Page 24 - OSCA Ethical Guidelines - 2009.pdf

Cyber Bullying
in the school. She gives you the URL and you go to the site to confirm its existence. You take this information to administration and you meet with the ridiculed student. Your next steps are to meet with teachers and student leaders and devise a school plan to address the issues of cyber bullying in your school.
b) A student discovers that a peer in her math class has created an online forum in which students are invited to vote on whether or not the student is a “tramp”. The student comes to your office before her math class saying she must drop this course. She feels guilty because she was kissing a boy at a weekend party. Since it happened on the weekend, she is convinced that the school can do nothing about this incident. You explain to the student that this incident does in fact affect her safety at school. You explain to her that this situation must be brought forward to an Administrator and offer to go with her to discuss what happened with her Vice Principal.
Unacceptable Cases
a) A student comes to your office and through conversation reveals that she has a blog site where she writes her journal. She shows you the site, and you read inappropriate comments, including threats, directed toward certain teachers and students in your school. You advise her that this is not acceptable and ask her to delete the site. You ask her to return to your office the next day to make sure that she has done this.
b) A student comes to her counsellor upset that she has discovered that photos of her, which were taken by her (now ex) boyfriend has been uploaded to his MySpace page. Then they are copied and reproduced in many more places, including photosharing sites. Her boyfriend told her that he is not responsible
for what was done with the photos after he uploaded them. Her counsellor suggests that she ignores what has happened because acting on
this situation may increase the probability of drawing more attention to the photos and she is confident this will subside.
Legally Speaking
It is a crime under
the Criminal
Code of Canada
to communicate
repeatedly with
someone if that communication causes
the individual to fear for their own safety or the safety
of others.
It is also a crime to publish a defamatory libel; that is, writing something that
is designed to insult a person or likely to injure a person’s reputation by exposing him or her to hatred, contempt, or ridicule.
The act of cyberbullying may violate the Canadian Human Rights Act, if the cyberbully spreads hate or discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status or disability.
While Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees freedom of expression, this right is guaranteed subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in
a free and democratic society and, in the case of cyber bullying, this right must be weighed against Section 7 of the Charter which guarantees the right to life, liberty and security of the person. In general, Section 2 of the Charter has not been accepted as a defence in civil or criminal bullying cases.
All employers are required to guarantee a safe work environment to their workers. This applies to teachers— school boards and administrators must act against any bullying behaviour toward their teachers—and it also applies to students. Therefore, school boards, administrators and teachers have a responsibility to guarantee a safe learning environment for their students. Even if bullying
is taking place outside the school (such as on a Web site), the school has a responsibility to act if the situation is preventing any student from enjoying a safe learning environment. Counsellors must be aware of their local school board/district policy (if one exists) regarding their responsibilities and obligations around cases involving
cyberbullying.
Duty of care: Schools have an additional responsibility to act in loco parentis,
or in the place of parents, because they have charge of children.
Therefore, their duty to prevent and act on cyber bullying
extends beyond that of employers.
Teachers and administrators must be aware of tangible and foreseeable harm that might come to students under
their care. For teachers or administrators to be held liable, the harm done must be related to
an action or omission on their part.
24 ■ OSCA Ethical Guidelines for Ontario School Counsellors 2010 • www.osca.ca