problem+statement+backup

Background: "It is estimated that 4 in 10 American teens have been victims of cyber bullying while 75 percent of students in the U.S. report that they have visited a website that turns other students into targets for harassment, according to a study by the National Crime Prevention Council."

//Need for the bill : A poll commissioned in 2006 by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, showed that one in three teens and one in six preteens have been victims of cyber bullying and that more than 2 million of those victims told no one about the attacks. The author states, "As web-based social networking sites, such as Myspace and Facebook become more and more popular, cyber-bullying has become a problem for school districts and youth-based organizations. Such intimidation tactics are difficult for school districts to deal with because they happen outside of school property and usually after school hours."

What is cyber bullying ? Cyber bullying is the use of electronic devices and information, such as e-mail, instant messages, text messages, mobile phones, and web sites, to send or post harmful messages or images about an individual or a group.

In September of 2007, the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Task Force on School and Campus Safety released a report that includes specific recommendations that address certain school safety issues. Recommendations from the Task Force included a recommendation for states to "continue to implement and expand bullying prevention measures, including cyber bullying."

// //The report stated, "Bullying was recognized as an important// // issue in examining school violence. The growth in the use of technology and social networking sites by younger Americans has fueled a fear among professionals that cyber bullying will become the means most often utilized to harass, threaten or otherwise cause distress. And while certainly more prevalent in the elementary and secondary school setting, issues related to bullying or intimidation are increasingly relevant in other nontraditional settings." **Assembly Bill 86**//

= //The Board is committed to providing a safe, positive learning environment for district students. The Board recognizes that bullying creates an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, detracts from the safe environment necessary for student learning, and may lead to more serious violence. Therefore, the Board prohibits bullying by district students.// =

//"A U.S. Secret Service report on school violence in American showed that the students who initiated school shootings felt not only teased by their classmates but persecuted and tormented. Despite numerous theories, one common factor has been found among 75% of the young school-based shooters - bullying and harassment at school."

"Every day in the U.S., an estimated 160,000 students miss school out of fear of attack or intimidation by other students while one out of every ten students who drop out of school does so because of repeated bullying."

Article 1, ss28 (c), of the California State Constitution, approved by voters in 1982, states that "all students and staff of public primary, elementary, junion high and senior high schools have the inalienable right to attend campuses that are safe, secure, and peaceful."

(information from The LegisSchool Project, Ballot Measure #3)

Consideration:

Cyberbullying is a growing new concern among students, teachers and administrators. The law states that schools are required to provide students and staff with a safe environment but to what extent? When it enters the cyber world and goes beyond campus are schools still liable? How will schools control cyberbullying when it occurs outside of school but bleeds on to campus? What school policies will have to be established to address this problem? Where will the lines be drawn between harassment and teasing?

When schools conduct random searches of students’ belongings will they now need to search their cell phones as well for text messages and photographs that could be construed as harassment? What student privacy laws could be potentially violated? Will schools be held responsible for checking my space and utube for items that are “demeaning, dehumanizing, embarrassing, or could cause physical harm to a student or school employee”?// //none// //Optional: a note about this edit for the page history log//

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