Ontario Proposes School Cyber-Bullying Law

nursegirl writes "Ontario announced today a proposal to change their education act to add both physical bullying and cyber-bullying to the list of behaviors that can get a student suspended or expelled. Posting comments, pictures, or videos attacking other students or teachers outside of school hours will carry the risk of school punishment, if the incident is believed to have an 'impact on school climate.'"

Comments

Re:Good on them.

[BillyBlaze]

Yes. Clearly that would be morally wrong, but it's not illegal unless the ex signed an NDA (breach of contract) or the person in question wasn't provably gay (libel, and the truth defense would fail). There's no law against being an asshole or telling secrets, and that's probably for the best.

Re:Good on them.

[fractoid]

Now along comes the Internet, and Oh Crap! Jonny Football Hero can't physically bully Nedrick the Nerd anymore, or he's going to have himself photoshopped into a very compromising position and plastered on the bathroom walls. Actually, I believe the problem is that now Jonny Football Hero can not only beat the crap outta Nedrick the Nerd, but that in the unlikely event that school staff interfere, can simply do so outside of school and record the whole incident on his phone. Then he forwards the video to everyone in the class, prints posters of Ned's head being flushed, and generally makes sure that Ned never EVER forgets not to do Jonny's homework. Never underestimate the ability of vindictive children to adopt new technology, it's on par with that of the Ministry of Defense.

Re:Good on them.

[Twylite]

Now you see, that's called "assault", and it's a crime no matter what the age or location. Capturing and distributing it means you are making evidence against yourself widely available (read: stupid), so that the cops can enforce the law against "assault". No need for special laws involving bullying.