Things To Consider When Creating Your
Cyberbullying, Acceptable Use, Cell Phone and Other Digital Device School
Policies
Too often
school administrators take someone else’s written policy off a shelf, dust it
off and change the names to protect the innocent, hoping it will suffice. But
rarely does that work. It’s backwards, causing you to adopt choices made by
others in dissimilar circumstances.
The process
for policy creation has several important steps that have to be taken in that
order. A written policy should only be written after the policy itself has been
determined. It evidences the final decisions reached about the rules and
procedures that apply.
First you
need to identify a problem or goal for the policy. Perhaps the state or federal
government or department of education are requiring that cell phone or digital
device policies be adopted and enforced. The goal is then to design a policy
that complies with the law or rule and meets the needs of your school or
district. Start by listing the legal requirements and other goals you have
already identified. Then do your research. Pull up model agreements and those
used by others with similar goals. List the issues covered in those agreements
for review by your policy team. Gather a group of stakeholders and review the
needs and issues from their perspectives as well. Then write up a list of
desired terms. Also list the things others have raised that should be
considered and problems identified. These things, combined, comprise your
policy “terms sheet.”
Take your
terms sheet and share it with counsel (if they haven’t yet been involved in the
process), any policy advisors at the district level, state level or federal
level at the respective departments of education, risk managers and insurance
providers/agencies and, last but not least, the technology and network managers
at your school and district levels. Get their thoughts and suggestions. (An
email group, wiki or list serv can be effective during this process.)
Then, with
your terms sheet in hand and all improvements thereto, look at the model
agreements and see how others have articulated the terms sheet issues in their
written policy. Feel free to mix and match from various models, as long as the
terms are internally consistent. Look for specific language that covers your
terms from other kinds of agreements, if you can’t locate a specific digital
device agreement provision. Have your legal counsel review it once again.
Run it by
your parents and by your students. Make sure they understand it and the goals
behind the policy. Listen to their suggestions. Create an explanation for the
policy. Why was it prepared? Why do you want both parents and students to sign
the policy? What happens if they refuse to sign it or want changes made before
they do? Get their buy-in and be available for questions. The more time and
effort you devote to getting both parents and students on board the more
successful it will be. Consider having students do a video about the issue and
the terms of the policy. Have your parent-teacher organization write a letter
to other parents about the importance of the policy. Publish it, along with
FAQs, on your website, or send an announcement home with the students.
When the
policy addresses digital devices or online services, you should start by
defining the different kinds of devices and services. Have students and your
technology professionals constantly update the list and defined devices both
specifically and broadly by type. Use the 3Cs analysis (included in the
StopCyberbullying Toolkit) to determine whether a device contains
communications, content or commercialization/cost risks. Ask students in
elementary school to test the devices and teach parents, their classmates and
school administrators about how they work and how they can be abused to
cyberbully someone. Tweens in particular are especially helpful with gaming
devices and most mobile devices. If the school has a laptop program, make sure
that those policies include cyberbullying and harassment, as well as the more
basic policies.
