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"The social media policy of the Lodi Unified School District is eliciting strong protests from students at Bear Creek High School in Stockton, some of whom voiced their concerns at the board meeting Tuesday night.The students represent more than 300 students who signed a petition against the district-wide policy on social media for high school students participating in extracurricular activities.\"This is important to me because it\u2019s a matter of protecting the First Amendment right to free speech,\" student Jacob Williams said. \"We are outraged the district is attempting to do what they\u2019re trying to do.\"According to the contract, the district is trying to \u201Cfoster good sportsmanship\u201D and deter the need to suspend students from games and practices.Bear Creek Principal Bill Atterberry told KCRA 3 the policy combats cyber-bullying.\"Online bullying is a problem, and we are looking to safeguard our students, because it is rampant,\" he said.Students must sign a contract if they want to join clubs or sports. Among other things, it forbids unprofessional public profiles, posting illegal activities and making threats.Zachary Denney, another student who organized protests, said he was concerned about the \u201Cvagueness of the wording, and the idea that anybody who likes, retweets, and subtweets anything can get in trouble.\u201DSome students wonder why this policy only applies to students in extracurricular activities.\"If your target is to protect all of your students, why are you just giving this contract to just your example students?\" asked student Hannah Jobrack. \"You should be giving it to all of your students, to protect all of your students.\"One parent of a student at Lodi High who got in trouble under the policy told the board she will contact the American Civil Liberties Union.\"I believe this is a witch hunt,\" Jana Van Os said. \"It\u2019s not bullying. Now, anything you say or anything you take a snapshot of what someone deems inappropriate could be punished.\"\u00A0However, board member George Neely disagreed.\"Please, rest assured it\u2019s not a witch hunt. We are trying to make an effort to curb a problem,\" he said.Though they were urged to act, board members did not make a change to the current policy, but encouraged suggestions to improve it.As it stands, if a student signs a contract and behaves inappropriately, he or she could get benched or suspended on the first offense. On the second offense, the student could get removed from the team or activity for the season."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.kcra.com/article/students-protest-social-media-policy-at-lodi-district-meeting-1/6406860>