NJ Courier-Post 5-4-05
            Cyberbullying knows no boundaries.
	Lisa Grzyboski

            Online cruelty may happen off school property via home computers 
            and cell phones, but that hasn't prevented it from infiltrating 
            schools and disrupting the educational environment. 

            In fact, a January study by the MindOH! Foundation, a 
            Houston-based company that helps kids who are having problems in 
            school, found nearly 80 percent of the 5,500 children it surveyed 
            had either read or spread gossip online. 
            Also, more than half surveyed said they had seen their peers made 
            fun of on Web sites.

            The potential for harm is why the Washington Township school 
            district has a policy in effect against cyberbullying, defined as 
            the sending or posting of harmful text or images using the Internet 
            or other communications devices. 
            In a March letter to students' parents and guardians, the school 
            district warned that disciplinary action would be taken when 
            cyberbullying and other forms of victimization disrupt school life.
            The decision to attack cyberbullying head-on was made in response 
            to parent, teacher and administrator concerns, said Superintendent 
            Thomas Flemming. 
            Such intimidation hasn't become a huge problem for the district's 
            10 schools, but officials want to confront it before it does, he 
            said.
                      "Teachers and administrators have to spend time defusing the 
            issue instead of teaching students," Flemming said.

            An informal survey of tri-county schools reveals that, unlike 
            Washington Township, most have not addressed cyberbullying as a 
            specific issue.

            State law requires school districts to have a policy to address 
            bullying, harassment and intimidation. Also, many districts have 
            policies specifying what is acceptable use of school computers. 
            However, most haven't directly addressed cyberbullying or the 
            protocol to deal with it when it happens off school property but 
            affects in-school learning.

            Several school districts said that because present policies 
            prohibit all types of bullying, it would be redundant to create a 
            new rule or expand an old one to deal with cyberbullying.
            "I think that our policies would be valid for whatever type of 
            bullying occurs," said Geraldine Carroll, superintendent of the 
            Lindenwold school district.
            Said Joseph DelRossi, superintendent of Medford schools: "Any 
            form of bullying, whether it be through the computer, whether it's 
            verbal or through the phone or camera phone, it won't be tolerated. 
            It's not as if it's not covered at this time."
            Furthermore, several school superintendents said they didn't 
            think cyberbullying was a major problem in their districts.
            "It has never been brought up by parents, teachers or students at 
            school board meetings or otherwise," said Winslow Superintendent 
            Lawrence A. Hobdell, who noted he hadn't given the topic much 
            thought until a reporter contacted him. 
            "We have not had that as a major issue," said Pat Milich, 
            spokeswoman for Lenape Regional High School District in Burlington 
            County. "From the time students are freshmen, bullying is one issue 
            that is so strongly stressed that there is zero tolerance."
            Lenape Regional, however, intends to send assistant principals 
            from each of its five high schools to a May 17 cyberbullying 
            workshop being hosted by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney 
            General, Milich said.
            "We are aware that it could become a problem," she said.

            In Washington Township, teachers Nick Bozza and Steven Whalen are 
            pleased with how their district is handling the cyberbullying issue.
            "Cyberbullying has taken on a whole new twist in the last four or 
            five years, especially with instant messaging," said Bozza, a 
            fifth-grade teacher.
            "It's a concern that's not going to go away," said Whalen, a high 
            school technology teacher. "It has definitely influenced the school 
            and how the students conduct their day." 

                        Reach Lisa Grzyboski at (856) 251-3345 or
          lgrzyboski@courierpostonline.com