School Law and Technology for the Columbus Staff Karen Haase (402) 499-0547 khaase@hslegalfirm.com H & S School Law @KarenHaase
This is not your Grandma’s Inservice
Agenda School Law and Technology Issues • Social Networking • Cyberbullying
Social Networking Examples • Facebook • Twitter • Snapchat • Vine • Kik
Social Media is Here to Stay Ed. Professionals are using social media • 85% of Americans use social media monthly • Twitter grew over 500% in the last year • More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days than big 3 networks created in 60 years
Facebook dominates social media • • • •
500 million users as of July, 2010 50% of active users log on daily Average user has 130 friends Largest group of users aged 35-54
Teacher Use Causes for Concern • Drug/Alcohol Use • Sexual Inappropriateness • Inappropriate Communication with Students • Inappropriate Communication about Students • Selling School Property
Nebraska Law NEB. REV. STAT. §§79-824, 79-827 Reasons for Termination and/or Cancellation: • Unprofessional Conduct • Immorality • Other conduct which interferes substantially with the continued performance of duties
My Suggestions Make a professional page separate from your personal page Don’t “friend” students or parents on your personal page Don’t let yourself be depicted behaving unprofessionally Ask: will this affect my classroom?
Privacy Settings
Facebook Privacy Tutorial? Set your profile as “private” Only let “friends” see pics Require notification before tagging Turn off geo-tags Friend Facebook on Facebook
Cyberbullying of Staff
J.S. v. Blue Mountain Sch. Dist. Middle School Student made fake MySpace profile for principal • Included photo from school website • Initially public; then limited • Students could only access off campus • Student suspended for 10 days; parents sued
Layshock v. Hermitage Sch. Dist High School Student made fake MySpace profile for principal • Included photo from school website • Other students created similar and more offensive profiles • Students only accessed off campus • Student suspended for 10 days; placed in alt. sch, banned from extracurriculars, no commencement
J.S. and Layshock Inconsistent Third Circuit granted en banc rehearing Oral Argument June 3, 2010 Decision issued June 13, 2011 The Bottom Line? • Schools lost both cases
J.S. and Layshock Key legal points • School can’t punish off-campus speech because it is vulgar, inappropriate or even criminal • School can only punish off-campus speech that is substantially disruptive
What About the Staff? “We recognize that vulgar and offensive speech such as that employed in this case – even made in just – could damage the careers of teachers and administrators and we conclude only that the punitive action taken by the school district violated the First Amendment free speech rights of JS.” • i.e. “We don’t care”
School Law and Technology for the Columbus Staff Karen Haase (402) 499-0547 khaase@hslegalfirm.com H & S School Law @KarenHaase