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| Chilling Effects Clearinghouse > Weather Reports > When High School Gossip Goes Hi-Tech | 
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|  When High School Gossip Goes Hi-TechElizabeth Gonsiorowski, Brooklyn Law School, October 2, 2006 Abstract: In an attempt to hold students responsible for what they say online, school districts are punishing students for what they post on the internet after school hours. If you’ve survived high school, you’re well aware of the kind of gossip that oozes out of teenagers and the educational institutions they occupy. Regulating the teenage gossip mill seems like a good idea, but some public school districts may be treading on the bounds of unconstitutionality. In an attempt to hold students responsible for what they say online, school districts are punishing students for what they post on the internet after school hours. In the Indianapolis area, school districts have suspended students for posting material that administrators consider offensive. Next month, one school board in the area will vote on a proposal designed to curb offensive online speech on social sites such as myspace.com. Under the new proposal, school officials won’t actively monitor students’ pages, but they will view them if parents, staff, or other students complain. It is unclear whether the board will implement the proposal, or what the legal consequences, if any, will be. However, several months ago in Ohio, a student was suspended after school officials discovered her myspace page, which parodied a school official. The ACLU represented the student at a school board meeting, and the school eventually allowed the student to return to school without the case ever going to court. Some courts have ruled that students can write about their school, or people who work at their school on their own personal websites as long as they don't do it during school hours or with school equipment. School districts have legitimate concerns about issues like cyber-bullying, but there is a fine line between imposing regulations and infringing upon students’ rights. For more information about the issue in Ohio, see:
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