How to Investigate a Vague Report of Facebook Bullying at Your School

The following anonymous report of Facebook Bullying was reported yesterday on the Bullystoppers.com Website for Hogan Middle School. It was posted as it met all the criteria for a report to be posted on the site: School Name and Address:   Hogan Middle, Kansas City, MO 64132

USA State or Country:    Missouri

Date of Report: 11/29/15

Grade of student (who is bullying) NO NAMES: 6th or 7th

What is happening? (be specific!) NO NAMES:    She Is Being Humiliated All Over Facebook And People Are Saying They Are Going To Come To Her House And Fight Her.

Where and when it is happening? (be specific!):    On Facebook Since no names are allowed, you may wonder how school staff can proceed to investigate this report to:  1. Discover if there is truth to it; and 2. Intervene to stop the abuse. Here are my suggestions having done this dozens of times: 1. If school staff has access to Facebook, complete some searches on students in your school to review any public Facebook pages that may contain evidence of the abuse. 2. If school staff does not have access to or use a Facebook account to investigate such matters, staff should randomly select students whom they feel may want to provide information to staff to help stop the abuse of a peer. Such students exists at every school. Find them and always maintain their confidentiality. You just want the information, not their names. 3. If school staff is able to obtain credible evidence of the abuse and discover the identity of the victim, the victim should immediately be interviewed to collect facts regarding the abuse, assure effective and immediate staff intervention, and insure the student's safety. 4. If credible evidence exists, staff should interview the students responsible for the abuse, have them delete any abusive Facebook posts if applicable, and impose appropriate consequences and a firm warning for any thoughts of retribution. Parents should be called and informed. 5. If credible evidence does not exist but staff has reasonable suspicion regarding the identity of the abusers, these students should be interviewed individually and put on notice that if they are involved in the abuse it needs to stop as staff will be engaged in ongoing monitoring and surveillance. I should note that in NJ, school law permits schools to consequence students for bullying occurring over the internet 24-7. This may sound over the top to some, however, I have found that if staff invests the time (and it can be time consuming!) students begin to curb internet harassment.