Over the past week, school districts
throughout San Diego County, including San Diego Unified, have been addressing
a troublesome social media phone app that many students are downloading and
using called Burnbook. This app allows “anonymous” posts associated with high
schools and universities throughout the county. Unfortunately, the purpose of
this app is to post negative information, to post critiques of fellow students and
mean things about people.
While
students may think their posts are completely anonymous, with Wi-Fi use and
cell towers, posts can be traced back to the phone and/or computer that posted
the comments. It is important for students to know that all posts on any
platform of social media never disappear and are never fully anonymous. This
includes personal information, photos and any form of threat.
When
students post threatening or any other types of inappropriate messages
(pornographic content, harassment, bullying, etc.) they can and will be charged
by the school and/or local law enforcement. There have been several arrests of
juveniles this past week as a result of threatening posts on Burnbook.
Threats
are not jokes. They are considered a felony, a crime that may be punishable by
imprisonment. In addition to criminal punishment, students who make threats
will be referred for expulsion from school. The sharing of pornography
involving minors and harassment are also punishable under the law.
We are encouraging all students to delete the app and
continue to focus their energies on increasing their positive anti-bullying
activities. Our
anti-bullying policy expressly prohibits bullying, harassment, or intimidation
of any kind. We encourage students to report bullying via our anonymous Students Speaking Out line at 888-580-8477
in keeping with our safe schools program.
Parents are encouraged to review with their child our district’s Student Internet Acceptable Use policy, which
outlines the access provided to students within our schools, along with
students’ responsibilities for acceptable and prohibited uses. We hope parents will take this opportunity to discuss online
social media with their students. We also recommend that parents periodically
review the content on their student’s phone, including apps and photos.
The San Diego Unified
School District partners with the San Diego Police Department and the San Diego
Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to help students and families
monitor and manage social media. For resources
to assist you in talking to your child about safe online behavior, please visit
http://www.smartcyberchoices.org/ or http://studentsspeakingout.org/students.html to learn more.
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