FAQ's

A. How will “your problem” impact your work as new school Leaders?

1. Cyberbulling and sexting is a new problem for school administrators. We expect it to be a growing trend. This will impact our work as administrators and we need to keep up with the latest federal, state, and local legislation to stay on top of this issue. One consideration is that if someone is caught sexting, they could be put on the sex offender registry. Children with inappropriate text and pictures on their phone could be charged with possession of child pornography. We would first need to consult our district policy manual to see how it is handled in our area. Depending on that policy we need to see what kind of staff development our staff needs to respond as situations arise. Additionally, we may also need to educate families because as phones get cheaper they become more readily available. It is the administrator’s responsibility to educate the students and parents at the beginning of the year on the school’s policy and make sure they understand that the policy will be enforced.

B. How will “your problem” impact the role of teachers who work with students with disabilities? Teachers of students with disabilities will need to hlep educate students with disabilities about the policies and the consequences. It is important to teach //and// check for understanding especially for the students with more significant cognitive disabilties. Since disciplinary issues can follow a slightly different cycle for students with IEP (manifestation determination, etc.) those teachers (and adminstrators) need to fully understand that process as well, along with the district's specific policies. (On a personal note, I have had these conversations with students with disabilities and found that even the ones with a high level of cognitive ability were not aware that if they are found with sexually explicit images on their phones, it can result in being charged with possession of child pornography and being placed on the sex offender list. One student's face was visibly pale when he hear this and was very concerned about an adminsitrator looking through the pictures on his phone if it was taken away. I was glad that I had brought up the subject because no one was aware of the news story that prompted me to do so.)

C. Which ISSLC’s can help you improve the issues associated with “your problem” and why? The ISLLC's that can be associated with the problem of "sexting" and "cyberbullying" would refer to ISLLC 1,3 and 5. ISLLC 1 deals with success of students by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared and supported by the school community.With this both sexting and cyberbullying could affect the way the student is learning and functioning in the classroom. We as teachers/administrators need to see that all students are receiving an appropriate education that makes them feel they are being in a developing school that they are able to articulate their needs and wants from the staff of the school. ISLLC 3 deals with promoting success of all students in a safe, efficient, effective learning environment.With sexting and cyberbullying, the student needs to know that they are able to come to us as teachers and administrators and we will be able to have a safe, efficient learning environment for the student. ISLLC 5 promotes the success of all students by acting with fairness, integrity and in ethical manner. With this standard we as educators need to give the benefit of what is being said to us on the matter at hand and know that we can act in a fair way with integrity and ethics.

D. How can the implementation of technology assist you in reducing the threat to the loss of instructional time/focus because of “your problem”?

Here is the paradox; it is the implementation of technology that increases the threat of loss of instructional time/focus because of sexting/cyberbullying but from what we've learned through our research if we keep our awareness levels high, educate our staff, educate our students and always supervise, and keep our community aware and updated of these clear and present dangers we increase our success of keeping our students safe and reducing the loss of academic instructional time. This issue is resolved by the administrator who initiates ISLLC standard 3.0 by having the knowledge and ability to promote the success of all students by managing the organization, operations, and //resources// in a way that promotes a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.

E. As an assistant principal or principal how can you help resolve the issues identified in your problem not only in your school but within the school division and school division leadership?

As an administrator, you should have a clear and concise policy manual involving "acceptable use policy" in your school as well as in the division. Acceptable use should refer to all Internet activity that is taking place while on school property. The parents and students should both be required to sign and agree to this acceptable use policy. Failure to sign and comply with the terms of the acceptable use policy could result in not being able to use Internet provided by the school. On the division level, there should be appropriate Internet filters in place to block inappropriate activity. Teachers would still need to be aware of the fact that some students could find a way to use "proxy sites" to mask their activity and potentially get around the filters. In addition, schools should have a way to cut down on the sexting that takes place. While there is no way to prohibit this action while students are away from school, I believe stricker cell phone regulations/rules should be in place during the school day. This would also need to be stated in a school/division policy manual. While not prohibiting students to bring their phones to school, the policy could prohibit the phone being out during regular school hours. I think some administrators are too lax in an attempt to "keep the peace" with the student/parent community, but having stricker Internet and cell phone rules in place at the school would drastically cut down on cyberbulling/sexting, which, in turn, would ultimately keep the greater peace.

F. How will you communicate to all stakeholders “your problem” and your recommendations? As an administrator, we would first of all form a committee to address the issue of sexting and cyberbullying. The problem with sexting and cyberbullying is that there are not many legal avenues AS OF YET to address this issue. Because of this, we feel that the county needs to have a very clear and concise policy on what actions the county will take whenever this policy is violated. Because of the severity of the issue, and because of the growth of this problem, going STRICTLY by the policy is the only "leg we have to stand on" as educational institutions. Educating not only our faculty and staff, our students, our parents, our community, AND our stake holders is the only way we can have any hope of "nipping this problem in the bud" so to speak. These policies will be clearly stated and easily accessible from our schools' webpage and in newsletters. We will also make ourselves readily available to answer any questions a stakeholder may have involving cyberbullying/sexting. **Another opinion - I (Angie) think that when it comes to elementary students, teachers and administrators need to be able to use their judgement in situations that involve young children. I don't believe an elementary child has the ability to fully understand the impact or consequences of their actions or even understand why or what they are doing in a sexting situation. The may know it is wrong but be unable to connect that knowledge to the seriousness of the situation.

Jodi Davidson- Completed and Agree Christy Bowman--Completed and Agree Keli Jessie--Completed and Agree Carolyn Mitchell-completed and agree Angie Cornett - Completed and agree Melissa McDaniel - Completed and agree