Journal 10: School Regulation of Offsite Online Behavior

Willard, Nancy and Wietecha, Lynn. "Should Schools Regular Offsite Online Behavior?" Learning & Leading in Technology. March 2007.

The question is whether or not schools should respond to student off-campus internet postings. This is a confrontational issue, with more than one viewpoint to consider. If there is a harmful student posting, that may threaten another person's well-being, school officials should get involved. Many times harmful postings at home are felt very significantly at school. Issues such as gossip, anger, hate, embarrassment, and cyberbullying may result from inaction on the school's behalf to intervene. However, some issues are minor and should be left for the student and parents to resolve. Some students may not be at a level in which they are responsible enough to post content maturely, but that is ultimately a family decision since it takes place in the home, although a teacher may give input. There are two sides to the issue.

1. What is an example of when school regulation of offsite online behavior would have been beneficial?

In Japan, one student posted something online from home that angered another girl. The girl then came to school and killed the student on school grounds. Unfortunately some students have been known to commit suicide. It would have been beneficial to have had an intervention here by the school before the murder or suicides.

2. What is the argument for school's not regulating student offsite online posting?

While it is reasonable to expect teachers to teach safety issues with students, it may be a stretch to ask teachers to monitor all student postings offsite. It is nearly impossible for teachers to know all of the sites each student posts on and how often they do so. By teaching good safety practices, it is up to the students to put the lessons into practice. An example is that you can stress the importance of looking both ways, but it is unreasonable to expect the teacher to walk to every street crossing with every student to ensure safe crossings.