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Cyberbullying, K-12 Public Schools, and the 1St Amendment Jennifer A

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Cyberbullying, K-12 Public Schools, and the 1St Amendment Jennifer A Seton Hall University eRepository @ Seton Hall Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs) Spring 3-28-2017 Cyberbullying, K-12 Public Schools, and the 1st Amendment Jennifer A. Mezzina [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations Part of the Educational Leadership Commons, Education Law Commons, and the Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons Recommended Citation Mezzina, Jennifer A., "Cyberbullying, K-12 Public Schools, and the 1st Amendment" (2017). Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs). 2262. https://scholarship.shu.edu/dissertations/2262 CYBERBULLYING, K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AND THE 1ST AMENDMENT By Jennifer A. Mezzina Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education Department of Education, Leadership, Management, and Policy Seton Hall University March 2017 © 2017 Jennifer A. Mezzina ABSTRACT The first amendment protected students’ first amendment rights in K-12 public schools; however, state antibullying legislation required school officials to discipline students for bullying and, in most states, cyberbullying as well. An increasing number of students had access to mobile devices at home and during the school day. School officials had the responsibility to protect students from instances of bullying and cyberbullying; however, school officials did not fully understand the extent of their authority to discipline students for acts of bullying that occurred online, off school grounds. Despite the existence of state antibullying laws in all fifty states, contradictory appellate court decisions in cases involving cyberbullying and K-12 public schools made it difficult for school administrators to understand their authority. Appellate courts utilized a Tinker test when determining the outcomes of cases involving cyberbullying and K-12 public schools. The Tinker test was derived from the Supreme Court decision in Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), in which the Supreme Court overturned the suspension of students that wore armbands to protest the Vietnam War. There were two prongs of the Tinker test: (1) whether the instance of cyberbullying caused a substantial interference in the school, and (2) whether or not a substantial interference could be reasonably forecasted. The purpose of this public policy dissertation was to provide state legislators and school administrators with an in-depth review of state antibullying laws as well as greater insight into how the appellate courts interpreted the extent and limitations of First Amendment in K-12 public schools. i This public policy dissertation compared state antibullying legislation in all 50 states in the United States and reviews all appellate court decisions involving K-12 public schools and cyberbullying. Each state’s legislation was reviewed between October 31, 2016, and December 31, 2016, to determine (1) if there was an antibullying law in effect, (2) if cyberbullying was included in the legislation, (3) if bullying was defined as a one-time event, (4) if school officials were given the authority to discipline students for off-campus behavior, (5) if schools were required to implement an antibullying policy, (6) if the substantial interference or substantial disruption language from Tinker was included in the antibullying legislation, (7) if there was a school sanction for bullying, (8) if there was a criminal sanction for face-to-face bullying, and (9) if there was a criminal sanction for cyberbullying. Each appellate court decision involving K-12 public schools and cyberbullying was reviewed to determine how the Tinker test was applied in each case. Keywords: cyberbullying, bullying, first amendment, public schools, antibullying laws ii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my family. To my husband, Dan Mezzina, thank you for your love, unwavering support, and for believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. Thank you for taking the children out on Sunday mornings so that I could write this dissertation, and thank you for helping me to relax, laugh, and see the bigger picture. To my children, Joseph and Christopher, I hope that this will inspire you to stay motivated, never stop learning, and accomplish your dreams. To my parents, Debbie and Peter Lease, and my brother, David Lease, thank you for believing in me, listening to me, and supporting me throughout this process. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to my professors, colleagues, family, and friends who helped me throughout this five-year journey. Dr. Luke Stedrak, thank you for seeing possibility in a small paper that I wrote in your law class and helping me to turn it into a presentation, publication, and dissertation. Thank you for your encouragement, commitment, and dedication throughout this process and for the opportunity to present at the ELA conferences. Thank you to my committee members, Dr. Robert Kelchen and Dr. Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, for your wisdom and feedback. Dr. Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, I am especially grateful to you for allowing me to redo the first paper I wrote in your class; you helped me to improve my research and writing skills. Maggie and Javier Rabelo, thank you for encouraging me to pursue this degree, for believing in me, and for helping me to see my potential. I would never have made it here without you and I am forever grateful to you both. Thank you both for mentoring me and for your friendship. Dr. Arpi Lajinian, thank you for your coaching, wisdom, and encouragement. Thank you for helping me to put things into perspective and focus on what is important. To My Seton Hall crew, Dr. Lucien Costley, Natalie Neubauer, and Reema Panwar, thank you for the support, laughs, and motivation throughout this process. I would have been lost without you. To all those who helped out with childcare so that I could have time to write, especially Dan Mezzina, Debbie Lease, Peter Lease, Barbara Mezzina, and Fred Mezzina, I am sincerely grateful to you. iv To my Bison Family, especially Sheri Ten Eyck, Coach Dave, and Coach Liz, thank you for your friendship, coaching, and motivation over the course of this past year. You helped me to stay focused, and physically and mentally strong throughout this process. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... i DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 The First Amendment ............................................................................................................... 1 First Amendment Protections ................................................................................................... 5 Freedom of Religion ........................................................................................................... 9 Freedom of Speech ........................................................................................................... 10 Freedom of the Press ......................................................................................................... 12 Right to Assemble ............................................................................................................. 13 Right to Petition ................................................................................................................ 14 Public Schools and the First Amendment ............................................................................... 15 Statement of the Problem ........................................................................................................ 16 CHAPTER II: THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND K-12 PUBLIC SCHOOLS .......................... 18 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 18 Separation of Church and State ............................................................................................... 18 Teacher Expression ................................................................................................................. 22 Students and the First Amendment ......................................................................................... 26 Student Access to Information .......................................................................................... 26 Student Expression ............................................................................................................ 26 Antibullying Laws and the First Amendment ......................................................................... 30 Definition of Bullying ....................................................................................................... 31 History of State Antibullying Legislation ......................................................................... 31 Inclusion of Cyberbullying in Antibullying Statutes ........................................................ 32 Prevalence of Cyberbullying in Schools ................................................................................
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