How dissed superintendent handled it

It looks like students and a lot of adults in Saline, Michigan, have had some healthy debate this week about online vs. offline behavior and free speech. After high school students “used harsh language to ridicule Saline Area Schools Superintendent Beverley Geltner,” the Ann Arbor News reports, the superintendent met individually with the students and their parents, then held a meeting last night of about 100 students and parents to discuss the students’ postings. Nobody was suspended, Ms. Geltner said, but she held meetings “to address the ‘limited understanding’ that parents and young people have about the dangers of Internet postings,” the News reports in a separate article. At least one student learned that what he posted in Facebook wasn’t necessarily going to be seen only by the group. Geltner reportedly was both criticized and supported for the way she handled the incident, but if something was learned about behavior and repercussions on the social Web, and maybe a little about ethics and free speech, I think she handled it as well as possible. Note what a Philadelphia dean of students Mark Franek wrote in Educational Leadership: “Behaviors in cyberspace (yes, words are deeds) are downloadable, printable, and sometimes punishable by law. Students need to hear this message, starting in upper elementary school” (archived in Franek’s blog).