The digital age has introduced powerful tools to harass K-12 teachers online. Harassment can take many forms, but this blog will focus on recording (or leaking) teachers’ personal information and creating fake accounts on social media to impersonate teachers. This blog also includes links to mental health resources for teachers who are feeling cognitively overwhelmed.

Teachers are in a precarious position at the forefront of shaping the future of our society. Teachers earn degrees and attend regular training sessions to stay up to date with the latest educational theories and methods. Their coursework is based on a balance between social concerns and evolving educational standards. Because of the importance of their role, teachers are often subject to intense scrutiny. From the policy of allowing parents to serve as police officers. What books are allowed in the library To the teachers Being labeled as a “trimmer” When it comes to reproductive health lesson plans, parental and public control over classroom content is looming in the post-pandemic education era. By 2022, teachers will be underpaid and overworked; Tired from the pandemic. Teachers are now the target of harassment from groups like Moms for Liberty and social media accounts like Libs of TikTok.

This interference and disagreement in the educational process poses problems for teacher safety, especially when the teacher’s physical safety and sanctity of mental state are at risk. In some states, Laws aimed at combating bullyingHowever, bullying and harassment can take many forms. Each of the forms of harassment in this blog involves a violation of privacy, typically the weaponization of personally identifiable information (PII) without the teacher’s consent in a manner intended to cause physical or emotional distress. It’s the shape. When incidents of teacher harassment occur, there are often no clear legal recourses, school district policies, or guidance on how to avoid the harm caused. Harassment can be a clear violation of a website’s terms of service or school policy, and the student may lose privileges as a result of the behavior, but fake accounts and retaliation are difficult to rekindle. there is no.

Teachers enter the profession with a desire to make a positive contribution to their communities. Their motivation lies in raising children and instilling them with knowledge and the values ​​of proper development. This education often includes respect for what the teacher thinks is best. This can occur with controversial issues such as sexual and reproductive health education, LGBTQIA rights, critical race theory, and anti-racist policy. Furthermore, when parental pressure goes against the parents’ professional judgment, cognitive dissonance occurs and creates stress for teachers in an already stressful role. In some cases, pressure can become harassment.

Harassment by sending documents

Savvy online actors post both private and public information about teachers involved in such controversial issues. These stakeholders range from students, parents, faculty and staff to individuals outside the school. Doxxing is the online publication of sensitive personal information, including home address, email, phone number, social security number, photo, etc., in order to harass, threaten, extort, stalk, or steal the target’s identity. . Online Harassment Field Manual.

Some of this information is publicly available and held by the government, and because teachers are public servants, it can be accessed through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Educator privacy issues prompted Colorado’s passage Senate Bill 22-171 This year, educators will be added to a protected class of government employees who can withhold information from the internet if public access to that information “poses an immediate and serious threat” to the educator or their immediate family. .

The bill was introduced after protests in Colorado in support of former Douglas County School District Superintendent Corey Wise, where students and teachers walked out to protest his firing. It was done. After the protest, the 1,500 teachers who took part found leaflets on their cars saying: “Get out.” After requests were made to record the names of all teachers who were absent from school on the day of the protests. This is an example of weaponizing publicly available PII to target, harass, intimidate, and invade teachers’ privacy.

One form of information leakage is student records teacher without their permission. Although this issue is sometimes addressed in school acceptable use policies, some states do not address teacher recordings or laws passed consider it legal. Personal information disclosure generally involves disclosing personal information in a public forum. The case involving the Connecticut schools involved death threats against Hartford Superintendent Leslie Torres Rodriguez. The harassment extended to: Post her previous home address Many times. The combination of death threats and disclosure of one’s residence creates a feeling that one is never safe. This is cruel punishment for the crime of creating a comfortable and safe place to study for young students.

The solution to protecting yourself from doxxing is complex. There are principles to minimize your online footprint, and there are security measures you can take to prevent hacking. Some resources including: Google’s personal information deletion service, Digital trust and safety partnership, EFF Surveillance Self-Defense Project,and Online Harassment Field Manual Contains guides to protect yourself online. The latter guide includes a comprehensive field manual on reducing the amount of information currently available about yourself and the steps to take if an identity breach has already occurred. These steps include reporting doxxing incidents to the platform, assessing the level of risk to safety, and contacting local law enforcement if the level of risk is high.

Harassment due to impersonation

The relatively anonymous nature of the Internet also allows malicious actors to harass teachers by impersonating them, creating fake social media accounts, and posting content that casts them in a negative light. It becomes possible. These fake social media accounts impersonate schoolpost Gossip targeting teachersor impersonate a teacher. As shown in this diagram created by students: YouTube videothis situation can arise harmlessly from students who have free time. However, impersonation accounts can take on a more sinister vibe if the account contains sexually explicit content or other derogatory content, such as: This situation in Connecticut. These common situations violate the False Light Privacy Tort, which is a civil offense and is a criminal offense in many states. What may seem like a harmless prank to a student can jeopardize a teacher’s job or social standing.

There are several routes to remediating social media impersonation situations, including schools, the social media service itself, and law enforcement. Once the account is documented and reported to the school, it is up to the school administrator to decide what discipline is best. Disciplining by schools is often difficult because the bad actors behind social media accounts are largely unknown or not easily identified. Students can cover their tracks by using VPNs, software such as Tor that allows anonymous browsing, or other means. The school will need to conduct an investigation to identify the account creator and may require police involvement to succeed, especially if the school needs access to the home internet provider’s logs. there is. The next best option is to contact the social media service and submit a form through their help center. Instagram, facebook, TikTokand Twitter Everyone receives this service.

The third option is to contact law enforcement. When the bad guy is a student, it’s scary to subject that student to the legal system. However, there are some cases that may provide insight into what claims teachers may have and what avenues of redress they may pursue. Two cases in the Third Circuit reached different conclusions in the same year due to different facts. In these similar cases dealing with disciplinary action in response to a fake Myspace profile created for the purpose of harassing a teacher, one resulted in the following disciplinary action: considered a violation Students’ First Amendment Rights, and Other Rights found the opposite result. Case law may provide guidance on legal avenues for taking appropriate disciplinary action against students while avoiding First Amendment and due process violations. Teachers may find it helpful to discuss these cases with their attorney or school district as they learn about their options for resolution. Check out the following cases to learn more about students’ First Amendment rights, schools’ legal rights, and social media platforms’ responsibilities. Mahanoy Regional School District, Kaczynski, Caraccioli vs. Facebook Inc.and dehen vs doe.

Practical tips for teachers

There are several best practice guides online for dealing with impersonated accounts. These include: InternetMatters.org and hacking blog jessie saurus rex. Some guides recommend documenting relevant information. Teachers need to be more careful when harassment deals with explicit details of minors that should not be documented. This documentation can be dangerous for both the minor involved and the teacher’s documentation, as was the case in . Loudoun County, Virginia.

Addressing incidents of harassment may require notification to the school, social media platform, or contacting law enforcement. There are also steps teachers can take before such incidents occur. Teachers should consider Evaluate your privacy settings Among all social media sites, choose the one that protects your privacy the most. Teachers can also Set up Google alerts Allow them to receive an email every time their name is mentioned on the web.

Unfortunately, there will always be malicious people who are technologically savvy and have too much time on their hands. Some of these people may be students who do not fully understand the extent to which they are causing harm, and others may be angry students who intend the very harm that many teachers encounter. It may be an adult. If you are a teacher experiencing online harassment and are struggling with your mental health, please see the resources below. teach.com for help. If you are in crisis, please contact the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or in an emergency, dial 911.

Download online safety tips for education professionals.