Cyber-Bullying Policy for Schools Passes Unanimously

Students in the North Kingstown school system may be thinking twice about their tweets, texts and Facebook posts. Tuesday night, the North Kingstown School Committee passed a social networking and text messaging policy unanimously.

Under the policy students as well as employees, teachers and staff of the North Kingstown School Department are prohibited from engaging in cyber-bullying on or off school grounds that causes a “substantial disruption to the educational activities at school." Social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace as well as text messages will fall under the new policy.

The policy will follow the district’s “Bullying, Teen Dating, Violence and Sexual Harassment” regulations in terms of enforcement. Punishments for violating the policy range from verbal warnings to detentions and suspensions, depending on the severity and number of offenses.

School officials have been looking to implement a cyber-bullying policy since last year, when then-superintendent Dr. Phil Thornton began crafting a policy based on an existing one from the Scituate school system. With more and more incidents of cyber-bullying occurring as technology advances, School Committee Chair Kimberly Page said she wants to get a policy in the books.

“For the most part I think people are respectful and use [social networking] in a mature way, but there are incidents where that’s not the case,” said Superintendent Phil Auger.

Earlier this month, school officials worked to diffuse a situation at Davisville Middle School involving a group of 14-year-old girls involved in a cyber-bullying incident. One student became a victim of cyber-bullying via Twitter after allegedly posting nude pictures of another student.

“It’s impossible to imagine that that does not come into school,” saig Auger. “That’s where the social network is. That’s where the friends are.”

According to Assistant Superintendent Michele Humbyrd, this may not be the only incarnation of a cyber-bullying policy the school committee will see this year. The Rhode Island Department of Education will be crafting a state policy on social networking and cyber-bullying this June.