Dignity For All Students Act : a quantitative study of one upstate New York public school implementation

This quantitative study uses a survey to determine how public school teachers perceive the efficacy of the intervention of the Dignity For All Student’s Act on the climate of civility in the classroom at one specific public middle school located in Upstate New York. The intent is to explore the perceived efficacy of the intervention put into place in 2012 to address cyberharassment and to cultivate civility in the classroom. A total of 47 teachers participated in this study. This study provides background on the prevalence of cyberharassment in schools. The results show that the cyberharassment behaviors of sexting, stalking, bullying, spreading rumors, and sending embarassing pictures have occurred with some frequency over the 2017-2018 school year. Sexting was the most witnessed by teachers (38.3 percent) with 36.2 percent indicating a frequency of once a year. The sending of pictures to embarrass was observed by 23.4 percent of the teachers, 12.8 percent observed the frequency of once a month. The spreading sexual rumors was observed by 34.0 percent of the teachers with a frequency of 27.7 percent stating it occurs once a week. The findings further suggest an inconsistency among teachers in addressing online behavior with their students. Some teachers (38 percent) indicated they discuss appropriate online behavior with their students “as needed,” while 29 percent indicate they never do. Additionally, 55.3 percent view the Dignity For All Students Act as having an average effect on cultivating civility as a part of the school’s culture. Additionally, 78.7 percent of the respondents believe DASA has had little impact on cyberharassment incidents.