[KHTS] – Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station deputies are looking into another digital school-bullying incident, this time at Rio Norte Junior High School, according to officials.
A student was sent a strange and threatening post online and notified his parents, who contacted Sheriff’s Station deputies.
The school resource deputy that works with Rio Norte, Deputy Romo, is looking into the incident, according to Deputy Josh Dubin of the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.
“The post and alleged threat was sent via message on a new social media platform,” Dubin said. “We’re still gathering information from the parents and children involved.”
Deputies do not believe there was any intention by one student to physically harm another, but the district and officials take all reports of cyberbullying very seriously, officials said.
Two recent arrests of Hart district students prompted a caution from school district officials about dialogue parents should have with their children about social media activity:
* Establish guidelines with your child before allowing him or her to use social media such as reviewing your child’s posts before posting.
* Ensure your child is using privacy settings
* Caution your child about the dangers of posting inappropriate or provocative information or images. Teach them that once something is posted online, it cannot be taken back.
* Encourage your children to come to you if anything on a blog site or social media makes him or her feel uncomfortable and to always let you know if there is an attempt by a stranger to contact them or engage in conversation.
Deputies, in conjunction with city of Santa Clarita officials, have put together several workshops on the subject, also.
A Hart district official said district policy and the state’s Education Code prevented school officials from discussing any action taken with respect to the Rio Norte incident.
Hart district spokeswoman Gail Pinsker said the district handles about 20-30 expulsion cases every year, and district officials are proud of the low expulsion rate among the nearly 23,000 students in the William S. Hart Union High School District.
There were 25 expulsions last year, according to Pinsker, and 35 in the 2012-13 school year. The most common cause for the 2012-13 expulsions was for “possession, use, sale or furnishing a controlled substance, alcohol, intoxicant” — with 14 incidents, according to the California Department of Education website.
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30 Comments
D Chris Young
Cry. Babies. Get off the computer if words on a screen hurt you that much.
Except that they aren’t just “words on a screen”, Jimmy. The things that are said online have the power to humiliate because other people are watching and that does hurt. No one should have to feel afraid to check Facebook or Twitter because of people degrading and threatening them. You must have no idea what it’s like to be bullied. I was bullied every day for years. It made me want to die. But even worse was seeing my child go through it. Try seeing your brilliant child who once loved school being so afraid to go that they vomit. Try seeing their spirit crushed under the weight of public embarrassment. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I can only imagine how bad it is now with the internet. At least before, she was safe when she walked through the front door and gossip could only travel so far. Now, one lie or threat can make its way around the world before a person can even defend their reputation. Words have consequences. Everyone would do better to use them wisely.
Obviously you weren’t bullied or humiliated at school by cruel people until you or your children are you have no clue
What kind of a heartless person are you?????
Jimmy – wake up!
Good. Kids need to learn that your conduct online carries consequences. Bullying is never acceptable, whether online or in person.
I am so thankful another person felt as strong as I did! I was writing a response the same time as you. Seeing your reply after I posted my comment allowed me to finally take a deep breath and let out some outrage! So Thank You!
Entitled & bored :(
Jimmy Murphy…wonder if you would feel the same if your young daughter received a threatening message? I wonder how you would react if your daughter received “words on the computer” threatening to rape and kill her? There just words, right?! I’m sure she will have the life experience at 12 and 13 years old to know nothing will probably happen. I’m sure that no one in this 12 to 13 year old age group that attends junior hs has ever committed suicide based on “just words on a computer”. I hope it never happens to your daughter. It shouldn’t happen to any young person. I hope when your daughter becomes older and these types of “words” become part of her junior high experiences, her daddy doesn’t call her a cry baby! It is your apathetic and insensitive mentality that is dangerous. Parents with your type of thinking are responsible for raising bullies and teaching their own children that their actions have no consequences. If you consider yourself a GOOD father, you should know better.
Well said!! You sound like a wonderful and supportive Mom!
Very well said!
Kimberly – your great!
Lol
Especially because you have a precious innocent young daughter, please keep in mind when things like this occur: it is a child. I’m so happy you arent a self-righteous person. I truly appreciate and respect you bringing a little humor and not blindly arguing your point!
Jen Madrid
Do kids have nothing better to do than harass each other?
Hi Jerod! I see a new baby picture, congratulations. I just wrote a post regarding this issue. I hope I am able to educate and help other parents who may not yet have children on the computer.
See what she just did there, Jerod? Now imagine if the tables were turned and your new baby, who suddenly turns 10, gets bullied because information on the internet is so easy to attain.
Wouldn’t you be outraged?
Greg Brown Kimberly Ristuccia Taufaasau of course I would be outraged, and wouldn’t tolerate that behavior. I am not there yet, but hope my son never has to deal with this. Children need to learn proper manners and boundaries which unfortunately seems to be severely lacking in today’s generation.
It’s not just kids that conduct this behavior. Many people hide behind social media profiles. How can we as parents band together to stop/prevent this? It’s detrimental to our children in so many ways.
I have 3 daughters. The oldest just started high school so she is the guinea pig in our family, we learn quite a bit from her to help us with the younger ones. Jerod Mayer, some very aweful things occur on the computer. A couple of years ago, my oldest received an anonymous message. The message stated the person was going to climb through her bedroom window then tie her dad up. Once her dad was tied up, this person was going to rape my daughter while her dad watched. My daughter was in 5th grade at the time, 10 years old. So these threats and messages children are sending to other children are not harmless. I do not keep my daughters off of social media sites. As a matter of fact, social media gives me and my husband amazing insight and information about the people at her school and at her extra curricular activities. We have all of her passwords and access to everything. Some parents and educators disagree and believe kids should be kept off of them. When I informed a vice principal about an upcoming fight with knives that was planned after school, I knew we were making the right and best decision for our family. We stopped a fight from happening that day. The vice principal was a staunch believer that kids should not b on social media until I explained our methods. I enjoyed persuading an educator to change her stubborn mind! Lol! I am not stating this is the right and only way to manage children and social media. However, this works for our family and gives me a little peace of mind in this chaotic ever-changing world!
I am blown away by the message you said your daughter received and am very happy to hear that you are doing something about it. Did anything happen to the child that made the threat? Definitely shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Glad I left and graduated that place in 2007, now it is in my past! :) Nile (7th) and Tigris (8th).
Rio Norte is a horrible school!
Welcome to the pussification of America
Kids aren’t suppose to have a Facebook or social media site until there 18 anyway it’s in the terms and conditions
IT’S VERY EASY TO BE DISMISSIVE TO ONLINE CYBER-BULLYING, WHEN YOU REDUCE IT TO SIMPLE WORDS. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES THE INTERNET IS JUST THE WAY TO BULLY THE PERSON WHEN THE PERPETRATOR CAN’T REACH THE VICTIM IN PERSON. CYBER BULLYING HAS LED TO ASSAULTS ON VICTIMS AS WELL. THE EMOTION HARM CAUSED BY CYBER BULLYING CAN BE LONGLASTING AND SHOULD BE ADDRESSED IMMEDIATELY.
Awesome town should put this in there ad and include how we have a growing heroin problem
What I would like to know is where are these kids getting this “mindset” to even think of all these mean things? Do their grades suffer? Spending all this time creating drama and just plain terror? Where are the parents? Why are the parents not teaching these kids from day one right or wrong? Allowing this to go on. You cannot tell me that the parents are clueless 100%. A good parent would know something was “up” with their own child if they would pay attention. My heart goes out to any child who has been bullied, humiliated and have been to the point they won’t go to school out of fear. This should not be! I blame the parents of these little bully monsters!!!!!
I would like to believe that parents of kids doing this type are working round the clock because it is the only way to put food on the table and roof over their heads. But I know this is not the case most of the time. Every school in SCV hosts meetings about these issues! And you also have many parents who respond to this type of thing like we saw above! That is why it will only get worse! Disturbing and sad!