Opinion: Students need schooling over TikTok targeting
Legislation to limit students’ use of cellphones in public schools is working its way through the state Capitol.
It has already cleared the Senate and moved to the House of Representatives, and if passed, would award grants to schools to buy lockable bags in which students would place their cellphones in at the beginning of the school day, and pick them up on the way out.
The rationale behind the measure ties mobile devices to academic performance, mental health, bullying and other behavioral issues.
State Sen. Ryan Aument, R-36, who sponsored the proposal, pointed to a deep decline in mental health in children and a decline in academic performance.
It’s a step in the right direction to help our children and grandchildren.
And it comes at an opportune time, especially in light of a concerning situation in a southeast Pennsylvania school district that got national attention in a New York Times story over the weekend.
The story centered on a TikTok attack waged in February by middle school students against their teachers — the first of its kind in the nation.
Seventh and eighth graders in Malvern’s Great Valley Middle School posted information about 20 or so teachers who later found they were victimized by fake teacher accounts that featured pedophilia innuendo, racism, homophobia and fictional sexual encounters among teachers.
Hundreds of students viewed, followed or offered some comment on the fake posts.
The incident is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation and takes how students look at their teachers to a new level.
It used to be teachers were singled out by students of junior high age. Now, with a few keystrokes, the junior high mentality can disparage swaths of their educators.
And this group got away with it pretty much unscathed.
As the situation unfolded, the local school district suspended several students. The principal, according to the Times account, chastised the eighth-grade class for its behavior during a lunch period.
The school principal sent an email to the parents of those eighth-graders, urging them to “engage your child in a conversation about the responsible use of social media and encourage them to report any instances of online impersonation or cyberbullying.”
In effect, it was the equivalent of a few days off and a good talking to after these kids defamed adults paid with tax dollars their parents supply.
School officials said taking further action might be construed as a violation of the students’ right to free speech.
Granted, the Supreme Court has ruled that schools can regulate students’ actions while school is in session. Off-campus, however, that doesn’t always apply.
A 2021 ruling in a case involving Mahanoy Area School District, Justice Steven Breyer said the court hesitates “to determine precisely which of many school-related off-campus activities belong on” any list of exceptions to free speech.
At the time, a spokesman for the National School Boards Association contended the court left open the issue of regulating certain off-campus speech when it may harm the school setting or when it is harassment or attacking teachers.
At a press conference Monday, a Malvern school official said the social media posts continue, as new accounts with new targets are created. He reaffirmed district support for the school’s teaching staff and its efforts to hold students accountable.
What about the affected teachers and their families?
It’s no wonder why so many are leaving the profession and so few are filling the vacancies.
The commonwealth is already deep into a shortage of public school educators — to the point of offering $10,000 stipends to cover some of the costs of student teaching.
Lawmakers’ indecision on funding schools handcuffs local districts’ abilities to recruit and retain competent professionals.
The last thing any teachers need is a bunch of kids libeling or defaming them on social media.
It might be an opportunity to have the judicial branch of our government take a look.
Could the parents of these children be held responsible?
It might be an opportunity to bring the affected teachers some level of justice and protect future educators from similar situations.
It might be a good time to show students there’s a difference between free speech and defamation and to have them deal with real consequences.
And it might be a good time to teach students a life lesson they’ll never forget.
ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com
Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.
The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.