10/24/2012 05:36 PM
GREENSBORO -- Students who like to trash talk teachers online could be in for more than just a slap on the wrist. A new North Carolina law that goes into effect Dec. 1, will make it illegal for students to cyberbully their teachers.
It's the first law of its kind in the country.
"People take what's online at face value and think that, wow, this is the truth, this is the gospel, and that's the problem," Gregg Slate, Guilford County School Safety Administrator said.
It's called the School Violence Prevention Act of 2012. Any student who uses a computer with the intent to intimidate or torment a school employee could be charged with a class two misdemeanor.
But it doesn't stop there. If found guilty, they could face a $1,000 fine and possible jail time.
Sen. Stan Bingham, who co-sponsored the law, said the idea isn't to throw students behind bars, but to make them realize there are consequences for their actions.
"It could totally destroy their future, their career and their desire or interest to teach," Bingham said.
"Basically protects every employee on the school level from students creating false names or false Facebook or Twitter posts and defaming and ruining the teacher's career and bullying them," Slate said.
While school officials support this law as a bullying deterrent, the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina opposed the legislation.
"We think it will probably end up violating student's First Amendment rights or at the very least chilling their speech because they'll be afraid of the criminal sanctions," ACLU policy director Sarah Preston said.
"We know freedom of spech does not stop at the school house gate," Slate said. "But we also know that if it impacts the educational environment and it's detrimental to the success of students in that classroom, then we really need to act."
