KROS NEWS

(Clinton) -- Clinton School officials find those responsible for Facebook page they called an example of cyber-bullying

Clinton School officials and parents are trying to get Facebook to ‘take down’ a page they say is an example of cyber-bullying.

The page is critical of some students at Washington Middle School. Clinton Superintendent Deb Olson says she became aware of the page with a couple of emails from parents she received this morning about the page. She says the staff was alerted to the situation and began working immediately to get the page down and find out who is involved.

Olson said the more people who ask Facebook to take the page down the quicker it may happen. She says you have to petition Facebook to take the page down. Our goal is to get it down as soon as possible because the comments were ‘hurtful’ to many people.

The Superintendent adds that they will use this as learning tool to teach students about the type of animosity that can grow out of this. There will also be consequences for those who started the page according to Olson.

The Clinton School Superintendent said the school does not have control of what students do outside of school hours. but Olson said she was pleased that there were many people who contacted school leaders about the page. She said she appreciated the number of people who are looking out for the kids.

Washington Middle School principal Brian Kenney stated that Through the collaborative effort of parents, students, staff and the Clinton Police Department, the WMS administration and SRO correctly identified the persons responsible for yesterday’s Facebook postings that made many inappropriate comments about WMS students. Kenney said a special thank you goes to Officer Shane Haskell who investigated the incident, interviewed those involved and received an admission. Haskell was efficient and timely. The W-M-S-principal said they appreciate his quick response so that we can bring this issue to quick closure. As a measure to hopefully prevent further instances, WMS will use this experience as a teachable moment to engage students and staff in conversations regarding bullying. It is critical that we get student feedback so that we can problem solve in a collaborative effort to work to bring this type of activity to a stop.

Olson said the students will be given consequences based on the student conduct policy.

A review of the page indicates it was established Wednesday morning.

Written 10/11/2012 by Dave Vickers - KROS News

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