[K12OSN] OT: "MySpace.com" or "policies for when computer use leads to assault and battery on campus"

[Tom Hoffman]

On 1/24/06, Doug Simpson <simpsond at leopards.k12.ar.us> wrote:

> If the posting happens off-campus, and the assault happens on campus, the
> only recourse there is is to handle it just like any other on-campus
> assault.  No matter what the cause.  That would be just like if a guy said
> something about someone's girlfriend at the local game room and the other
> guy beat someone up at school.

Well, it isn't exactly like that.  Isn't it more like somebody put up
flyers on telephone poles saying "I'm gonna kick Dave Trask's ass
after school on Tuesday, signed Tom Hoffman?"

The school may not be legally required to do anything, and they may or
may not be legally permitted to take formal disciplinary action, but
wouldn't you want to have some approprate adult speak to Dave and Tom
sometime about the issue before the end of school on Tuesday?

My point here is that adults are being given access to information
about our students' lives that we generally don't get, so even as we
may be blocking and warning kids away from these sites, we should also
be teaching adults in our schools to *use* this data in ways that
aren't necessarily strictly punitive.

--Tom