HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2005-02-09, Page 3News
Susan Hundertmark photo
Principal for the day
Spencer Gibb, a Grade 5 student at Seaforth Public School, got to fill the principal's chair after winning a contest at his
school that raised $550 for Jesse's Journey, principal Kim Black's charity of choice this year. In his official principal
role, Spencer hoped to extend recess that day and declare a no homework day.
Avon Maitland school board, OPP
working to battle abuse of Internet
By Stew Slater
Special to the Expositor
Two teenaged girls "lured"
to a Stratford motel by a 36 -
year -old male using an
internes chat room; an angry
ex-boyfriend charged with
filling an internet website
with formerly private
"webcam" photos of his
former high school
sweetheart; and news reports
from a nearby municipality
about a teenage suicide
prompted, in part, by online
bullying.
These incidents represent
the most troubling and fear -
inspiring cases on a
continuum of offences being
addressed by a new program
presented jointly by the Avon
Maitland District School
Board, the Stratford Police,
and Ontario Provincial Police
(OPP) detachments in Huron
and Perth Counties.
"It does happen locally. It's
not just big cities that get this
kind of thing and it's our job
to get the word out," said
Sebringville-based OPP
officer Glen Childerley,
during a presentation to Avon
Maitland trustees Tuesday,
Jan. 25.
Under the program,
schools receive visits from a
police officer and Avon
Maitland IT (Internet
technology) coordinator
Jacquie Vercruysen, for a
presentation about internet
safety, online bullying, and
the ways in which computer
activity can
be accurately
retraced by
investigators.
Vercruysen
has also
created two
sets of
resource
materials --
one for
students and
one for
parents and
teachers --
which are
available on the board's
website at
www.yourschools.ca .
According to Vercruysen,
"one of the reasons (students)
are breaking laws on the
internet is that they believe
they're more computer -savvy
than adults. And statistically,
they're right."
She describes the new set
of resources as a tool for
getting relatively computer -
illiterate staff and parents up
to speed.
It can sometimes be a long
learning curve. According to
Childerley, internet features
like bashboards, guestbooks
and shout boxes are often
media for online harassment,
yet parents may have no idea
what they are.
And the users of
technologies like photo- and
internet-capable cellphones
predominantly young
people, while
parents may
have no idea
they could be
used to take
embarassing
photos in the
gym locker
room and post
them on a
website.
He adds,
however, that
when students
are shown a
demonstration
of how easily their activities
could be tracked, they often
seem shocked.
"It's pretty powerful,"
agreed system principal
Maggie Crane, who oversees
the internet safety. program
for the board.
Childerley listed several
offences which have been
commited through computer
activity: threatening;
harassing someone
repeatedly; pretending to be
someone they're not; and
secretly publishing private
information.
In the case of the recently
split-up boyfriend and
girlfriend, charges were laid
and the photos were removed
from the public venue of
cyberspace, but "it wasn't
until everyone else already
are
Quoted
'It's not just big
cities that get
this kind of
thing and it's
our job to get
the work out,'—
OPP officer Glen
Childerley
Huron Centennial School gets
window smashed, alarm pulled
A window
was smashed
and the fire
alarm was
pulled during a break-in at
Huron Centennial School
on Jan. 28 at 9:45 p.m.,
reports the Huron OPP.
The Brucefield Fire
Department responded to
the call, the second such
call recently.
The smashed door
window is valued at $500
but the cost of a false alarm
to the municipality of
Bluewater is close to
$1,000, says the Huron
OPP.
Anyone with related
information is asked to call
the Huron OPP or Crime
Stoppers.
Tools stolen from house
and truck in McKillop
Tools, valued at a total of
$1,250, were stolen from a
truck parked at a house in
Huron East that was under
construction and from the
house, reports the Huron
OPP.
The truck, stolen from the
house on&McKillop Road on
11111011 ()PP
Jan. 2. was later found
nearly destroyed by fire in
Central Huron near Clinton.
Tools, valued at $890
were taken from the house,
including fluroescent bulbs,
0
0
an extension
ladder and a
cordless drill.
Tools valued at
$360 were taken from the
truck.
Anyone with related
information is asked to call
the Huron OPP or Crime
Stoppers.
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knew about it, so the
embarassment was already
out there."
To protect against such
offences, suggested
Vercruysen, "we need to be
safer and smarter; we need to
have policies and laws; and
we need to raise awareness."
At the school board level,
policies are in place. Based
on those policies, schools
have instituted "acceptable
use procedures." And just
about every household has
rules for computer use,
"whether they follow that or
not," she said.
The biggest goal of the
new police/school board
program, therefore, is to raise
awareness.
"We don't want to create
fear; we don't need to create
paranoia," Crane explained.
"But as educators, it's our job
to educate."
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Feb. 9. 2005-3
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