February 8, 2010
Judge Tom
1

28 middle school students suspended for cyberbullying

A web page on Facebook that was up for no more than 24 hours resulted in the suspension of 28 students at McClure Middle School in Seattle, Washington. The suspensions were from two to eight days depending on the involvement of the students.

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Someone created a Facebook page targeting a classmate he or she didn’t like. It asked others to sign up if they agreed. McClure has an anti-bullying program and a zero-tolerance policy for bullying.

Although the cyberbullying in this case happened off school grounds, the School District maintains that it has a responsibility to take action when an incident creates significant distruption at school. This is the test established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Tinker vs Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969). Although a forty year old decison, Tinker continues to be the landmark case cited in freedom of expression cases in state and federal courts across the country.

Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

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