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Author and attorney Aimee M. Bissonette writes:

“Schools that fail to take action to curb cyberbullying among students may find themselves defending their actions (or lack of action) in court, worse still, dealing with the tragedy of a student suicide.”

One can argue whether schools are responsible or not, but the societal expectations are simple: if school administrators know it’s happening, then they had better do something about it." The legal system generally evaluates a school’s right to intervene in off-campus cyberbullying by determining if the victim’s educational experience has been harmed by the actions or the perpetrator. What is a school administrator to do?
Perhaps as Bissonette suggests, the best way to deal with cyberbullying is to proactively develop effective policy that defines specifically what is considered cyberbullying and the range of actions the school or district should take to address the problems when they happen.

What are the must-have elements in any school or district’s cyberbullying policy? Here’s some suggestions I have taken the liberty of paraphrasing from Bissonette's book, Cyber Law: Maximizing Safety and Minimizing Risk in Classrooms.

• Avoid zero-tolerance and highly punitive policies. According to Bissonnette, if policies are too punitive they actually might discourage individuals from reporting instances of cyberbullying.
• Develop policies that “allow a range of sanctions from verbal warnings, to detention, to suspension or expulsion.” This flexibility allows administrators to provide the appropriate level of consequences for the offense. Not all cyberbullying rises to the same level of severity.
• Make sure your cyberbullying polices contain good definitions. Define cyberbullying in such a way that all students, parents and staff understand what it is. 
• Cyberbullying policies should make it clear that they “apply to all instances of cyberbullying.” The policy needs to make it clear that whether it happens on campus or off it is covered. Also, it should make it clear that it applies to the use of school computers and networks too.
• The policies should also describe procedures for reporting instances of cyberbullying. Included in that description are what victims, witnesses and staff do to report instances of cyberbullying. It is also important to describe the steps the school or district will take in investigating a report of cyberbullying.
• Cyberbullying policies should also describe parent notification procedures. When and how parents will be notified should be detailed.
• Finally, according to Bissonette, policy should describe all the devices that might be used in cyberbullying. It should clearly state, for example, that cell phones, cameras, and other electronic communication devices could be used in cyberbullying.

In our current climate, schools must develop sound policies to guide how they will deal with cyberbullying when it happens. In 21st century schools, 21st century leaders know the importance of proactively dealing with this issue.

Note: I posted a variation of this to my parents in my Parent Weekly Email Update. This version, I address more to educators and 21st century educational leaders.

In her book Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats, Nancy Willard states, "Cyberbullying and cyberthreats are new concerns that have not been fully addres by the academic community." In fact, our students are receiving very little instruction from anybody regarding responsible online behavior and being an effective online citizen. Too often, efforts to address such knowledge is done as an add-on somewhere rather than an full set of principles and values that students should demonstrate while engaging in online activity.

In chapter five of her book, Willard provides what she calls "strategies to address negative influences of technology on behavior." This list of six strategies is an excellent starting point for teaching students how engage in responsible behavior as a 21st century citizen. I would encourage you to explore more fully Willard's book, Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats.

1. Be Kind Online.  Too often, because of the anonymity of life online, the values people have do not translate to people's online personas. Elias Aboujaoude's new book, Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality does an excellent job of describing how people often exhibit an online personality that is quite different from their offline one. Still, we need to emphasize to our students the importance of exhibiting the same value of showing kindness to others online as we do offline. Students need to understand that the online world is invariably connected to the offline world.
2. Online People Are Real People Too. At least they need to understand that online people are most often connected to real people offline. Our students need to deploy the same empathy for people online that they use in the offline world. They need to consider the perspective of others whether online or off. Using examples of where young people have been harmed by cyberbullying will help students understand how the harmful actions online affect real people offline.
3. What You Do Reflects on You. Our students sometimes do not make the connection with how their online behavior affects their reputations. They need to understand that the online choices they make are a reflection of the kind of person they are offline. Just providing students with rules to guide their online behavior is not enough. They need to understand that their online behavior is who they are.
4. Think First. Willard suggests that we teach students to engage in effective decision-making when engaging in online activities. In her book she provides a series of questions to guide students in reflecting about their online activity. 1) Am I being kind and showing respect for others and myself? 2) How would I feel if someone did the same thing to me or to my best friend? 3) What would my mom or dad think? 4) Does my actions violate agreements, rules, or laws? 5) Would it be okay if I did this in the real world? 6) Am I trying to think my way out of a wrong act? 7) How would I feel if everyone could see me? and 8) How would this action reflect on me?
5. Life Online Is Not Just a Game. Online actions have real-world consequences. Students need to understand the possible legal ramifications of online behaviors such as cyberthreats.
6. You Are Leaving Cyberfootprints. Students sometimes feel that their online personas are totally anonymous and undetectable. That is not entirely true. Their online actions are creating an online self that invariably can be connected to their offline selves. This is one consequence many students and even adults are experiencing the hard way.