The Police and School Departments are working in conjunction in an attempt to combat this new trend. We also need to partner with parents to keep all children safe. We ask that parents and guardians keep in mind that “smartphones” have functions that can transmit data widely.
In only a matter of seconds a young student can take a picture of himself/herself or another person and quickly post it on a public website. Once a post or picture is on a social media website, it is available to anyone who wants it.
We strongly urge parents and guardians to monitor their children’s online activity and we ask that parents/guardians install parental controls on cell phones and home computers. Parents may also want to consider removing computers and smart phones at night, when much of this activity occurs. This new trend has the potential to be both emotionally and physically damaging to our students.
If you encounter this type of harassing, bullying or impersonating behavior in your home with your children, their friends, or others, we recommend that you notify the appropriate website immediately in order to have the account in question deactivated or investigated.
-To report hacked, impersonation, hate and abusive accounts on Instagram, go to help.instagram.com
-To report harassment, bullying and impersonation accounts on Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/help/
-To report abusive behavior on Twitter, go to support.twitter.com/articles/20169998-reporting-abusive-behavior
-To report abusive behavior on Vine, go to support.twitter.com/forms/vine
-To read about the dangers associated with ask.fm, go to askfmreport.blogspot.com/
Occasionally, serious threats are made on social media websites toward the schools and/or individuals. In these circumstances the police have more leverage and options. The police can file administrative subpoenas when serious threats are encountered.
However, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office will grant a subpoena only when a criminal act is being investigated. For this reason, we rely on parents to report general harassing, bullying and impersonating behavior to the websites directly.
History has taught us that this type of behavior can result in tragedies and, therefore, it should not be taken lightly. Because of the possibility of tragic consequences, any student found to be involved in and/or responsible for this type of negative behavior will receive swift discipline from his/her school when the behavior affects the educational environment of the school.
It must also be remembered that when appropriate, the Arlington police will prosecute criminally. It is vital to establish an open line of communication between parents and children in order to prevent this potentially damaging behavior.
The list of social-media websites available to our children is neverending and will continue to grow. We ask that parents and guardians become familiar with these websites in case you have not already done so. It is important to remember that “good kids” can find themselves in trouble on these dangerous websites.
We believe that through education and awareness we can avert the potential dangers associated with social media. The Arlington Police and School Departments are here to offer our full support to parents and guardians in their role in guiding and monitoring their children’s activities on the Internet. Please refer to the links located at the bottom of the page for additional parent education resources. If you have additional questions, feel free to contact your school principal or the
Arlington Police School Resource Officer. We greatly appreciate your efforts going forward.
HELPFUL LINKS TO CONSIDER
www.internetsafety101.org/Socialnetworkingstats.htm
www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/parents-media-educationl educate-parents-about-social
This viewpoint was published Friday, July 5, 2013.
