Students Reprimanded for Facebook Page

School officials say they were justified in giving several students at Terrill Middle School in-school suspension last week for their involvement with a Facebook page making fun of another student, even though the page was created off school grounds.

The page was created by a child at home, not at school, Principal Kevin Holloway said. But because students were talking about it in the classroom, Terrill deemed it a disruption to learning and thus what Holloway called a “teachable moment.” 

“If kids are talking about it, if there are things that are brought into the classroom, then that causes disruption to the school day,” Holloway told Patch. “If something from home comes to school and it disrupts the classroom environment, then we look into it and see what it’s all about.”

When and how the district steps in on an issue that was started off school grounds depends. In this particular instance, someone brought the Facebook page to Terrill administration’s attention after hearing of the stir it was causing among the students.

Holloway said he then looked into who started the page and what their intention was.

“In a case like this, we speak to the student who this would have been about to make sure and see if they have knowledge of it,” Holloway said. “Once I know the names of the kids involved, the whole purpose is to try to get to the intent of it. On the surface it looks like one thing, but you have to find out why the kids have done what they’ve done. The kids that created the page, the page had lots of friends, but not all were involved. Kids just friended the page and never said anything, never put anything on the page. Kids just want to have their friends on their page.”

After talking to the students who were involved, Holloway said he realized that they didn’t create it with any real intent of harassment. Still, they were punished, he said, to help them realize the consequences that can come when using the Internet inappropriately.

“Facebook is a very complex world,” he said. “Their intent was not to do anything that was malicious. That's why we used it as teachable moment. The student this was done about, the students involved really liked the other kid. I don't think they understand the ramifications. The intent was not to harm anyone, but it spiraled out of their control.”

Parents reaction to the incident was mixed. One Terrill student's parent told Patch he does not think school involvement was appropriate, and that while any negative student participation in the Facebook page should not be overlooked, he felt disciplinary action should be taken by the parents outside of the school administration.

School computers filter access to Web sites like Facebook and district policy forbids any type of harassment using its property, including computers or other electronic devices.

But how this policy applies to actions that occur off school grounds can vary.

“One of the issues becomes where the source is,” Superintendent Margaret Hayes told Patch. “When a student uses a computer at home, we have to vet those through the police department to look carefully at where our authority extends in certain situations."

The state Department of Education advises school districts that their policies can address harassment, intimidation or bullying off school property, but states that  "the consequences only may be exercised when it is reasonably necessary for the offending student’s physical or emotional safety and well-being or for reasons relating to the safety and well-being of other students, staff or school grounds, and when the conduct which is the subject of a proposed consequence materially and substantially interferes with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school.”

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood school district's bullying and harassment policy states that if a student is threatened or there's malicious intent using electronic devices, then it's considered cyber bullying, Holloway said. The principal noted that last week's incident didn't necessarily rise to that degree, but that the administration felt that the Facebook page being discussed at school was reason enough to punish the students. If a situation is more serious, Hayes said police will get involved. She said it also depends on who has access to the information.

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood district introduced several revisions to its harassment policy during the most recent Board of Education meeting. In addition to updating its list of groups who are protected in the schools, including, but not limited to, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, mental and physical disability, the district also added specific language forbidding harassment using school computers and electronic devices.

“New media are always creating different opportunities for people to use them positively or negatively,” Hayes said. 

The updates to the harassment policy are just one of several being made to bring the district procedures up to speed with the recommendations made by the state, she said.

As the Internet continues to advance, it continues to pose new issues for the schools.

Holloway said that at Terrill, an incident like the one last week is rare and only happens maybe one or two times a school year. Still, he said, it's important to help the students realize the potential consequences of their actions.

“The Internet is a world that kids don’t really understand,” he said. “They don’t know how complex it really is.”