Once you click Send, your e-mail message is no longer your own. You don’t control its security in someone else’s InBox, you don’t control who reads your message, and you don’t control what others think of your message.

E-mail and FERPA. School e-mail etiquette goes beyond just being prudent. It turns out that your school e-mail can be considered part of a student’s record if you mention a student’s name. In April, the Kentucky attorney general’s office concluded that e-mails about students are indeed part of the student record, protected under the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Like transcripts and absences, parents could request to see all e-mails about their child.

When you e-mail the guidance counselor about Colin’s lack of motivation in third period, the e-mail had better be strictly factual. Do not include your opinion that Colin won’t amount to anything if he doesn’t start cracking books turning in assignments.

The idea that your school e-mail is a part of a student’s record isn’t new. It’s just that now the notion is more official. FERPA’s standard has always been that any records the school maintains about a student is part of the student’s official school record. Since the school district maintains the e-mail system, keeps track of and backs up teacher e-mails, those e-mails are considered part of a student’s record.

Of course, parents can’t request to see your personal e-mail account, but it’s still not a great idea to write about your students in any way other than factual. You never know where that e-mail will end up.

Hand-written notes. The school district doesn’t maintain a record of your sticky notes or ask you to turn them in with your grade book at the end of the school year. You don’t need to worry about hand-written notes. It’s O.K. to let your substitute teacher know that she needs to pay close attention to the kids in the right-hand corner because they’re often off-task. You can add a sticky note to a test that you’re sending to the special education teacher. Those notes aren’t part of the student’s record. You don’t need to save them, but it’s still a good idea to stick to facts about a student and not offer your opinions. You never know if a scribbled note might find its way into the hands of a parent or your principal.

The take-away is no different for teachers than for students. We advise students never to write anything that they wouldn’t want their preacher, teacher, parent, coach, or boss to read. The rule holds true for us, as well.

Plus, if a parent wanted to know her kid’s grades or missing work, she could just e-mail me and I’d send a grade print-out home with Zach or Trish.

I’m on the other side of the fence now as a parent of a middle school student. I love access to online student records. Online grades and missing work, combined with homework assignments posted online with printable copies, makes my life as a parent so much easier.

I realize now that with the old e-mail-the-teacher system, parents were less likely to ask for a grade report. They don’t want to appear to be hovering around their student. They don’t want to bother the teacher. They don’t want to take the time to write the e-mail only for the student to forget the printout in her locker.

When I monitor my daughter’s grades online, I feel like I’m a participant in her education. I can pull up her progress on my laptop and we can discuss what happened with that last algebra test. We can have a talk about where the missing vocabulary assignment might be and what she should use for her nature sketch in art.

When teachers post the homework assignments weekly along with printable assignments, the system is even better. If my daughter and I find a missing assignment I can click a few more times and print out another one. If she loses the homework, forgets it, or is absent, she can finish her work and catch up to the rest of the class.

“Are you done with your homework?” has now become “Please show me your world culture project. I’ve printed the rubric, so let’s evaluate your work.”

My teen’s response is still much the same, “Mom. Mom. Mo-oooom. Trust me, it’s done.”

She’s probably right; I’m sure she’s finished the project. But with these online tools, I can have those valuable conversations that show her I care about her academic progress. The most important teachers are a student’s parents. With online student records and assignments, I can impress upon my daughter how important her school work is and reinforce classroom learning at the kitchen table.

As teachers we know that the schoolhouse gate doesn’t serve as a barrier to information from the real world. The sexual text messages and instant messages (sexting) our teens send to one another during their online evenings can create a lot of trouble during the offline school day.

But these cyberbullying events take place off school grounds. Really, should teachers get involved in this sexting mess? What can we do about sexting, anyway?

The case for intervention. In their book, Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying, Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin make the case that teachers are in the best position to help students with cyberbullying issues. Many students spend more time with their teachers than they do with their parents, the authors write. Teachers see students interact with one another every day and might pick up on unusual behavior or a subtle cue that something is wrong with a student.

Hinduja and Patchin write that adults who are aware of teen sexual harassment, but fail to respond, can be held liable for not assisting the teen, even if the event takes place off campus.

Students who circulate sexting messages or other forms of cyberbullying can’t limit their messages’ reach or timing. Teens who check their cell phones during a school break or lunch can find a surprise sexting video waiting for them in their InBox. If the video is of someone the teens know, the whole school day can be disrupted.

The important legal principal to guide teachers and other school officials, the authors write, is this: School officials cannot discipline students for off-campus speech or behavior with which they simply do not agree unless the school environment is significantly affected.

Media as sexual exploration. Teens are curious about their bodies. They’re curious about one another’s bodies, too. This generation of kids didn’t invent sexual exploration, but they have many more ways to explore and share.

That’s both a problem and a benefit of digital media, the authors of “Sex, Sexuality, Sexting, and SexEd: Adolescents and the Media” wrote. Among gay and lesbian youth, online media give the teens a safe outlet to explore their sexuality in a way that they can’t offline.

“On the Internet, GLBT youth discuss a variety of sexual identities and queer politics, as well as seek partners, navigate the coming out process, and frankly discuss sexual practices, including safer sex,” the authors wrote.

However, teens who post or send sexting messages can also give the wrong idea about sharing sexual content. The authors wrote that teens who see risky sexual behavior online with no consequences are more likely to experiment with the risky acts. Girls who send sexting photos practice self-objectification.

The biggest worry, the authors wrote, is that teens whose sexual images appear online or in text messages have an increased risk of victimization.

Health information and the Internet. Research shows that 44 percent of teens turn to the Internet for health information, and one-quarter or more of them research sexually transmitted diseases, sex, and pregnancy. One study found that 41 percent of teens who researched a health issue online changed their behavior because of the information they’d found. The Internet can be a great place to discover answers to life’s embarrassing or awkward questions.

The problem is that they’re not sophisticated Internet searchers. They judge a site not by the site’s authors, but how slick the design is. If the site looks professional, most teens think, then it’s credible.

Some teens also don’t have the vocabulary to search the Internet for credible sexual information. Instead of using anatomical names, they search with slang terms. Of course, these teens find sexually explicit sites, the “Sex, Sexuality, Sexting, and SexEd” authors wrote. Teens who are exposed to sexually explicit images are more likely to become sexually active at an earlier age than their peers.

What teachers can do. Kids are always going to be interested in their bodies. Cell phones and the Internet aren’t going away any time soon. Inappropriate photos have been around since the invention of the camera. So how can we prevent the spread of sexting messages?

• Educate students about how to assess the credibility of Web sites
• Offer teens appropriate Web sites and vocabulary in health classes
• Encourage students to visit their privacy settings on social network sites to make sure that their privacy is protected
• Review the district rules about cyberbullying with students and make sure they understand the consequences of their actions
• Invite students to come to you privately with questions or concerns about sexting or cyberbullying
• Give students guidelines about posting images online and over cellphones
• Hold parent meetings to discuss cyberbullying and sexting

MTV has a program called A Thin Line, which is trying to stop digital abuse, Amanda Paulson wrote in The Christian Science Monitor. Parry Aftab is the executive director of WiredSafety and an adviser to A Thin Line. Aftab says that teens rarely think about the consequences of their actions. They look at sexting as a safe alternative to sex.

Paulson quoted Aftab: I tell kids the five P’s. If you don’t want your parents, your principal, a predator, the police, or your potential coach, college recruiter, or boss to see it, don’t post it publicly.

References:

Brown, J., Keller, S., and Stern, S. (2009.) Sex, Sexuality, Sexting, and SexEd: Adolescents and the Media. The Prevention Researcher. 16:4, 12-16.

Hinduja, S. and Patchin, J. (2009.) Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Corwin Press.

Lenhart, A. (2009) Teens and Sexting: How and why minor teens are sending sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images via text messaging. Pew Internet & American Life Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2009/PIP_Teens_and_Sexting.pdf Accessed 2/1/10

Paulson, A. (2009.) Sexting: at least 15 percent of teens take part. Christian Science Monitor. 12/16/2009, p1.

Mom was in the next aisle. She filed a complaint against the school district.

Education attorney Tom Shorter represented the school district in this complaint. The outcome was that school district had to provide reassurance that this sort of disclosure would not happen again. As a result, the school district asks Shorter to provide annual in-service training about student records privacy, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and other school law issues.

Obviously what the two teachers did in the grocery store was not best practice. But, do you know the law well enough to prevent missteps?

Privacy law and the police. Let’s say two of your students are in a fight off campus, after school. You see your police officer neighbor in the stands at Friday’s football game. Officer Neighbor asks you if one of the kids is in special education classes.

Don’t tell the police officer that information, Shorter recommends. FERPA has some provisions that allow schools to cooperate with law enforcement, but police don’t have open and free access to pupil records.

Instead of telling your neighbor that the student is in special education, suggest that he meet with the principal. He might even be able to find the principal in the stands.

Peer-graded papers. School districts often have their own policies about students grading each others’ work. Shorter said the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the common peer-grading practice.

FERPA protects student records and grades, but Shorter said the justification for the peer grading practice is that the student papers don’t become records until they’re entered in the grade book, which is under FERPA protection. Peer grading and students passing back completed, graded work, is just fine – as long as it’s permissible under your school district’s policies.

Informal notes on a flash drive. More and more teachers are using inexpensive, portable flash drives to store lesson plans and school documents. Teachers also write notes to their substitutes and store them on the flash drives, too. It’s common for teachers to write things like: “Watch Anne for gum chewing. She sticks her gum under the desk when she thinks you aren’t looking.” or “Toby meets with the special education teacher during third block.”

What if someone swiped your flash drive? Are your notes to your substitute included under FERPA? Shorter said that even though FERPA has no explicit provisions about this kind of situation, you should make a reasonable effort to recover your flash drive. It’s good practice to notify parents whose children might be affected as well. Shorter recommends that schools have a procedure in place for these possible events.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act falls under ADA’s umbrella and follows the same definitions and standards as the ADA. So, when the ADAA took effect on January 1, 2009, it changed Section 504 as well.

Congress’s intent, according to the law (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=110_cong_bills&docid=f:s3406enr.txt.pdf ), was to restore the intent and protections of the ADA. The amendment states that Congress finds Supreme Court decisions, “narrowed the broad scope of protection intended to be afforded by the ADA.” Because of this narrowing, Congress found that lower courts were denying disabled status to people who have substantially limiting impairments.

Section 504 provides a disabled student protection against discrimination in the schools as well as in the workplace and public. It recognizes that schools need to provide all students, able-bodied and disabled, with a free, appropriate, public education (FAPE). For students who qualify as disabled, Section 504 requires schools to make reasonable accommodations.

One of the ways a person is determined to be disabled is from the limitations her major life activities like caring for herself, hearing, and speaking. New to the ADA’s list of major life activities are reading, concentrating, and thinking, which are all school-related functions.

The ADAA also added language about devices, medication, and behavior modification that the disabled can use to improve their condition. With the exception of eyeglasses and contact lenses, the amendment to the ADA says that determining the extent that impairment affects a person’s life needs to be done, “without regard to the ameliorative effects of mitigating measures.” In other words, for purposes of evaluation, look at the individual as if she were not taking medication, using a walker, or using behavior modification techniques.

Congress’ first finding was that the ADA should eliminate discrimination against disabled individuals and provide broad coverage for the disabled. The months ahead will likely bring changes for the person who administers the Section 504 plans in your school as well as for the teachers who have students with Section 504 plans in class.

But, what if a student commits a crime? What if she has an allergic reaction and goes into shock? Can the police or medical officials have access to the student records?

In case of emergency, break open the records. According to the U.S. Department of Education, if the health or safety of the student or other students is in jeopardy, school officials can allow the law enforcement or public health officials access to a student’s records without parent consent for the duration of the emergency. After the crisis is over, the records are again private.

Know what an educational record is. The key to understanding FERPA and security or health situations lies in the definition of an educational record. If the school district maintains the record, like report cards, transcripts, discipline records, and even e-mails, it’s an education record and FERPA covers it.

However, if you have a campus police officer and she maintains law enforcement records about the student, these aren’t usually part of the student record. If your campus police officer maintains security cameras in the building, these aren’t part of the education record, either.

First-hand knowledge. If you overhear students plotting a food fight and e-mail someone about it with the students’ name, that’s part of the educational record. However, if share your personal observations with the campus police officer next time you see him, that’s not part of the educational record and doesn’t fall under FERPA’s protection.

Seek assistance. In cases like these, it’s always a good idea to refer authorities to your building administrator and to visit her office yourself. The law balances student records privacy and student safety and you’ll want to make sure that the student is protected and that you’re protected, too.