positive relationship with the press and keep them updated. Having an effective web pres- ence can also be a very effective tool.


What is your legal recourse? While slanderous, libelous and down-


right inaccurate information has been around for decades, this type of defamation has a much longer shelf life on the Internet than it does in a tabloid or on the evening edition of “Extra.” The good news is that the Communication Decency Act of 1996 was intended to combat indecent communica- tion, with Section 230 of the Act specifically addressing online issues. The California Education Code requires


school districts to provide a safe school en- vironment. However, school districts have limited legal resources to protect admin- istrators and staff from unwelcome and/or inappropriate comments posted about them online. If such comments present an immi- nent threat of harm, law enforcement should be contacted immediately and the host site should be contacted with a demand to have the inappropriate comments removed from the website or social networking site. Additionally, a school district can seek


a workplace violence temporary restrain- ing order on behalf of the administrator or staff member being victimized. If a parent is posting the threatening speech, a school district can ban the parent from coming on campus for a certain number of days. If the offensive comments are posted by a teacher in the district, it may be one of the enumer- ated grounds for teacher discipline. On the other hand, if a school district


creates an open online forum, a school dis- trict runs the risk of suppressing speech in violation of the First Amendment by remov- ing a post. Also, laws prohibiting bullying and cyber bullying are limited to harassing conduct directed at pupils, not administra- tors or staff. In fact, there is no specific law prohibiting bullying in the workplace.


What you can do about online attacks So, what can you do if you are an admin-


istrator who is being subjected to online attacks? Most options require the victim to initiate the legal action. Those actions include but are not limited to an action for


civil harassment, a restraining order, an injunction, an action for libel and slander, and/or an action asserting violation of pri- vacy rights. However, such actions may re- quire the administrators or teachers being victimized to spend money out of their own pocket for legal fees to protect themselves. Fortunately, the threat of legal action


in the form of a cease-and-desist letter can be a sufficient and cost-efficient method to prevent continued online harassment. Ulti- mately, a combination of efforts between the school district and the victim is typically the most effective means to deter the continued online misconduct. In a perfect world, we could prevent this


conduct before it is posted online. We have found that the most effective tool to prevent online harassment is to educate the school community, including parents, on respon- sible use of technology through enhanced acceptable use of technology and code of conduct policies, professional development, and an effective safe school campaign.


Reflect, then move on You are not alone and you can and will


survive. The proliferation of blogs and un- limited communication venues is cultivat- ing greater media savvy: people are gaining perspective as to what has real value and what is worth reading and believing. If you get negatively blogged, get the es-


sence, reflect on your practices, the move on: you have more decisions to make. Don’t get caught in paralysis by analysis, and focus on the rest of the important work that you need to do for the students who show up in our classrooms every day. And when all else fails, head to a classroom, read with first-graders, watch a science lesson from a great middle school teacher, and maintain your focus. n


Lisa Gonzales is ACSA’s vice president for legisla- tive action and is superintendent in the Portola


Valley School District. Charles Young is an associ- ate superintendent in the Palo Alto Unified School District. Both explored the topic of blogs in


summer 2013 in their Leading Edge Certification for Administrators. Gretchen Shipley is a partner


with Fagan, Friedman & Fulfrost, LLC and serves as co-chair of the firm’s eMatters Practice Group.


Responding to the negative: The corporate perspective


E


ducators aren’t alone in being vul- nerable to online attacks. Here is how corporate communications experts advise companies and individuals to re- spond to nega- tive blog posts:


n Take a deep breath. While your


first instinct may be to respond imme- diately, keep calm and think carefully about your next steps. n Choose your battles. It may not


be necessary to respond. The last thing you want to do is get involved in a back-and-forth tirade with some- one who is angry and irrational. This person may not want a resolution, so it would be best to stay quiet. n If you are going to respond,


move forward quickly after you’ve taken that deep breath. While a quick response may seem defensive, any- thing older than a day will lose rel- evance. Begin with an acknowledge- ment (“I appreciate your concern…”) and direct the commenter offline so you can attempt to resolve the issue privately (‘I’d love to discuss this with you…”). n When possible, ask a colleague


to review your response before you post it. Be sure to keep the response short and pay attention to your tone; PR-type responses will be poorly re- ceived. You may also want to offer factual information to support your case if the original posting contained factual errors. n Understand that you can’t make


everyone happy all the time, and no- body is perfect. Keep in mind all of the positive things that are also being said about you. Learn from the experi- ence, and then move on. Source: Ragan.com; Corporate Ex-


ecutive Board. January/February 2014 15


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40