Some Thoughts and Observations
School Litigation. With classrooms closing for the summer around the country, the likelihood of traumatic events thankfully recedes for a few months (in schools, that is, but not necessarily in churches, malls, manufacturers, etc.). But other American institutions grind on.
In the headlines below, for instance, are several links to articles about ongoing school-related litigation. Increasingly, students and parents are suing school districts, administrators, and individual educators for failing to intervene when students were threatened with harm, including cases involving school shootings, sexual assault by educators, cyberbullying by classmates, and so on.
It will be interesting to see how such litigation affects the use of social media monitoring and other types of on-campus surveillance. Such systems can be very useful for alerting school officials to potential problems; at the same time, they can just as easily produce a trove of information for plaintiffs that school officials knew what was happening and failed to take action. These competing concerns are definitely worth discussing before deciding to roll out the latest hot item in monitoring technology.
Questions Worthy of Further Discussion. Also worthy of discussion are the following questions raised by this week's headlines:
- Can an offer of free ice cream help demonstrate how misinformation spreads?
- What are the acceptable boundaries, if any, in allowing students to incorporate nudity in their art photography projects?
- Should states consider adopting educator social media guidelines similar to those recently adopted by Arizona?
- What can or should districts do to protect educators and administrators from digital mobs?
- Should a teacher be fired for sharing a photo of a bathroom wall threat with parents and the media?
- Why are teachers on the frontlines of the culture wars and what should be done about it?
The Cybertraps Podcast: Week of June 13, 2022

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Noteworthy C4E Headlines for the Week of June 13, 2022
19 June 2022
US_Washington
- Family sues Bellevue School District alleging inaction on bullying, harassment
- Keywords: #Litigation #FailureToIntervene #bullying #harassment #SocialMedia
18 June 2022
US_Michigan
- ‘They Are Untrue’: Oxford School District Denies Accusations in Mass Shooting Lawsuit and Blames the Alleged Killer’s Family
- Keywords: #negligence #FailureToIntervene #SocialMedia #ThreatsOfViolence #SchoolShooting #litigation
17 June 2022
US_Louisiana
- Union Parish schools crack down on smart phones, printed shirts and hoodies
- Keywords: #policies #smartphones #distraction #bullying
US_Oklahoma (see related story on 15 June)
- Norman School Board Fires Teacher Who Leaked Shooting Threat To Parents
- Keywords: #photos #graffiti #SocialMedia #messaging #honesty #coverup
US_Wisconsin
- Manitowoc Teacher Accused of Taking Inappropriate Photos of Female Students
- Keywords: #ElectronicSexualAssault #voyeurism #photos
16 June 2022
Canada
- Tech issues plague Regina Public schools 26 days after cyberattack, teachers say
- Keywords: #cybersecurity #hacking #ransomware #DataLoss
US / National
- Caught in the culture wars, teachers are being forced from their jobs
- Keywords: #SocialMedia #CultureWars #politics #Facebook #Twitter #YouTube
US / National
- Setting a national standard for K-12 cybersecurity
- Keywords: #cybersecurity #policies #CISA
US_Georgia
- White Parents Rallied to Chase a Black Educator Out of Town. Then, They Followed Her to the Next One.
- Keywords: #harassment #misinformation #racism #doxxing #SocialMedia #Facebook #MobRule
US_Hawaii
- Hawaii teacher arrested for sharing child pornography
- Keywords: #SexualAssault #CSAM #production #photos #videos #distribution #possession
US_Mississippi
- State Auditor releases follow-up cybersecurity report on school internet usage
- Keywords: #cybersecurity #audit #obscenity #pornography #policies #CIPA
US_New Jersey
- Smackover teacher fired due to ‘unethical’ relationship with student
- Keywords: #relationship #texting #boundaries #ethics #policies #discipline
US_New Jersey
- Retired Middle School Teacher, Roselle Resident Charged with Possession of Explicit Images of Minors
- Keywords: #CSAM #photos #videos #possession #chatroom
US_New Mexico
- Española teacher charged with sex abuse
- Keywords: #SexualAssault #messaging #Instagram #texting #videos
US_Texas
- 20 charges brought against Dripping Springs teacher accused of improper relationships
- Keywords: #solicitation #SocialMedia #Snapchat #photos #messaging #drugs #DigitalInvestigation
15 June 2022
US / National
- Who really gets fired over social media posts? We studied hundreds of cases to find out
- Keywords: #SocialMedia #termination #policies #racism #misogyny #decency
US / National
- Are Schools Disproportionately Surveilling Students Who Rely on School-Owned Devices?
- Keywords: #DigitalDivide #surveillance #EdTech #privacy #DataMining
US_Alabama
- Former Hale County Teacher Facing Charges for Soliciting Sex from Minors
- Keywords: #solicitation #sexting
US_Delaware
- Bus driver accused of taking ‘up skirt’ pictures of girls waives hearing
- Keywords: #ElectronicSexualAssault #photos #videos #upskirt #voyeurism
US_Illinois
- As Clinton School District bans cell phones in the classroom, area Superintendents discuss their approach
- Keywords: #policies #cellphones #distraction #health
US_Oklahoma
- NPS board to decide on teacher's possible termination after Norman High graffiti incident
- Keywords: #photos #graffiti #SocialMedia #messaging #honesty #coverup
14 June 2022
US_Arizona
- After a series of scandals, Arizona has new guidelines for how teachers should text, call students
- Keywords: #policies #SocialMedia #texting #videos #memes
- Download the new guidelines: Arizona Board of Education Social Media and Cellphone Use Guidance (draft)
US_Michigan
- Teacher creates social media campaign to motivate students
- Keywords: #SocialMedia #influencers #ProjectMotivationGraduation #Twitter #Instagram #TikTok
US_New York
- Ex-Brooklyn high school teacher convicted on child pornography charges
- Keywords: #CSAM #solicitation #Facebook #sextortion #sexploitation #photos
US_Texas
- ‘So are you glad you enrolled at RMA?’: Documents show graphic messages between Houston-area teacher, student
- Keywords: #SexualAssault #solicitation #texting #sexting #DigitalInvestigation
US_Washington
- Kentwood High teacher charged with raping a student
- Keywords: #SexualAssault #texting #ObstructionOfJustice
13 June 2022
England
- Northamptonshire teacher banned over sexual photos art project
- Keywords: #art #photography #nudity #decency
US_Kentucky
- Former JCPS teacher arraigned on child pornography charges
- Keywords: #CSAM #possession #videos
US_New York
- Newburgh schools employees under fire after teacher's 'racially insensitive' Facebook post
- Keywords: #SocialMedia #Facebook #racism
US_Oregon
- Eugene 4J school district and board member facing legal claim
- Keywords: #SchoolBoard #SocialMedia #harassment #intimidation #racism #HostileWorkEnvironment #litigation
US_South Carolina
- Free ice cream: Clemson researchers team up with teachers to show middle-school students how misinformation spreads
- Keywords: #misinformation #SocialMedia #DigitalCitizenship #CriticalThinking
US_South Carolina
- Former assistant principal at Rock Hill school sentenced for student sex charges
- Keywords: #SexualAssault #solicitation #SocialMedia #Snapchat #photos
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