This article highlights a dark side of the Web, where blogs, FaceBook, YouTube, and MySpace, among others, makes it easy for people to be cruel. It is becoming common for students to post cruel, slanderous, and/or profane online content about their teachers. And it is not just teachers that are are the object of this cruelty. Students are "cyberbullying" other students, and even some warped adults are posting cruel comments about students that are somehow competing with their own children.
We have failed to teach our kids, dare I say, manners, and the ease of use of this new technology combined with that lack of manners, has led to the notion that it is okay to post whatever one feels like, regardless of the affect on the person to which the content is directed.
In the article, it is noted that some teachers are responding with civil lawsuits, and some schools are suspending or expelling students for their actions. Parents that are not paying attention to their children's online activities may find themselves paying legal fees and/or expensive financial settlements to the victims.