Cyberbullying Presentation

Cyberbullying: A Lawyer’s View Richard B. Schwamm, Esq. Senior Partner, Haliczer Pettis & Schwamm, P.A. Offices: Orlando and Fort Lauderdale

My experience 

Personal

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Professional

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Child injury litigation

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Child Advocacy issues Children’s Safety Village  Safe Kids, Inc. Worldwide 

Historical Perspective 

Schoolyard bullying

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Post-Columbine age of zero tolerance

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Current trend of technology used by very young children

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Impact – academic, socially, emotionally

Statistics 67% of children in nursery school use computers  80% of kindergartners use them with almost ½ accessing the internet  Grades 4-8 research shows 60% of students have been cyberbullied; BUT, 50% of the children did NOT tell their parents or another adult 

Examples Hope Witsell – 13 years old – suicide following sexting/nude photos sent to classmates  Megan Meier – 13 years old – suicide following My Space Hoax (“friend’s” mom creates phone page about Megan)  Amanda Collette – 16 years old – texting used to warn of her murder of another student on campus  Jeffrey Johnson – suicide changed Fl. law 

Cyberbulling – “The Law” 

What does it mean?

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Criminal v. Civil laws

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How does Florida rank in the country, in terms of it laws to protect our children from cyberbullying?

Types of Cyberbullying 

Text messages

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Internet usage

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School-related conduct/emails

Why are there “Electronic Bullies?”

Anonymous  Uninhibited conduct from a distance  Increased likelihood for deviant behavior  Availability of temporary emails, fake names and webpages/Facebook pages  Lack of supervision (offenders AND victims) 

Florida’s Anti-Bullying Law Florida Statute 784.048 (eff. April 30, 2008)  Criminal statute only  Prohibits bullying/harassment in public schools, grades K-12  Each school must adopt a policy  Defines “bullying” – teasing, threats, intimidation, stalking, physical violence, harassment  Using the school’s email network, even from home, to bully or harass 