Online Bullying by Kids-- "Cyberbullying"..........Is It Legal?

We recently were made aware that a high school minor child was going to be interviewed by the Police.
  In most cases, it is recommended that the child not blurt out anything (because after all a juvenile cannot just run off the school grounds so is not allowed to just walk away from the school..) so it is probably best that your kids be told in advance (by parents)  that they need to FIRST call a parent, say they want an attorney,  inform the principal of the school, and not make statements without the parent present. So at least then if the "police" insist on interviewing the child, more than one other adult can be present.

[We recently were notified on this issue because the police wanted to interview the child; the police officer was informed the parent wanted to be present; instead of allowing the parent to be present, the police went to his office and said he was going to file a warrant!!]  We seriously doubt that any warrant would go very far, but this is just an example of how things can spiral out of control.

The interview mentioned above, was for the alleged purpose of interrogation of the child when another person had accused child of sending out or sharing a picture of some other kid in a bathing suit, but this picture had been placed by the child wearing the bathing suit, to another to begin with.

We all realize once something goes online, there is little to no privacy. While laws involving cyberbullying are somewhat convoluted, basically there is recourse in many instances, and one can file a civil harassment or administrative claim, and file a notice with the Dept. of Education for failure to comply with some necessary steps by having them investigate the child's claim with the school.

For example at a high school in another state--- kids bullied another kid with learning disabilities and physically assaulted him. IF these same kids had taken pictures and posted them online, then what we just talked about (the reporting) could involve cyberbullying and the school involved is in even worse trouble. In fact, Federal law can be involved if racial and or other topics are involved:

Although no federal law directly addresses bullying, in some cases, bullying overlaps with discriminatory harassment when it is based on race, national origin, color, sex, age, disability, or religion. 

When bullying and harassment overlap, federally-funded schools (including colleges and universities) have an obligation to resolve the harassment. When the situation is not adequately resolved, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division may be able to help....

https://www.stopbullying.gov/get-help-now/index.html

What should a school do to resolve a harassment complaint?

• Appropriate responses will depend on the facts of each case.
• School must be an active participant in responding to harassment and should take reasonable steps when crafting remedies to minimize burdens on the targeted students.
• Possible responses include:
  • Develop, revise, and publicize:
    • Policy prohibiting harassment and discrimination
    • Grievance procedures for students to file harassment complaints
    • contact information for Title IX/Section 504/Title VI coordinators
  • Implement training for staff and administration on identifying and addressing harassment
  • Provide monitors or additional adult supervision in areas where harassment occurs
  • Determine consequences and services for harassers, including whether discipline is appropriate
  • Limit interactions between harassers and targets
  • Provide harassed student an additional opportunity to obtain a benefit that was denied (e.g., retaking a test/class).
  • Provide services to a student who was denied a benefit (e.g., academic support services).