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Safety Law News for 6/8/12

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  • Indianapolis Public Schools expelled a student who brought a stun gun to school. His mother gave him the stun gun to protect himself against bullies — and the community is vocally protesting his expulsion.
  • A New Jersey principal wants parents to ban Facebook, saying that middle school students are not “socially and emotionally ready to understand” the impact of mean words posted online.
  • Students in one West Virginia county have posted Facebook threats against the school three times in one month. While educators discipline students who post threats, at least one parent has blocked her daughter from using Facebook and Twitter.
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Safety Law News for 6/6/12

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  • An Iowa middle school student stabbed a classmate in the back, after being repeatedly bullied, and says that he acted in self-defense. Without condoning the stabbing, the boy’s mother says that her son tried to avoid going home on the same bus as his bullies that day, and says that educators have not responded adequately.
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Safety Law News for 6/4/12

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  • A new FCC condition on federal technology funds — combined with a new anti-cyberbullying law in Ohio — mean that educators face new imperatives in teaching students about social media use.
  • After educators strip searched a girl for drugs, they learned that the tipster had a personal motive for saying the girl possessed drugs. The district “may or may not” have obtained permission to search from the girl’s grandfather, but her family is now suing the district for acting unreasonably.
  • Georgia educators banned a student from attending his own graduation, after he appealed his punishment for a senior prank. A federal court says that the student has a First Amendment right to criticize the school — and that he can walk in graduation.
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Safety Law News for 6/1/12

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  • Connecticut educators discuss how to define bullying, even as they acknowledge the perception that, “Anything that happens, it all becomes bullying.” They note the need to distinguish bullying, civil rights violations, and criminal actions. In addition, a video provides details on how police fight online misconduct.
  • After a Maine student wrote a letter to educators explaining how she was bullied and sharing her frustration at the school’s apparent lack of response, she posted the letter online. The response to her was international, and thanks to the action of educators in her district, she is on the way to resolving her concerns.
  • A Pennsylvania school board has expelled students for bomb threats, while allowing the students to apply for readmission in twelve months. There was no actual danger, but educators said they had to respond seriously.
  • A senior prank became a safety hazard when students threw baby oil-filled water balloons at school—not to mention the food fight, crickets, and snakes. Some prank participants are banned from graduation. Others, who were less involved, will be escorted by their parents and monitored during graduation.
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School Safety Law News for 5/31/12

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  • San Antonio schools will track students with chips embedded in ID cards, which only work on buses and on campus, in an effort to increase attendance funding. Student privacy is a concern, while one board trustee says that she does not want administrators to begin tracking teachers’ movements with imbedded chips.
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School Safety Law News for 5/25/12

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  • A student was disciplined for a “death list,” in which he named people who would die by driving off Mount Rushmore and by being run over by a moose. He called it a joke between classmates, but Massachusetts educators suspended him for almost an entire school year.
  • When a student brought a track and field starter gun to school, some students reported it as a handgun and the school went into lockdown. The district is reexamining how it notifies parents about emergencies.