Does your Web policy cover student sites? "Blogs" offer new opportunities--and challenges. .When a student in New York's prestigious Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School, commonly referred to as Stuy, is a New York City public high school that specializes in mathematics and science. The school opened in 1904 on Manhattan's East Side and moved to a new building in Battery Park City in 1992. created an unofficial school Web site with a message board where the 3,000 students could evaluate teachers anonymously, hundreds of messages were posted daily. While some claimed that individuals assigned too much homework or were overly strict, anonymity also prompted the use of expletives and libelous In the nature of a written Defamation ,a communication that tends to injure reputation. charges such as "skirt chaser" and "pedophile pedophile Forensic psychiatry A person with pedophilia; there are an estimated 500,000 pedophiles in the world. See Child prostitution, Megan's law, Pedophilia. ." The site was shuttered shut·ter n. 1. One that shuts, as: a. A hinged cover or screen for a window, usually fitted with louvers. b. after three teachers threatened legal action. In a similar situation, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court ruled the Bethlehem Area School District did not violate a student's First Amendment rights when it expelled him for creating a derogatory de·rog·a·to·ry adj. 1. Disparaging; belittling: a derogatory comment. 2. Tending to detract or diminish. site targeting a teacher and a school administrator. Even though the private site stated reasons why the teacher should die, and asked visitors to contribute to pay a hitman, the court found that it was a "sophomoric soph·o·mor·ic adj. 1. Of or characteristic of a sophomore. 2. Exhibiting great immaturity and lack of judgment: sophomoric behavior. , crude, highly offensive, and perhaps misguided, attempt at humor humor, according to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man's health and temperament. Hippocrates postulated that an imbalance among the humors (blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that good health was or parody." Nevertheless, it also concluded the site created a disturbance that interfered with the work of the school--including physical and emotional problems suffered by the teacher--and expulsion was warranted. This pronouncement was significant since it is now common for students to create Web sites both inside and outside of school. GROWING POPULARITY OF BLOGS Opportunities and challenges are escalating through the exploding popularity of special Web site forms called Weblogs, or "blogs." A blog is a continually updated personal diary where people write whatever ideas pop into their heads and share thoughts, opinions and views. Blogs may also include news, photos, essays, poetry and links to other sites. Blog posts are typically short, unedited "instant messages to the Web" that are arranged chronologically, and may be creative, insightful, irreverent ir·rev·er·ent adj. 1. Lacking or exhibiting a lack of reverence; disrespectful. 2. Critical of what is generally accepted or respected; satirical: irreverent humor. and even offensive. Thousands of individuals, particularly young people, now have blogs on countless topics, thanks to free online software that automates the process, such as Blogger (www.blogger.com). A variety of blog examples can be accessed through directories such as Eatonweb (portal.eatonweb.com) and Weblogs.com (www.weblogs.com). BLOGS IN SCHOOL There are growing numbers of experiments for using blogs in teaching and learning, such as Weblogs in Education (www.schoolblogs.com). For example, all schools encourage students to express themselves through writing, and that is exactly what blogs are for. But at the same time, students need to be informed that free-wheeling online critical speech may be defamatory. Yet, if the positive potential of blogs is not understood, it is easy to throw out babies with bathwater. Administrators in a Virginia high school Virginia High School, home of Blue Devil Athletics, educates students grades 7-12 in Virginia, Minnesota. It is a public high school with open enrollment located on scenic 5th Avenue. discovered that a student used school computers during school hours to post to his blog. Ironically, as the student later described his experience online (www.sammydman.com/archives/000805.php), he spent an emotional day in the principal's office filling out an affidavit affidavit Written statement made voluntarily, confirmed by the oath or affirmation of the party making it, and signed before an officer empowered to administer such oaths. describing his blog and providing information on blogs maintained by fellow students. While administrators must protect their districts against the inappropriate use of computer resources, they should also avoid summarily rejecting new communications forms without examining their potential. REVIEWING POLICIES While districts' acceptable-use policies all need to address issues related to student Web sites, such as derogatory, libelous and anonymous postings, most policies don't do this because they were developed before such sites became common. As a result, schools leave themselves open to losing cases on "free speech" grounds, even when the actions of students are objectionable. It is therefore time to review policies and make sure that Internet guidelines are updated and clear, and are read by students and parents. Additional information is available online at sites such as the Responsible Netizen Institute (responsiblenetizen.org). Odvard Egil Dyrli, dyrli@uconn.edu, is senior editor and emeritus professor of education at the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. . |
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