Senator Cunningham on "Facebook Law"

Senator Jane Cunningham was interviewed by ICAA Radio on Tuesday September 6th to answer questions from members of the community.

Many of the questions were submitted to ICAA prior to the interview from regular listeners and other members of the community. 

The Amy Hestir Student Protection Act was created to protect students and teachers, said Senator Cunningham.

The Senator gave examples of prior problems with students and teachers' having private, secret communications and some of the fallout from those activities.

Senator Cunningham said that the original Act, which was to take place at the end of August, did not prevent students and teachers from becoming "friends" on Facebook or other social networks, but that the law was aimed at preventing any problems with parental or other supervisory oversight regarding inappropriate  private communications.

The Senator also reported that the law was a bipartisan effort through the whole process, noting that the bill had the support of teachers' groups and school districts.

Cunningham said she was surprised at the reaction of the teachers' union, and that some of the people expressing strong opposition did not understand the law, and the law needed more clarification.

Senator Cunningham said she was revising the language to make it more clear and understandable, and as of the time of the interview, the new legislation was to be known as SB1 (Senate Bill 1).

Questions were also asked about oversight and enforcement.  Anyone who is interested in the bill or has questions about the bill, should read it. If you need help, or have questions, reach out to your local public officials. 

People can listen to the archived interview here.

People can look up legislation here.

Other aspects of the bill that were discussed include mandatory background checks on bus drivers, School Board candidates and other school workers, communication provisions for workers in schools who transfer to other districts or schools, allowing records and communication accessibility.

Senator Cunningham also mentioned a so called  "pass the trash" practice reportedly used throughout public school systems as part of the inspiration for this bill.

ICAA received hundreds of e-mails and messages about this interview, mostly positive. Supporters of the law and opponents generally felt a lot of their questions were answered and they were looking forward to seeing the new revisions.