Sometimes the bad guys lose

From a fellow special ed parent:

My now 16 yo daughter was cyberbullied through the creation of a fake MySpace page. The page included references to her disabilities and perceived gender status, along with other vitriolic comments. We sued parents and are in the final stages of actually getting the funds and setting up a special needs trust. So I can't share all the details, yet.

But in the meantime, here are the steps we took (please keep in mind that we live in California)

• We notified the school.
• We took my daughter to her doctor
• We notified our lawyer
• We filed a police report
• Because under California, cyberbullying is a misdemeanor
• And under California law, schools may suspend students for cyber-bullying outside of school hours
• We pulled daughter out of school and with doctor's support, placed her on home/hospital studies
• When district still hadn't provided a teacher after several weeks, we began dialog with university to locate a doctoral student with a teaching credential
• District identified and began providing teacher
• We notified local law enforcement that according to principal, a student had confessed (in writing)
• The detective we've been working with for several years now has assured us that if another incident occurs, he will make it his personal business to see that the same kid does time up at the local "ranch."
• We learned that kid who confessed had been suspended for two weeks
• Creator of the fake MySpace page was arrested and convicted
• We filed and then settled a lawsuit against multiple individuals (One kid got served in front of everyone on the first day of ninth grade)
  

The most important thing for our daughter's healing process was taking action in an appropriate fashion - you can imagine her proposed solution. It was a long process but the smile on her face when she says "Kids learned that when you mess with me, bad things happen."

Cyberbullying is a misdemeanor in California. Students can be suspended for cyberbullying outside of school hours and off school property. Juveniles can and will be convicted in California. And victims of cyberbullies can get $$$ from perpetrators.