Indiana House Bill Chills Students’ Rights
Indiana has a bill moving through the legislature that will give schools more rights to discipline cyberbullies. Many are objecting to the bill on the good old argument of free speech impediment. While I have my own personal feelings on the bill and those who both argue for and against, the position of this company is rock solid: why wait for the government to tell you ‘you have to watch what your kids say and do online’? Do it on your own! Use PC Pandora monitoring software to fid out if your child is bullying others online. It’s your job as a parent to make sure your child is not a part of the problem. If you aren’t doing it purely for the because-it’s-the-right-thing-to-do-ethically reason, do it for the your-child-may-soon-be-held-accountable-for-anything-and-everything-they-do-and-say-online reason…
February 17, 2012
House bill chills students’ rights
Editorial from the Journal-Gazette
House Bill 1169 has been presented as a student discipline bill and is dressed up as a safeguard against cyberbullying. But in reality, it is a chilling and unprecedented attempt to give Indiana school officials unlimited authority over student behavior outside school.
If it is not defeated, it demands an overhaul before it emerges as law.
The bill looks like a technical correction – striking out a single word defining the grounds for expelling or suspending a student for behavior on or off school grounds.
But the word is “unlawful,” and its removal allows school officials to punish students not just for criminal or delinquent acts but virtually any lawful activities they interpret as harmful to their schools. Read more ›