HIT nasty e-mail pt.4

[lsh <lsh@MONTANA.COM>]

Hi Julie--I wish I had an answer to your problem--your situation
resonated with me a bit as to needing to be an "expert" when we have
just been thrown into this area.  Hope you can find some support.  Is
there any way that the administration can use this as a hint that more
tech support is needed--either through training you more or hiring
someone else, even part time?
What do the other kids think about all this?  Is there any peer pressure
that can come into play?
Good luck!



i, Julie.
    I, like you, was thrown into this technology bit (may I add, kicking
and screaming just a little?).  I am also rigid.  Our policy is a
district AUP, but we teach the kids based upon three words in that
agreement....ethical, efficient and legal.  Legal covers no threats, no
"bad" language or pictures, follow copyright.  Essentially, if it would
be a legal issue if sent thru the regular mail or said, then it is
illegal on our system.  Ethical covers good social behavior.  Obviously,
sending nasty email is not good social behavior.  I tell the kids that i
am a "hanging judge" and explain what that means.  Then I tell them that
if all I did was "give warnings" the first time, many would try doing
things which are against the AUP at least once for each offense.  We
take licenses away permanently (yup, as in for the whole time they are
here--2 yrs) for as little as not being on task (2 kids were into Fox 13
instead of doing research on whales) because that falls under efficient.
 The administration backs me completely, so there is not really a "court
of appeal" for these kids.  We have had the 2 "goats" and the word got
around that we meant business...so no other offenders.

I am afraid that this kid would have lost internet access at school,
second, if it fell under legal, legal action would have been taken.
As for dealing with him later, it would be nothing different than any
other kid for he would have already been punished enough.  The kids know
that I don't hold grudges...once it is over, it is over and we just go
on from there.

I don't know if this answers your question exactly or not, but we do
think that teaching the AUP and sticking by it with immediate,
long-standing consequences does make a difference.\



Children repond differently to situations based upon their needs.  You need to
find out what he need is. Power, attention, etc.  If it is power you may be
able to put him in charge of keeping the equipment up and running, trouble
shooting , teaching other kids.  If it is attention, heart to heart talks may
help you locate what kind he wants.  You may have to give a little of yourself
to reach him.  I have actually told children how much their success and what
they do matters personally to me and how they are letting me down.  It you can
reach them on a personal level you may be able to change them.
 Good luck


sh,
        First of all you will always find some student that thinks he knows
more than you.  Don't let it bother you.  If the student has broken AUP
policy than knock him off your network for a time.  If it continues knock
him/her off permanently.  The nasty note is not only breaking AUP but also
sexual harassment



Just a bit of experiential advice. I hope your school has some kind of
tech. committee. If it doesn't I strongly suggest you get one set up.
Include supt., principals, teachers, tech coordinators, librarians and
people from the community and students if you can. Start with admin. and
teachers first if you must. Then set up a tech. policy to deal with
situations like the one you are currenlty experiencing. That way you aren't
responsible for all computer-related decisions and you will not be the sole
target of malicious students.

Things can get rough. In one of the systems in which I worked, a student
wiped the entire hard drive of one of the high school library computers,
the circ. deck computer, which effectively had the librarian scrambling to
reconstruct records. She had a back-up, but it was a bit out of date.
Viruses can be input on purpose. In a nearby school district (Gilbert,
Iowa), a student sent several death threats to the President (yes, of the
United States) and the school lost their free internet service, which was
being provided by a local university. They also had some interesting visits
from the FBI and the secret service.

I know of at least three other nearby school districts that no longer allow
students to use any email at school (Perry, Jefferson and Ogden, Iowa). Too
many students were sending teachers and other students nasty email.

We have a good technology committee at our school, a hard-working tech
coordinator who looks at lots of student email, especially when it's
obvious there is a problem, and vigilant teachers. Our AUP is enforced
stringently and several students have lost email and internet privileges
entirely.

The problem with this student is that if he continues to have email
privileges, he will assume that what he has done is not serious. And it is.
Very serious. I hope that your administration will back you and remove this
young man from the computers at your school unless supervised directly by a
teacher (NOT you).

Good luck with your dilemma. Hope that you can work this out, as the
internet and email work so well for us all when they are used properly.



No, but as a former assistant principal in charge of discipline, I am not
unfamiliar with the problem of harrassment.  My advice is to arrange for
a satisfactory consequence and be done with the matter.  Don't look for
an apology--that makes things worse and can envite a more secret
retribution that you might not  trace.

Personally I don't recommend that the two of you meet over this matter.
unless the student initiates the meeting without coaching.
You are likely to get vacant looks or slight sneers that will almost seem
contemptuous.
The risk is that you will then flare up and provide satisfaction (he has
succeeded
in getting under your skin, and then will be encouraged to try again).

The best thing your administrator could do is handle the problem and
report to you, staying away from anything like a public apology which
will almost certainly be insincere.   If he is a computer guru with an ego
he has already been humiliated.

Looking at this matter philosophically, if you are a teacher doing your
job in a secondary school, probably 2 or 3 students will actively
dislike you on a given day.  That is par for the course, the only thing that
is important is that the student only acts on this problem in an acceptable
way.

I'm rambling.  Hope a part of this helps.


THANKS TO ALL FOR THE SUPPORT
***************************************
Julie Radtke, Librarian
Loyola Sacred Heart High School
320 Edith
Missoula, MT 59801
FAX 405-542-1432
lsh@montana.com
***************************************