69传媒

State lawmakers and school district officials are again wrestling with questions about schools鈥� authority to access and monitor students鈥� social-media accounts.

But their attempts to proactively address such issues as cyberbullying and student safety have been more likely to result in controversy and complaints than any clear resolution.

Take, for example, the Triad Community 69传媒, located in southwestern Illinois. In response to the recent passage of two state laws, schools in the 3,700-student district sent home a letter last month stating that 鈥測our child may be asked to provide his or her password for [social media] accounts in certain circumstances.鈥� The letter provoked an uproar among some parents.

鈥淭here are 50 states and 50 ways to screw [this issue] up,鈥� said Luke J. Stedrak, an assistant professor of education at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J. 鈥淭here is no consensus, and the inconsistencies create problems for practitioners.鈥�

In the past two years, similar controversies have erupted around the country. In Minnesota, a student won a $70,000 settlement in March of last year from the 1,100-student Minnewaska Area school district after being forced to give school officials access to her Facebook account; in California, the 29,800-student Lodi Unified district came under harsh criticism for a policy that allowed school athletic coaches to suspend athletes for inappropriate postings made via social media; and in Alabama, the 23,000-student Huntsville City schools came under scrutiny following reports that it paid a security firm to monitor students鈥� public social-media posts.

Sonja H. Trainor, the director of the Council of School Attorneys for the Alexandria, Va.-based National School Boards Association, said schools should be wary of stepping onto a slippery legal slope.

鈥淭his is generally not an authority that school districts want to have, or that school attorneys would advise them to use very often at all,鈥� Ms. Trainor said.

Administrator Action

The recent controversy in the Triad Community district had its roots in Illinois鈥� Right to Privacy in the School Setting Act, which became law in January 2014.

The statute requires K-12 schools to notify students and parents that schools have 鈥渢he right to request or require a student to provide a password or other related account information鈥� in order to access a student鈥檚 social-media account鈥攊f the school has 鈥渞easonable cause鈥� to believe such an account 鈥渃ontains evidence that the student has violated a school disciplinary rule or policy.鈥�

A subsequent law required schools to outline a procedure for investigating reported incidents of cyberbullying to determine if the school environment was being disrupted鈥攚hether or not the alleged incidents occurred on school grounds or via school-owned digital devices.

Problems such as online threats 鈥渃ertainly do affect our school day,鈥� said Leigh A. Lewis, the superintendent for the Triad district. 鈥淜ids are on social media, and there are times when administrators have to get involved.鈥�

Historically, Ms. Lewis said, students have voluntarily shared problematic online and social-media material with school administrators. Now, though, those officials also have the authority to demand passwords. It was important鈥攁nd legally required鈥攖o let parents know of that change, the superintendent said.

But Bradley S. Shear, a social-media and digital-privacy lawyer based in Bethesda, Md., is among those who believe parents in the district had a right to be upset.

鈥淚 think the way the Illinois law is written raises some serious constitutional issues,鈥� Mr. Shear said.

Demanding personal passwords could violate students鈥� free-speech rights under the First Amendment, as well as their Fourth Amendment protection from unlawful searches and seizures, he argued.

Mr. Shear also raised the notion of the 鈥渟lippery slope,鈥� asking what might happen, for example, if a school found evidence of illegal activity by a student鈥檚 family member while searching the student鈥檚 social-media account.

鈥淲here do you draw the line?鈥� he said.

Legislative Movement

Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Rhode Island, and Utah have recently passed legislation related to a school鈥檚 right to access students鈥� social-media accounts. Generally, those statutes have sought to limit or prohibit requests for student passwords by educational institutions, although the details of those laws vary considerably, and many contain significant exceptions and exemptions.

鈥淚 think [the issue] is definitely gaining traction,鈥� said Mr. Stedrak, the Seton Hall professor. 鈥淏ut you鈥檙e not going to see consistency across the nation.鈥�

States have also been active in crafting laws to address similar questions regarding employers鈥� authority to demand access to their employees鈥� social-media accounts and passwords, as well as the rights of colleges and universities to request such information from prospective students.

The question of K-12 schools鈥� rights and responsibilities when monitoring students鈥� social-media accounts, meanwhile, has received comparatively little legislative attention.

That could change, though, in the event of more publicity around related incidents, such as that surrounding the Huntsville, Ala., school district last fall.

In November, AL.com reported that the city school system had paid a security firm $157,190 to 鈥渙versee security improvements, including the investigation of social-media activity of public school students.鈥�

According to that report, the investigation led to the expulsion of 14 students, 12 of whom were African-American. Because just 40 percent of the district鈥檚 students are black, some local officials and activists questioned whether black children were being disproportionately targeted and disparately impacted by the social-media-monitoring policy.

Related concerns were raised during the 2013-14 school year in California, where the 25,400-student Glendale Unified school district came under criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union and others for paying a third-party vendor to monitor students鈥� social-media accounts. The company鈥檚 tactics included searching public posts for signs of everything from suicidal expressions to evidence of substance abuse to harassing comments and use of obscenities, according to the Los Angeles Times.

In September, California Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat, signed into a law a statute placing limits on such practices, including parental notification requirements and prohibition on the use of collected information for unintended purposes.

For school lawyers, the concerns extend beyond just possible infringements on students鈥� privacy and constitutional rights, said Ms. Trainor of the Council of School Attorneys.

鈥淥nce you get into the business of monitoring, then you鈥檙e potentially taking on liability for the things you might see,鈥� she said.

鈥淎ny policy around student social media needs to be very, very cautious.鈥�