SRO Cyberbullying & Digital Safety 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student victim of cyberbullying begins skipping school and shows signs of depression. The SRO's MOST appropriate referral should be to:
- The school's disciplinary committee only
- The school counselor or mental health professional (Correct answer)
- The local juvenile detention center
- The school's social media committee
Correct answer: The school counselor or mental health professional
Behavioral and emotional changes in cyberbullying victims require mental health support from a counselor or mental health professional.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of 'outing' as a form of cyberbullying?
- Repeatedly sending unwanted friend requests
- Publicly sharing someone's private secrets or personal information online without consent (Correct answer)
- Excluding a student from an online group chat
- Sending a virus to a classmate's computer
Correct answer: Publicly sharing someone's private secrets or personal information online without consent
Outing involves publicly disclosing someone's private information—such as sexual orientation or personal struggles—without their consent.
Question 3: When a cyberbullying incident also constitutes a criminal act such as criminal harassment or stalking, the SRO should:
- Handle it solely through school discipline
- Refer the matter only to the school counselor
- Initiate a formal law enforcement investigation in addition to school processes (Correct answer)
- Ignore it if both parties are minors
Correct answer: Initiate a formal law enforcement investigation in addition to school processes
Criminal conduct requires a formal law enforcement response regardless of whether school disciplinary action is also taken.
Question 4: Which best practice helps students recognize phishing attempts targeting their school accounts?
- Only open emails from people already in their contact list
- Look for urgent language, misspelled sender addresses, and suspicious links before clicking (Correct answer)
- Use the same password for all school platforms for convenience
- Share login credentials only with trusted classmates
Correct answer: Look for urgent language, misspelled sender addresses, and suspicious links before clicking
Phishing emails commonly use urgency, spoofed sender addresses, and deceptive links — recognizing these signs helps students avoid compromise.
Question 5: A student's private photo is shared without consent across multiple platforms by classmates. Under many state laws, this behavior may be prosecuted as:
- Defamation per se
- Non-consensual pornography (revenge porn) (Correct answer)
- Simple trespass
- Academic dishonesty
Correct answer: Non-consensual pornography (revenge porn)
Non-consensual sharing of intimate images is criminalized under 'revenge porn' or non-consensual pornography statutes in most U.S. states.
Question 6: An SRO conducting a cyberbullying awareness presentation should explain that anonymous online posts:
- Are fully protected and can never be traced
- Can often be identified through IP addresses, platform metadata, and legal subpoenas (Correct answer)
- Are only traceable if the victim reports within 24 hours
- Cannot be used as evidence in school disciplinary proceedings
Correct answer: Can often be identified through IP addresses, platform metadata, and legal subpoenas
Digital anonymity is rarely absolute; IP addresses and platform data can be obtained through legal process to identify perpetrators.
Question 7: Which federal law protects students from harassment based on protected characteristics such as race, sex, or disability in school environments, including online conduct that creates a hostile educational environment?
- COPPA
- Title IX and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (Correct answer)
- CIPA (Children's Internet Protection Act)
- ECPA (Electronic Communications Privacy Act)
Correct answer: Title IX and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act
Title IX covers sex-based harassment and Title VI covers race/national origin harassment — both apply when online conduct creates a hostile school environment.
SRO Cyberbullying & Digital Safety 3
A student victim of cyberbullying begins skipping school and shows signs of depression.
The SRO's MOST appropriate referral should be to: