Indiana school moves to shut down fake Twitter posts
Indiana school moves to shut down fake Twitter posts
INDIANAPOLIS — Students at an Indianapolis high school could face suspension or expulsion after school officials say they pretended to be their principal and two coaches and posted offensive messages on Twitter.
Internet experts say the problem at Lawrence North highlights why parents should play a strong role in guiding their children’s online activities, The Indianapolis Star reported.
The phony tweets that appeared Tuesday contained sexually and racially charged insults and appeared to be from the school’s principal, football coach and basketball coach. Officials managed to get the three Twitter feeds shut down by Thursday night.
Principal Brett Crousore declined Friday to say how many students are thought to be involved in the impersonations. Several students were offended by the tweets and reported them to school officials, he said.
“It tells me how great kids are today,” Crousore said.
Other central Indiana school districts have faced similar problems. Center Grove Schools Superintendent Richard Arkanoff said students in his district just south of Indianapolis have created fake Twitter or Facebook accounts impersonating teachers, and officials are working on a policy to deal with the problem.
“It’s more about contacting the company and having them shut down as quickly as possible,” Arkanoff said. “We try not to spend a lot of time investigating who created them.”
A Lawrence Township Schools spokeswoman said officials are handling the fake posts as a disciplinary issue and don’t plan to involve police.
“At this point, we’re seeing it as a school disciplinary issue,” spokeswoman Sharon Smith said.
Penalties could range from in-school suspension to “suspension pending expulsion,” she said.
But one expert said current law may make it difficult for schools to control online posts made by students off-campus.
Legal precedent makes it hard for schools to discipline students for online postings made off school property and after school hours, said Dan Claassen, a former police officer and program director for a Fishers-based nonprofit called My CyberGuardian.com.
Claassen said the best solutions come from parents. He advised parents to talk regularly with their children about topics such as online etiquette, cyberbullying and staying safe from Internet predators. “True prevention happens through what’s going on in the home,” he said “Parents need to know how their children are behaving online.”