A Georgia appellate court has ruled that parents may be held liable for what their children post on social media accounts. During the year-long debacle, a school became involved—but by following the school’s policies, the principal kept her school’s community out of the lawsuit, mentioned only as a byline.
According to court documents, 13-year-old Dustin decided to “have some fun at a classmate’s expense” by creating a fake Facebook profile for Alex. A friend of his, Melissa, created a new email address posing as the unfortunate student, enabling Dustin to create the new account. They sent out friend requests to mutual classmates, ensuring that the profile would be seen by everyone within their social circle.
Dustin and Melissa then populated the profile and its statuses with false information about the student’s sexual orientation, drug use, and racist viewpoints—going so far as to modify Alex’s picture with an application to present her as obese. The “Alex” Facebook persona also posted on connections’ status updates and comments with equally offensive material.
When Alex’s parents discovered who was behind the profile, they approached the school for help removing the false account and punishing those responsible. The princioal called both Dustin and Melissa into her office, where she gave them in-school suspension for harassment and had them sign written statements concerning the events.
She also sent home the following information on a “Middle School Administrative Referral Form” to Dustin’s parents, to explain why he was being punished:
Description of Infraction: [The student] created a false Facebook page in another student’s name, pretended to be that person, and electronically distributed false, profane, and ethnically offensive information.
Dustin’s parents discussed the incident and further punished him with a week’s grounding after signing acknowledgment of receipt of the referral form. However, they did nothing to examine the fake Facebook page—published and run on their family’s computer and Internet connection—or take action to remove the false information. In fact, the page was still active for 11 months after the school’s involvement, right up until Alex’s family sued Dustin’s for libel.
In light of the overall case and Alex’s parents’ dual appeal against a judgment for a summary hearing, the Georgia Court of Appeals has partially reversed an earlier decision, contending that “a jury could find that [Dustin’s parents’] negligence proximately caused some part of the injury Alex sustained from Dustin’s actions (and inactions).”
Dustin’s parents originally argued that they had no evidence that their parental supervision wasn’t adequate prior to this event, and so they couldn’t be held liable for Dustin’s actions in creating the account. However, the Court of Appeals determined that after the school principal had sent home information to the contrary, they may have failed in their parental duty of “reasonable supervision.”
What’s interesting for us as readers on the sideline is that the principal has not been named as a defendant in the lawsuit, or similarly accused of lack of responsibility. Instead of sweeping a delicate situation under the rug, she addressed the problem, created paperwork to show the school’s actions regarding the situation, and attempted to resolve the issue insofar as she could within the boundaries of the school environment. Because she took these actions, the school stands free of any charges—and the parents were alerted to a situation before it turned worse.
With any luck, instances of cyberbullying will be discovered at home and handled completely without any intervention on your part. Still, this lawsuit is a good opportunity to remember the importance of following school policies regarding “paper trails” of documentation and to treat every report of harassment as the serious offense it is. Training of faculty, updating old rules to address modern mediums of harassment, and ensuring everyone's acceptance and compliance with school protocols will ensure that your community stays out of private (and potentially damning) matters.
Additional ISM resources:
ISM Monthly Update for Risk Managers Vol. 4 No. 4 Wisconsin Case Dismissed: Private School Not to Blame
Private School News Vol. 9 No. 1 California Parents Are Required to STEP Up
Private School News Vol. 13 No. 2 Bullying: Address the Problem, Attack the Cause
Additional ISM resources for Gold Consortium members:
I&P Vol. 26 No. 6 Sexual Orientation, Harassment, and Victimization: Establish a Safe Environment
