About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

37 U. Tol. L. Rev. 51 (2005-2006)
Cyberbullies on Campus

handle is hein.journals/utol37 and id is 63 raw text is: CYBERBULLIES ON CAMPUS Darby Dickerson * I. INTRODUCTION A new challenge facing educators is how to deal with the high-tech incivility that has crept onto our campuses. Technology has changed the way students approach learning, and has spawned new forms of rudeness. Students play computer games, check e-mail, watch DVDs, and participate in chat rooms during class. They answer ringing cell phones and dare to carry on conversations mid-lesson. Dealing with these types of incivilities is difficult enough, but another, more sinister e-culprit-the cyberbully-has also arrived on law school campuses. Cyberbullies exploit technology to control and intimidate others on campus.' They use web sites, blogs, and IMs2 to malign professors and classmates.3 They craft e-mails that are offensive, boorish, and cruel. They blast professors and administrators for grades given and policies passed; and, more often than not, they mix in hateful attacks on our character, motivations, physical attributes, and intellectual abilities.4 They disrupt classes, cause tension on campus, and interfere with our educational mission. We have cyberbullies in our midst, and we must deal with them. My goals in this article are to introduce the law school community to the problem of cyberbullies, and to alert deans, administrators, and professors to the risks associated with this form of bullying-so that the problem can be acknowledged and addressed, and so that we may all learn and work in as safe an environment as possible. Part II will describe common characteristics of bullies * 02005, Darby Dickerson. All rights reserved. Vice President and Dean, Stetson University College of Law. I want to extend a special thanks to Professor Peter F. Lake, the Charles A. Dana Chair and Co-Director of Stetson University College of Law's Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy, for his collaboration on many ideas that appear in this article. I also want thank Professors Daniel B. Weddle and Brooke J. Bowman for reviewing drafts, and Stetson law librarian Sally G. Waters and Stetson law student Paula Bentley for their exemplary research assistance. 1. See text accompanying infra note 42. 2. IM is the common abbreviation for instant message or instant messaging. 3. See, e.g., Erin O'Connor, Beyond Incivility at Seton Hall, Critical Mass, http://www.erinoconnor.org/archives/2003/02/beyond incivili.html (Feb. 14, 2003) (recounting an episode at Seton Hall in which an adjunct professor discovered that her students posted scathing comments on www.myprofessorsucks.com). 4. E.g., Jennifer Summerville & John C. Fischetti, How to Foil Cyberbullies, CHRON. HIGHER EDUC., June 24, 2005, available at http://chronicle.com (describing messages sent to professors by a student enrolled in online college courses).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most