States Move to Protect Teachers from Cyberbullying
By Helen Yoshida
In December 2012, the first and only law in the nation that criminalizes cyberbullying of teachers by students went into effect in North Carolina. Under the “School Violence Prevention Act of 2012,” students are prohibited from intimidating or tormenting school employees online. Specific offenses often include building a fake profile or website, posting real or “doctored” images of school employees, or posting employees’ personal, private, or sexual information on the Internet – attacks that can ruin careers and even lives.North Carolina English teacher Chip Douglas recently shared his story with National Public Radio about how his high school students laughed when they asked him offbeat questions in class. He later discovered one of his students created a Twitter account under his name, portraying him as a “drug addict,” a “violent person,” and “supersexual.” Though Douglas decided not to press charges he did leave the profession. Unfortunately, Douglas is not alone.
According to the 2010 National Survey of Violence Against Teachers, developed by a special task force o
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