HEADLINES
School Bus Incidents Going ‘Viral’ an Unintended Consequence of Social Networking
By Ryan Gray L
ori Brucia’s son has seen violence on his school bus become a growing problem over the past school year. Te Hun- tington Station, N.Y., mother said her son has witnessed
firsthand numerous bullying incidents and out-right fights on his way to and from school. He documented one such case in May via his cell phone video camera and brought it home. Brucia, in turn, brought it to the attention of school administrators. “We’ve complained a few times during the year, but nothing was
ever done,” she said. “I figured by sending the video to everyone in the district they would have no choice but to do something.” Huntington Public Schools responded by calling a school as-
sembly the following Monday to discuss bullying and posting videos of fights on social networking sites. A letter home to par- ents detailed the incident and reinforced “the importance of not only proper behavior on a bus, but also the importance of taking an active role if [students] witness something that is not right.” Te bully was also suspended for the rest of the school year. A spokesman from the school district declined to respond to requests from School Transportation News for comment. But
Brucia added that the mother of the girl who was beaten on the bus has since filed a lawsuit against the school district and the bus company, Huntington Coach. A company representative said he could not comment because of the lawsuit. “Te situation has gotten a bit out of hand,” said Brucia. “In-
stead of just suing for money (the mother) should be trying to get the problem resolved so it doesn’t happen again. “By the way, what exactly do you do?” Student transporters and policymakers are asking the same
question. Across the state, social media guidelines were drafted re- cently to address usage by school staff and students alike because, “in this digital era, the lines between professional endeavors are sometimes blurred,” writes the New York City Department of Edu- cation. However, the guidelines do not address student-to-student behavior, which instead is contained in the department’s Bill of Student Rights and Responsibilities, or how students are to use so- cial networking while at school. FirstGroup America spokesperson Maureen Richmond said First Student operations across the country have seen students
Banding Together for Social Networking Policies for School Districts Tese national organizations joined the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) in publishing “Making Progress:
Rethinking State and School District Policies Concerning Mobile Technologies and Social Media” •
• • • • • • •
American Association of School Administrators American Association of School Librarians Common Sense Media
Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop National Association of Elementary School Principals National Association of Secondary School Principals National Association of State Boards of Education National Council of Teachers of English
• • • • •
National Education Association National Writing Project
Partnership for 21st Century Skills Student Press Law Center
National School Boards Association’s Technology Leadership Network
Read the full report at
www.stnonline.com/go/885.
34 School Transportation News Magazine July 2012
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