Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated which agency Sarah Theriot works with. She works with the Louisiana Center for Safe Schools, which is under GOHSEP.
As students return to school, the Lafayette Parish School System is asking families to have conversations with their students about what they post online, particularly about making threats and cyberbullying.
A letter sent to families reminding them that “inappropriate social media posts, threats or disruptive statements” will result in disciplinary action prompted an online discussion about when students’ posts are monitored by the district.
But the letter was meant to encourage families to have talk with their students, reminding them to be mindful of what they post, not to imply the district polices students’ personal accounts, said LPSS spokesperson Tracy Wirtz.
“Safety is our top priority,” she said. “We respond accordingly if a concerning post is brought to our attention.”
“Have a meaningful conversation with your student about social media behavior and safety,” she added.
What does LPSS monitor?
The district doesn’t monitor a student’s private social media accounts, Wirtz said. If a concerning post is brought to a teacher, administrator or the district’s attention, school officials will investigate the matter to determine what needs to happen next.
Most things a student posts on their personal account won’t get them in trouble with the district, Wirz said. For example, the district wouldn’t discipline a student for posting curse words on their Instagram.
The district does step in, and a student could face disciplinary issues, if they make a threat about a school, teacher school official or another student, even if that threat is made on a personal social account or an online gaming account.
The district does monitor what students post on district-issued laptops, using Gaggle, an online safety management system that creates alerts when students use certain phrases or words on those laptops.
Mindful posting for students goes beyond being aware of making threats. Students also should be mindful of cyberbullying, sharing intimate, lewd or nude photos of themselves or others, and sharing personal information.
“Digital threats are one of the biggest problems that we face today,” said Sarah Theriot, the training program coordinator for the Acadiana region with the Louisiana Center for Safe Schools, which is under the state's emergency preparedness office.
“Anything you put out there (on the Internet),” she added,” whether it’s nudity, whether it’s a threat, whether it’s a picture of your family, it’s always there. It’s never going away.”
What are the laws about students’ social posts?
What students post online can have real-world consequences that involve law enforcement.
Students can be charged with terrorizing, which can include a $15,000 fine or jail time if convicted, if they make a post or a threat, even if it was said as a joke, sent as a private message or posted long before it’s brought to the school’s attention.
Those posts can include threatening to harm another student, teacher, administrator or faculty member, or making a claim of violence that causes a serious disruption to the school day, school activity or transportation.
Each threat has to be investigated and evaluated, Theriot said. It’s “not a short process” and takes a lot of time away from classroom learning.
Students also should be aware that instigating a fight through online chatter or sharing videos of an on-campus fight can also get them in trouble after LPSS updated its behavior policy in 2024.
When it comes to intimate, lewd and nude photos and videos, students should be mindful of what's included in the image. Minors also can face child pornography charges for creating, distributing or possessing nude photos if they or those in the images are under 18.
What discussions should families be having and how?
Families should be having candid and age-appropriate conversations that include concrete and real examples with their students about online safety, Theriot said. That includes monitoring what students are posting, who they’re talking with and what sites they’re visiting.
“Just have conversations with them, but don’t fuss,” she said. “It’s about educating them and empowering them because you can’t always be there as an adult. You should be filling their toolbox with enough tools to keep themselves safe.”
Families will have to make their own decisions about what boundaries to set to help keep students safe. Some of those decisions can include not allowing students to take their phones in their bedrooms at bedtime and what level of privacy a student should have when it comes to their digital relationships and accounts.
Students who feel supported and understood and home and school are more likely to be honest about their concerns and avoid risky behaviors, Theriot said. She recommended that families think about what reassurances they would have needed as a child to trust the adults in their life and replicate those circumstances for the students in their life.
Students need to be able to identify the trusted adults in their life who they feel comfortable around. Those relationships will hopefully make it easier for a student to talk to someone when they’re having a mental health crisis, notice someone else having a crisis or see a suspicious post.
In cases where students don’t have a trusted adult or are anxious to talk with that person, Safe Schools Louisiana has an anonymous reporting system that allows students to share their concerns. That can be anything from a threatening post to worries about a friend’s housing situation.
“It’s a way to report a concern that will get somebody the help that they need” and not a way to get others in trouble, Theriot said.
For information about what conversations to have with students, websites families should be wary of or other tools for encouraging online safety, families can visit the Louisiana Center for Safe Schools, Safe Schools Louisiana, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and StopBullying.gov online.