials can re- for Internet activity. Most parents would probably want school spond to off-campus student speech if that speech has caused officials to alert them to bullying activity but leave disciplinary — or a reasonable person would anticipate it could cause — decisions to them. And for bullying that may cross the line into a substantial disruption at school or interference with the criminal behavior, contacting the police might be appropriate. rights of students to be secure. Situations that have met this Finally, while school officials need to recognize that legally standard include violent physical or verbal altercations, a hos- they have no authority over students’ out-of-school speech, tile environment interfering with the ability of students to par- students should understand that Internet speech often carries ticipate in school activities and significant interference with real-world consequences. Unlike intemperate and stupid things school operations and delivery of instruction. uttered at the mall, speech posted on the Internet endures School officials do not have the authority to respond to and is more widely accessible. Colleges, universities and off-campus speech simply because they find the speech objec- prospective employers increasingly tend to uncover those tionable or repugnant. Response to such speech is a parent’s mean and stupid Internet postings. responsibility. But when off-campus speech raises legitimate In sum, school officials have latitude to discipline students concerns about student safety and well-being, school officials for bullying, cyber or otherwise, that occurs in school, but must have the authority to respond — because every student only parents (or police if necessary) have the authority to

faces theNo potential of harm. handle such matters off campus.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 401 CYBERBULLYING

Continued from p. 399 MySpace also created a task force have a database of kids,” she said, no federal money for the past year- to explore how children can avoid un- “and if you do, that database is avail- and-a-half but will nonetheless edu- wanted contact and content when using able to hackers and anyone who can cate 6 million youths this year in In- it and other online sites. The task force get into it.” 59 ternet safety, relying on money raised will be run by Harvard’s Berkman Still, Aftab said the task force will from donors, she says. Moreover, she Center for Internet and Society, but be “looking to see if age-verification or says, the federal government this year the center’s executive director said the any other technology is out there that allocated federal funds through a com- group will operate independently. we don’t know about that will help.” petitive-bid process to other grantees Recommendations by the task force The 20-member group includes such besides i-SAFE to disseminate i-SAFE’s will be non-binding. 55 companies as Google, Microsoft, Yahoo program materials, putting an addi- Connecticut Attorney General and Verizon as well as networking sites tional financial burden on i-SAFE. If Richard Blumenthal called the agree- Facebook, Xanga and Bebo (recently Congress doesn’t authorize new money ment with MySpace “a profoundly sig- acquired by AOL), she said. to keep i-SAFE’s programs current and nificant step towards social-networking But Keith Durkin, chairman of the available, those programs would be at safety.” He wrote that MySpace “com- Department of Psychology and Soci- risk, Schroeder says. mendably agreed to create and lead ology at Ohio Northern University, in a task force of social-networking sites, Ada, said an effective age-verification technology companies and others to system is nearly impossible. A preda- explore and develop age- and identity- tor or child could use a pre-loaded Social-Networking Sites verification technology.” But, he credit card to circumvent a system warned, “If the task force fails to de- that uses credit cards to verify age yber safety continues to draw close liver, or if other social-networking sites and identity. And, he said, no hard- C attention in the states, and no on- decline to join, attorneys general stand ware or software solutions will be ef- line mechanisms are drawing more ready to take aggressive steps, including fective unless they are expensive, in- scrutiny than social-networking sites. litigation or legislative initiatives, if ap- trusive and violate current privacy laws MySpace agreed last year to hand propriate.” 56 — something that would turn a law- over to state officials the names, ad- Yet critics say it is easy for children enforcement problem into a political dresses and online profiles of thou- to circumvent MySpace’s safeguards controversy. 60 sands of known convicted sex offend- by passing themselves off as adults, “You can’t monitor your kids 24/7,” ers with accounts on the networking and for adults to manipulate MySpace he said. “Parents need to have a con- site. It also said it had deleted the on- by pretending to be adolescents. Texas versation with their children at an line profiles of 7,000 convicted sexual Attorney General Greg Abbott, the lone early age.” 61 predators. 52 holdout in signing the agreement, said And early this year, in an agree- he could not support the pact unless ment with attorneys general from 49 MySpace takes action to authenticate states and the District of Columbia, users’ ages. Actions in States MySpace said it would develop tech- “We do not believe that MySpace.com nology and work with law-enforcement — or any other social-networking site long with efforts to monitor social- officials to improve children’s protec- — can adequately protect minors” with- A networking sites, anti-bullying mea- tion. “Our responsibility is to show the out an age-verification system, he said. sures proposed or passed by state law- way for social-networking sites,” said “We are concerned that our signing the makers are also stirring debate. Hemanshu Nigam, MySpace’s chief joint statement would be misperceived In Washington state, for example, security officer. 53 as an endorsement of the inadequate legislators last year amended the state’s The plan includes a police hotline safety measures.” 57 anti-bullying statute, calling on school to report suspicious behavior, automat- Age-verification systems are diffi- officials to develop policies barring ically making the default setting “pri- cult to implement and can lead to harassment, intimidation or bullying vate” for profiles of 16- and 17-year- problems, some experts point out. by electronic means but limiting the olds, allowing parents to submit their Aftab, of wiredsafety.org, a task-force scope to actions by students “while children’s e-mail addresses to block them member, characterized the agreement on school grounds and during the from establishing a MySpace profile and as a good first step but said it could school day.” 62 creating a separate section of MySpace have unforeseen consequences. 58 The Center for Safe and Responsi- for users younger than 18. 54 “Age verification requires that you ble Internet Use’s Willard is critical of

402 CQ Researcher the law, saying it prevents school of- R-Hyden, filed a bill this year that Boston College’s Herbeck, noting that ficials from responding to cyberbully- would require anyone who con- the initial cases involved pornography, ing that originates off campus, even tributes to a Web site to register a followed by those on privacy and file- if the abuse causes disruption at real name, address and e-mail address sharing issues. school or threatens student safety. on the site. The name would then be In Congress, bills such as the In Oregon, Willard’s home state, used whenever the person posted a Sanchez and Stevens measures “are rais- an anti-bullying statue was amended comment. Couch’s intent was to call ing the profile” of the cyberbullying to include cyberbullying. The law de- attention to anonymous cyberbully- issue, says Kim Mills, a spokeswoman fines bullying as any act that “sub- ing. 68 “Some nasty things have been for the American Psychological Associ- stantially interferes” with a student’s said about high-school kids in my dis- ation. The association is “pleased to see education and occurs “on or imme- trict, usually by other kids,” he said. the recognition of cyberbullying as a diately adjacent to school grounds,” “The adults get in on it, too.” 69 serious issue,” Mills says. But, she adds, at school-sponsored activities, on But Couch said because the mea- “it’s hard to know in this climate what school-provided transportation or at sure is “probably unconstitutional,” he the prospects are” for such legislation. school bus stops. The law’s language isn’t pursuing it. 70 It’s an “election season,” she notes, “and creates the potential for incidents That’s a good thing, opined the people’s minds are focused on a num- arising off campus to be off-limits, conservative Washington Times, citing ber of other things, such as the econ- Willard says. 63 what it called the bill’s “bald violation omy and war.” Some states have adopted laws with of First Amendment rights.” Boyd, at Harvard’s Berkman Cen- broadened scopes. Arkansas, for ex- “We’re all concerned about cyber- ter, is less than sanguine about the ample, last year added cyberbullying bullying,” the newspaper said, “but likelihood of finding solutions to to its anti-bullying policies and in- we’re more concerned when a law- cyberbullying through legislation. cluded provisions for schools to act maker threatens our civil liberties and Lawmakers, she says, continue to against some off-campus activities. wastes public dollars on dim-witted “focus on the extreme cases” and The measure applies to actions orig- legislation.” 71 “Band-Aid the issue” without ad- inating on or off school grounds “if dressing the root cause of cyber the electronic act is directed specifi- abuses: social pressures that drive cally at students or school personnel adolescents to compete for status and and is maliciously intended for the OUTLOOK the lack of adequate attention to those purpose of disrupting school, and has pressures from busy or distracted a high likelihood of succeeding in parents and other adults. that purpose.” 64 Cyberbullying and other abuse can In Maryland, lawmakers approved Guidance Needed be expected to get worse among ado- a bill in April that requires public lescents “because kids are so stressed,” schools to develop a policy barring Boyd says. The most obvious source cyberbullying and other kinds of in- s technology gets faster, cheaper of that stress, she says, “is the pres- timidation. 65 The bill says that even A and more far-reaching, cyberbully- sure to get into college.” But “any- if the bullying occurs off school ing is sure to grow, many experts say. thing that increases pressure for sta- grounds, administrators can report it And that growth will demand clear- tus increases bullying.” if it “substantially disrupts the orderly er guidance from courts and policy- And that includes a change in the operation of a school.” 66 makers on the responsibilities of financial standing of a youth’s family, But Hudson, the research attorney schools, law-enforcement officials and Boyd says, noting that the nation’s for the First Amendment Center, said online-network providers. shaky economy could increase the the school’s power to reach off cam- With state lawmakers and lower pressure for status and validation among pus creates a “bit of tension in the courts now focusing more on issues adolescents’ peers. First Amendment arena as to just how of defamation and cyberbullying, it far school jurisdiction extends. There’s may be only a matter of time before no doubt that [the bill] is well-intentioned, the Supreme Court rules on those is- but the question is whether it’s going sues. Still, it may be a while before Notes to sweep too much speech within its the justices render guidance in a case reach.” 67 involving adolescent cyberbullying. 1 Billy Townsend, “High Bail Set In Beating In Kentucky, state Rep. Tim Couch, “The cyber laws are emerging,” says Case,” Tampa Tribune, April 12, 2008.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 403 CYBERBULLYING

2 Mary Niederberger and Nikki Schwab, “Ex- www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teen_Parents_data 22 Ibid. plicit ranking of high school girls sparks out- _memo_Oct2007.pdf. Also see John Greenya, 23 Tresa Baldas, “As ‘Cyber-Bullying’ Grows, rage; Mt. Lebanon’s ‘Top 25’ List Details Stu- “Bullying,” CQ Researcher, Feb. 4, 2005, pp. So Do Lawsuits,” The National Law Journal, dents’ Looks, Bodies,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 101-124. Dec. 10, 2007. April 26, 2006, p. 1A. 10 Amanda Lenhart and Mary Madden, “Teens, 24 Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969). 3 Kathleen Haughney, “Cyberbullies could face Privacy & Online Social Networks,” Pew In- 25 Watts v. United States (1969) penalties,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 24, ternet & American Life Project, April 18, 2007, 26 Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser 2008. www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Privacy_ (1986) and Hazelwood School District v. 4 Justin Norton, “Some states pushing for laws SNS_Report_Final.pdf. Kuhlmeier (1988), respectively. to curb online bullying,” The Associated 11 David L. Hudson Jr., “Student Online Ex- 27 Quoted in Anne Marie Chaker, “Schools Act Press, Feb. 25, 2007, www.pantagraph.com/ar- pression: What Do the Internet and MySpace to Short-Circuit Spread of ‘Cyberbullying,’ ” The ticles/2007/02/24/news/doc45df611de8ca0765 Mean for Students’ First Amendment Rights?” Wall Street Journal Online, Jan. 24, 2007. 543652.txt. First Amendment Center, posted Dec. 19, 2006, 28 Daniel de Vise, “Schoolyard Face-Offs Blamed 5 Corinne David-Ferdon and Marci Feldman www.firstamendmentcenter.org/PDF/student. on Facebook Taunts,” The Washington Post, Hertz, “Electronic Media, Violence, and Ado- internet.speech.pdf. April 27, 2008, p. 1C. lescents: An Emerging Public Health Prob- 12 The bill, SB 1329, was introduced on 29 Millie Anne Cavanaugh, “Cyberbullying Can lem,” Journal of Adolescent Health 41, 2007. April 8, 2008, and referred to the state Sen- Have Deadly Consequences,” Aspen Education 6 Amanda Lenhart, “Data Memo: One in ate Judiciary Committee. Group, 2007, www.aspeneducation.com/Article- three online teens have experienced on- 13 See, for example, Abbott Koloff, “States cyberbulling-consequences.html. line harassment,” Pew Internet & Ameri- push for cyberbully controls,” USA Today, 30 “Does the First Amendment apply to pub- can Life Project, June 27, 2007, Feb. 6, 2008. lic schools?” First Amendment Center, www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP%20Cyber- 14 Ryan Bowling, “Missouri Senate passes www.firstamendmentschools.org. The case is bullying%20Memo.pdf. new cyber-bullying law,” Christian County State ex rel. Dresser v. Dist. Bd. Of Sch. Dist. 7 Janis Wolak, Kimberly Mitchell and David Headliner News, March 30, 2008, www.ozarks No. 1, 135 Wis. 619, 116 N.W. Finkelhor, “Online Victimization of Youth: newsstand.com. 31 Ibid. The case is Wooster v. Sunderland, Five Years Later,” National Center for Miss- 15 Jason Wermers and Betty Parker, “Bully 27 Cal. App. 51, 148 P. 959 (Cal. App. 1915). ing & Exploited Children, 2006, www.miss- bill breakthrough: Senate committee chair- 32 Last year in Morse v. Frederick, 439 F. 3d ingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC167.pdf. man relents, lets panel consider measure,” 1114, the Supreme Court upheld a principal’s 8 Publication of the study by Juvonen and News-Press, March 11, 2008. right to punish a student who displayed a “Bong Elisheva Gross is forthcoming in the Journal 16 Ibid. Hits 4 Jesus” banner across the street from of School Health. The survey was posted on 17 Ibid. school during a parade. The court construed bolt.com, a popular teen Web site, in fall 18 Richard Willing, “Cyberstalking law opens the parade as a school-sanctioned event at which 2005, and responses were invited. Among the debate on what’s annoying,” USA Today, the school district’s discipline rules applied. 1,454 respondents, half reported daily e-mail Feb. 14, 2006. 33 Layshock v. Hermitage School District, et al., use, and 60 percent reported daily instant- 19 Ibid. U.S. District Court, Western District of Penn- messaging. Also see Marcia Clemmitt, “Cyber 20 Dwyer v. Oceanport School District, et al., sylvania, 2007. Socializing,” CQ Researcher, July 28, 2006, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, 34 J.S. v. Bethlehem Area School District, 807 pp. 625-648. Civ. No. 03-6005 (SRC), March 31, 2005. A.2d. 803 (Pa. 2002), summarized at www.first 9 Alexandra Rankin Macgill, “Data Memo: Teens 21 Press release, “ACLU-NJ Announces Settlement amendmentschools.org/freedoms/case.aspx?id= are more likely than their parents to say digital in 8th Grade Webmaster Case,” Nov. 6, 2005, 1687. technology makes their lives easier,” Pew Inter- www.aclu-nj.org/news/aclunjannouncessettle- 35 Bridget Gutierrez, “Get Schooled: Getting Tough net & American Life Project, Oct. 24, 2007, menti.htm. on Bullying,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 7, 2007, www.ajc.com/blogs/content/ shared-blogs/ajc/education/entries/2007/03/07/ About the Author bully_this.html#comments. 36 Thomas J. Billitteri is a CQ Researcher staff writer based Robin M. Kowalski and Susan P. Limber, in Fairfield, Pa., who has more than 30 years’ experience “Electronic Bullying Among Middle School Stu- dents,” Journal of Adolescent Health 41, 2007. covering business, nonprofit institutions and public policy 37 Quoted in Katie Menzer, “Boy Scouts prepar- for newspapers and other publications. He has written pre- ing for a new threat: bullies handbook addresses viously for CQ Researcher on “Domestic Poverty,” “Curb- how to deal with aggressive teasing — both ing CEO Pay” and “Mass Transit.” He holds a BA in Eng- online and face-to-face,” Dallas Morning News, lish and an MA in journalism from Indiana University. Jan. 20, 2008, p. 1B. 38 “Teens and Cyberbullying: Executive Sum- mary of a Report on Research Conducted for

404 CQ Researcher National Crime Prevention Council,” Harris Interactive, Feb. 28, 2007, http://vocuspr.vocus. com/VocusPR30/Newsroom/ViewAttachment. FOR MORE INFORMATION aspx?SiteName=NCPCNew&Entity=PRAsset& Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, 474 W. 29th Ave., Eugene, AttachmentType=F&EntityID=99295&Attach- OR 97405; (541) 344-9125; www.cyberbully.org. Provides guidelines, research mentID=57d58695-7e1d-404c-a0f0-d5f6d0b18996. and other resources for educators, parents and children to encourage safe use 39 Amanda Lenhart, Mary Madden, Alexandra of the Internet, including avoiding cyber threats. Rankin Macgill and Aaron Smith, “Teens and Social Media,” Pew Internet & American Life i-SAFE Inc., 5900 Pasteur Ct., Suite 100, Carlsbad, CA 92008; (760) 603-7911; Project, Dec. 19, 2007, www.pewinternet.org/ www.isafe.org. A nonprofit foundation dedicated to educating students on how to pdfs/PIP_Teens_Social_Media_Final.pdf. avoid inappropriate and unlawful online content; various services include the i-Learn 40 Amanda Burgess-Proctor, Justin W. Patchin, Online program and the i-Mentor network to provide an “On Demand” learning and Sameer Hinduja, “Cyberbullying: The Vic- experience. timization of Adolescent Girls,” www.cyber- bullying.us/cyberbullying_girls_victimization.pdf. Internet Crime Complaint Center; www.ic3.gov. Enables victims of Internet- 41 Press release, “Study: Gifted children es- related crimes to file complaints, which are then referred to law-enforcement pecially vulnerable to effects of bullying,” and regulatory agencies. Purdue University, April 6, 2006. 42 www.bebo.com. See also the “Safety Tips” National Crime Prevention Council, 2345 Crystal Dr., Suite 500, Arlington, VA link on www.myspace.com. 22202; (202) 466-6272; www.ncpc.org/newsroom/current-campaigns/cyberbullying. Educates the public about cyberbullying and strategies for protection against Inter- 43 The bill is S 1965. 44 net harassment. The NCPC’s Web site links to publications and other organiza- Kathryn A. Wolfe, “Bill Outlines Program tions for research on cyberbullying. to Help Children Stay Safe Online,” CQ Today, Sept. 26, 2007. Netsmartz Workshop, 699 Prince St., Alexandria, VA 22314; (703) 274-3900; 45 Ibid. www.netsmartz.org. Created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited 46 The bill is HR 4134. Children and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the interactive workshop offers 47 Andy Carvin, “Debating Federal Funding a wide variety of resources warning parents, teens, educators and law-enforcement for Online Safety Curricula,” PBS Teachers, officials about the dangers that exist on the Internet. The site links to videos, learning.now weblog, Dec. 7, 2007, CyberTiplines and personal accounts of Internet exploitation. www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now/2007/12/ debating_federal_funding_for_o_1.html. Carvin Take a Stand. Lend a Hand. Stop Bullying Now!, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, is founding editor of the Digital Divide Net- MD 20857; 1 (888) 275-4772; http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov. The Health Resources work, an online community of Internet ac- and Services Administration campaign educates children and adults about cyberbully- tivists seeking to bridge the digital divide. ing and improving community prevention efforts. 48 The bill is S 2344. 49 Quoted in Andrew Noyes, “Bill’s Passage Di- WiredSafety, 1 Bridge St., Suite 56, Irvington-on-Hudson, NY 10533; (201) 463- 8663; www.wiredsafety.org. The online safety group offers educational and help vides Child-Safety Groups,” National Journal’s services to victims of cybercrimes like cyberbullying, hacking, identity theft and Technology Daily, Nov. 16, 2007, http://tech- child pornography. In conjunction with WiredKids.org and WiredTeens.org, the dailydose.nationaljournal.com/2007/11/bills_pas- group promotes safe and responsible technology use. sage_divides_childsaf.php. 50 Ibid. 51 Ibid. USA Today, Jan. 14, 2008. 66 Kathleen Fitzgerald, “Md. legislators approve 52 Brad Stone, “MySpace to Share Data With 58 The Associated Press, “MySpace promises bill aimed at curbing cyberbullying,” Student States on Offenders,” The New York Times, safeguards for youths,” Newsday, Jan. 15, 2008, Press Law Center, April 9, 2008, May 22, 2007. p. 8A. www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1734&year. 53 Quoted in Eric Benderoff and Kristen Kridel, 59 Ibid. 67 Ibid. “MySpace steps up security,” Chicago Tribune, 60 Roy Bragg, “Texas AG’s refusal to sign 68 John Cheves, “Anonymous Web postings Jan. 15, 2008, p. 1C. deal with MySpace called right move,” San targeted,” Lexington Herald Leader, www.ken- 54 Ibid. Antonio Express-News, Jan. 16, 2008, p. 1A. tucky.com/454/v-print/story/338489.html. 55 “MySpace picks Harvard to study Internet 61 Quoted in ibid. 69 Quoted in ibid. safety,” Chicago Tribune, Feb. 29, 2008, p. 10. 62 The bill is SB 5288. 70 Joanne Kaufman, “If You Don’t Have Any- 56 Richard Blumenthal, “Our agreement is a 63 “State action on cyber-bullying,” USA thing Nice to Post . . . ,” The New York Times, big step,” USA Today, Jan. 23, 2008, p. 12A. Today, Feb. 6, 2008. March 17, 2008, p. 4C. 57 Quoted in Clare Trapasso, The Associated 64 Ibid. 71 “Kentucky Roadkill,” The Washington Times, Press, “MySpace agrees to new safety measures,” 65 The bill is HB 199. March 20, 2008, p. A18.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 405 Bibliography Selected Sources

Books tronic Media, Violence, and Adolescents: An Emerging Public Health Problem,” Journal of Adolescent Health Kowalski, Robin M., Susan P. Limber and Patricia W. 41, 2007, pp. S1-S5. Agatston, Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age, Two experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Pre- Blackwell Publishing, 2008. vention provide an overview of a series of articles that examine Two Clemson University psychology professors and a pro- the benefits and risks of adolescents’ access to new communi- fessional counselor provide an up-to-date overview of elec- cations technology. The articles can be accessed at www.jahon- tronic abuse. “As bullying over the Internet becomes more line.org/issues/contents?issue_key=S1054-139X%2807%29X0249-0. commonplace,” they write, “educators must become equally prepared to address this new form of bullying.” Reports and Studies

Solove, Daniel J., The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Englander, Elizabeth, and Am M. Muldowney, “Just Turn Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet, Yale University the Darn Thing Off: Understanding Cyberbullying,” Pro- Press, 2007. ceedings of Persistently Safe Schools: The 2007 Nation- A law professor at George Washington University writes al Conference on Safe Schools and Communities, Hamil- that “as social reputation-shaping practices such as gossip ton Fish Institute, The George Washington University, and shaming migrate to the Internet, they are being trans- http://webhost.bridgew.edu/marc/marc%20research/ formed in significant ways.” hamfish%20paper.pdf. Two researchers from the Massachusetts Aggression Re- Willard, Nancy E., Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Re- duction Center provide a useful overview of the available sponding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, research on cyberbullying and help to shed light on the Threats, and Distress, Research Press, 2007. characteristics of its perpetrators. A lawyer and expert on technology in schools explores the legal, social and technical aspects of electronic aggression Hudson, David L., Jr., “Student Online Expression: What and offers a useful compendium of cyberbullying definitions. Do the Internet and MySpace Mean for Students’ First Amendment Rights?” First Amendment Center, Dec. 19, Articles 2006, www.firstamendmentcenter.org/PDF/student.in- ternet.speech.pdf. Areheart, Bradley A., “Regulating Cyberbullies Through A First Amendment scholar explores the legal terrain of stu- Notice-Based Liability,” Yale Law Journal Pocket Part 41, dent electronic expression and recommends that educators 2007, http://thepocketpart.org/2007/09/08/areheart.html. adopt clear policies, open lines of communication with par- An attorney argues that the government should provide re- ents and students and teach students that their postings can course for cyberbully victims by curbing the nearly absolute im- return to haunt them. But he recommends against punishing munity Internet service providers enjoy and implementing a “no- online expression simply because school officials don’t like it. tice and take-down scheme” in certain cases of wrongdoing. Lenhart, Amanda, et al., “Teens and Social Media,” Pew In- Barry, Dan, “A Boy the Bullies Love to Beat Up, Repeat- ternet & American Life Project, Dec. 19, 2007, www.pewin- edly,” The New York Times, March 24, 2008, p. A1, ternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Social_Media_Final.pdf. www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/us/24land.html?scp=2&sq One of a series of studies on teens and digital technolo- =dan+barry+and+bullies&st=nyt. gy, this survey-based study found that more than 90 percent A newspaper columnist profiles Billy Wolfe, a high-school of teens use the Internet, “and more of them than ever are sophomore in Fayetteville, Ark., who has been the target of treating it as . . . a place where they can share creations, bullies since age 12. tell stories and interact with others.”

Collins, Lauren, “Friend Game: Behind the online hoax Thierer, Adam, “Social Networking and Age Verification: that led to a girl’s suicide,” The New Yorker, Jan. 21, 2008, Many Hard Questions; No Easy Solutions,” The Progress www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/01/21/080121fa_fact_ & Freedom Foundation, March 2007, www.pff.org/issues- collins. pubs/pops/pop14.5ageverification.pdf. A journalist provides a revealing look at the suicide of Megan The director of the market-oriented think tank’s Center for Meier and offers a close-up look at the personalities and neigh- Digital Media Freedom argues that proposals to impose age- borhood atmosphere behind a notorious cyberbullying case. verification rules on social-networking sites “raise many sen- sitive questions with potentially profound implications for in- David-Ferdon, Corinne, and Marci Feldman Hertz, “Elec- dividual privacy and online freedom of speech and expression.”

406 CQ Researcher The Next Step: Additional Articles from Current Periodicals

Constitutional Rights Seven states passed cyberbullying laws in 2007, but only those in Arkansas and Delaware call for school officials to “ACLU Protests School District’s Internet Policy,” Grand address off-campus incidents. Rapids Press (Michigan), Dec. 3, 2007, p. B6. Policies that regulate students’ after-school postings on the In- Meitrodt, Jeffrey, and Ashley Wiehle, “Senate Committee ternet have come under scrutiny from the American Civil Liber- Passes ‘Cyber-Bullying’ Legislation,” Chicago Tribune, ties Union for allegedly violating constitutional free-speech rights. March 12, 2008, p. B6. The Senate Judiciary Committee in Illinois has passed a mea- Magid, Larry, “Fine Line Between Bullying, Free Speech,” sure that would make it a crime to use e-mail or the Internet San Jose Mercury News (California), Jan. 28, 2008. to torment an individual on more than one occasion. Any new laws that address cyberbullying need to be careful in differentiating between harmful harassment and constitu- Norton, Justin M., “Some States Pushing for Laws to Curb tionally protected speech. Online Bullying,” The Associated Press, Feb. 21, 2007. There is a great deal of disagreement over how effective Scharnberg, Kirsten, “As Bullies Go Online, Schools Crack state crackdowns on cyberbullying will be. Down,” Chicago Tribune, Sept. 14, 2007, p. A1. Critics say rules intended to crack down on bullying on Parental Responsibility the Internet inevitably limit the right to free speech. “Dad Wages War on Cyberbullies,” Grand Rapids Press JuicyCampus.com (Michigan), Feb. 22, 2007, p. A8. The father of a 13-year-old boy who committed suicide Megan, Kathleen, “Juicy: Not So Juicy,” Hartford after being ridiculed online is pushing for broader laws to Courant (Connecticut), March 25, 2008, p. D1. punish cyberbullies. Most students are either extremely critical or oblivious to Juicy Campus, despite evidence of the new Web site’s rising Meyer, Jeremy P., “Growth of Online Classes Puts Focus popularity on college campuses. on Kids’ Safety,” The Denver Post, Dec. 31, 2007, p. B1. A Colorado parent has decided to homeschool her kids to Morgan, Richard, “A Crash Course in Online Gossip,” protect them from bullies at school, but she now teaches them The New York Times, March 16, 2008, p. ST7. about Internet safety to protect them from cyberbullies. Results can be devastating for students who have been identified by name on Juicy Campus, a site that promises Nipps, Emily, “Parents Get Schooled in Web Safety for anonymity for all posts. Teens,” The St. Petersburg Times, Sept. 10, 2006, p. 1. Parents in Hillsborough County, Fla. (Tampa) are attend- Pope, Justin, “Juicy Web Site Proves Popular on Campus, ing presentations to better educate themselves about cyber- But Many Students Fight Back,” The Associated Press, bullying and other potentially harmful online practices. Feb. 18, 2008. Student leaders, newspaper editorials and posters are fighting CITING CQ RESEARCHER back against Juicy Campus. Sample formats for citing these reports in a bibliography Schevitz, Tanya, “Web’s Anonymous Posts Reveal All, include the ones listed below. Preferred styles and formats Like It or Not,” The San Francisco Chronicle, March 21, vary, so please check with your instructor or professor. 2008, p. B5. Once someone is targeted on the Juicy Campus Web site, MLA STYLE virtually nothing can be done about it. Jost, Kenneth. “Rethinking the Death Penalty.” CQ Researcher 16 Nov. 2001: 945-68. Legislation APA STYLE Kellams, Laura, “Committee Backs ‘Cyberbullying’ Bill,” Jost, K. (2001, November 16). Rethinking the death penalty. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Jan. 19, 2007. An Arkansas bill that would require schools to establish CQ Researcher, 11, 945-968. cyberbullying policies won legislative approval despite concerns CHICAGO STYLE over its constitutionality. Jost, Kenneth. “Rethinking the Death Penalty.” CQ Researcher, Koloff, Abbott, “States Push for Cyberbully Controls,” November 16, 2001, 945-968. USA Today, Feb. 7, 2008, p. 3A.

Available online: www.cqresearcher.com May 2, 2008 407 In-depth Reports on Issues in the News

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