Bullying and inappropriate communication are issues in and out of school.  While technology gives us greater access to educational resources, it also provides opportunity for troubling behavior.  Eventually, you or one of your students will receive a message, an image, a text, or some other communication that is offensive.  It might not even be intended for you.

So, what can you do when that SnapChat message arrives and you have only seconds before it disappears?  Take a screen capture so you have evidence with which you can report it.  Same thing with Facebook postings, instant messages- most any visual form of inappropriate or abusive communication that arrives on your device can be captured.

On an iOS device (iPad, iPhone, etc.) just hold down the Sleep button, and click the Home button.  This generates a picture of the screen, which is then saved in the Photos app.  You can retrieve the picture by looking at your Photos, and then present it to the appropriate person for reporting.  Please note that if you are taking a screen capture of SnapChat in particular, you also need to keep your thumb or finger on the SnapChat screen, or the message will disappear before you can capture it.  A little tricky, perhaps, but still a good solution for stopping inappropriate communications.


We can’t always stop inappropriate or abusive communications from reaching our students (or any of us) but everyone can take steps to document the behavior and then address it through parents or school officials.