SOUND OFF: How Should Schools Handle Student Misbehavior on Facebook?

Imagine this: A 12-year-old girl with an ax to grind against a teacher or classmate logs onto Facebook from a laptop in her bedroom, posts a strongly worded complaint and let's the chips fall where they may. Is this defamation? Harassment? Or an essential, if unpleasant, aspect of the right to free speech?

Who decides and who is responsible for disciplining the student, if necessary? Such was the conundrum facing the Minnewaska School District in central Minnesota, where school officials meted out detention to a student after she wrote a post stating that she "hated" an adult hall monitor at school using her own computer outside of school hours. Angry, the student took to Facebook again ("Who the 'bleep' told on me?"), a comment that garnered another, more serious penalty — in-school suspension. 

The district now faces a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which alleges that school officials violated the student's First- and Fourth-Amendment rights.

On the other hand, in the wake of recent teen suicides schools have come under fire for not doing enough to combat cyber bullying.

So, what is a school administrator to do? In District 191, this is still an open-ended question. The district's violence and harassment policy only applies to incidents that occur "in school, on school grounds, or at a school-sponsored activity."

The policy regarding bullying is a bit more comprehensive, though it doesn't mention social media explicitly. As per the policy, bullying is defined as "conduct that interferes with students’ ability to learn and teachers’ ability to educate students in a safe environment." The district's jurisdiction over bullying behavior extends to all school buildings, vehicles, bus stops, and school related events as well as conduct away from school ground, provided that it "directly affects the good order, efficient management and welfare of the school or school district."

Board of Education Chair Ron Hill said the district has not yet formulated a specific policy regarding Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or any other aspect of the burgeoning world of social media — but it is a concern.

"We've had lots of discussions about it. It's something we're monitoring very closely," Hill said. "We did review our policy regarding electronic devices about five years ago and now it seems old fashioned. Everything is moving in quantum leaps right now."

"The boundary as to who controls children between home and schools has become quite gray. Obviously we rely on the parents first and foremost, but something can blow up on Facebook before a parent even knows what happened," Hill continued.