School Climate & Safety

Bullied Girl’s Family Files Defamation of Character Lawsuit

By Cindy George, Houston Chronicle (MCT) — June 17, 2011 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Who sues kids for cyberbullying? A Houston lawyer does when his daughter becomes the target of a nasty video posted on Facebook, according to a lawsuit filed this week in Harris County.

Last month, three Kingwood students who attend Riverwood Middle School filmed themselves offering unkind words about a classmate, then uploaded the video to the social networking site, the civil complaint says.

The targeted child’s father, Jason Medley, provided the video to school officials, then sent cease-and-desist demands to the three girls and their parents. The letters said he would sue if the youngsters didn’t stop all communication with his daughter and if their families did not donate at least $5,000 each to the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, an Oregon nonprofit.

Receiving no response by his early June deadline, one of Medley’s colleagues filed a defamation of character lawsuit on Tuesday against the three girls, accusing them of making defamatory and false statements that “impute sexual impropriety and misconduct” on his daughter. The complaint also alleged that the video includes threats to physically harm the girl and seeks a permanent injunction to prevent the three from further contacting her.

Medley declined to be interviewed for this report. The Chronicle is not naming any of the children involved.

Riverwood officials confirmed the incident, Humble ISD spokeswoman Karen Collier said in an email.

‘A Very Novel Approach’

The recording was not done on school property and did not involve a district website. The Chronicle was unable to obtain a copy of the video, which has been removed from Facebook.

When reached by phone, the mother of one of the girls said that the three told their principal “they were sorry and didn’t mean any of it.” Another girl’s father declined to comment, and efforts to reach the parents of a third girl were unsuccessful.

Without commenting specifically about this case, Collier said that school officials who become aware of activity that could be cyberbullying—even occurrences off campus—would contact parents of the students involved to discuss the incident and an administrator would talk with each child.

“If a child was concerned about his or her safety—or if the parents were concerned—that child and those he/she were concerned about would be shadowed while at school for as long as necessary,” Collier said, adding that parents also could contact law enforcement, who can decide whether charges are appropriate.

It is unclear whether Medley reported the video to Houston police or other authorities with jurisdiction in Kingwood.

This case appears to be the first this year among about three dozen defamation of character lawsuits filed in Harris County to include children as defendants. At least three others involve information disseminated on the Web.

Nancy Willard, founder and executive director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use, thinks Medley’s lawsuit is “a very novel approach” and had no idea that the Kingwood dad suggested a sizable donation to her nonprofit as an alternative resolution.

“I think this father is trying to be a parent that the other girls do not apparently have,” said Willard, a former special education teacher and education technology consultant. “Think of the lesson he is teaching his own daughter: You do not have to put up with someone hurting you. You can calmly and strongly say ‘stop,’ and I have your back.”

Fighting Cyberbullying

Though cyberbullying is overblown as “epidemic,” Willard said, research shows that roughly 1 in 4 young people report having hurtful information sent to them or posted about them and that half of those children said they dealt with the situation fairly easily. She has fought online harassment for more than a decade for reasons that include being bullied and called “Weirdo Willard” in junior high.

“We’re never going to stop all of this, but we really have to focus on increasing the skills of teenagers in being able to respond effectively as well as increasing our skills as adults in helping them respond,” said Willard, who is also an attorney. “What you do online can cause harm. The emergence of these legal consequences is a way to say ‘Hey, wait a minute. There is a line here and you are crossing that line or have crossed that line big time and you need to be held accountable.' "

Related Tags:

Copyright (c) 2011, Houston Chronicle. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar Navigating the Rapid Pace of Education Policy Change: Your Questions, Answered
Join this free webinar to gain an understanding of key education policy developments affecting K-12 schools.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Climate & Safety Spotlight Spotlight on Enhancing School Safety and Emergency Response
This Spotlight will help you explore proactive measures and effective strategies for enhancing school safety and emergency response.
School Climate & Safety States Emphasize School Violence Prevention, Not Just Security
In the wake of school shootings in their states last year, legislators hope to avert future tragedies.
7 min read
Local residents pray during a candlelight vigil following a shooting at Perry High School, on Jan. 4, 2024, in Perry, Iowa.
Local residents pray during a candlelight vigil following a shooting at Perry High School, on Jan. 4, 2024, in Perry, Iowa. The deaths in school shootings last year have led to new legislation in a half-dozen states.
Charlie Neibergall/AP
School Climate & Safety Leader To Learn From One Leader’s Plan to Cut Chronic Absenteeism—One Student at a Time
Naomi Tolentino helps educators in Kansas City, Kan., support strong school attendance.
9 min read
Naomi Tolentino Miranda leads a meeting on student attendance at J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. Tolentino Miranda showed school administrators recent data reflecting positive progress in combating chronic absenteeism.
Naomi Tolentino leads a meeting on student attendance at J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. Tolentino showed school administrators recent data reflecting positive progress in combating chronic absenteeism.
Erin Woodiel for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Q&A What a 'Positive, Proactive Approach' to Chronic Absenteeism Looks Like
A Kansas City, Kan., leader explains how her district shifted its approach to chronic absenteeism.
6 min read
Naomi Tolentino Miranda walks into J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025 in Kansas City, Kansas. Tolentino Miranda is the Coordinator for Student Support Programs and often visits school administrative teams to check on their progress combating chronic absenteeism among their students.
Naomi Tolentino walks into J.C. Harmon High School on Jan. 16, 2025, in Kansas City, Kan. Tolentino is the coordinator for student support programs and often visits school administrative teams to check on their progress in lowering chronic absenteeism among their students.
Erin Woodiel for Education Week