Cyberbullying Covered In Updated School Policy

Solon Schools has updated its bullying policy to help stamp out electronic bullying and harrassment.

Solon Superintendent Joe Regano said bullying is not a straight forward issue, because such harrassment also extends into the now-ubiquitous social media and text messages.

The new policy gives the school district the ability to discipline students for cyberbullying. The policy also gives the school district more reach to handle bullying cases that occur on school buses or at school-sanctioned events such as field trips or athletic contests.

The primary goal of the policy is stamp out all forms of bullying, from physical aggression to text-message-based harassment.

"It's the responsibility of the district to make sure students are treated with dignity and respect and that these kinds of issues don’t happen," Regano said. "The idea is to involve the school as soon as possible. If you do that, the school can get the adults into the room to give us a plan to solve the behavior."

The new policy means Solon Schools will conform early to a new law that aims to fight cyberbullying signed by Gov. John Kasich in February. Schools are required to adopt policies that conform with the law by next year, Regano said.

Board President Margo Morrow said technology is changing the way we live very rapidly, and school policies need to keep up.

"Now everyone is connected, and the speed at which our lives move today, it’s all changed from when we were in school," she said.