Lessons Learned about Schools and Their Responsibility to Foster Safety Online

The Internet has provided an expansive environment that enhances many existing teaching and learning approaches while facilitating new activities that are free of traditional constraints. As a result of the potential for instantaneous interaction without regard for geographic, political, racial, social, and gendered borders, an increased amount of activity is taking place online. In school settings, the need to regulate behaviors in cyberspace and minimize potential and actual risks to children has necessitated some governance over harmful interactions. Two recent cases in the United States will illustrate the emerging struggles of school systems to ensure the safety of youth online.