Mahoning superintendents discuss bullying, how to fight it
Students have taken to using Twitter polls posted from anonymous accounts to bully each other, school officials said.
Mahoning County superintendents met last week to discuss the issue and find a way to combat it within each district.
“It’s a group of kids who are not making good choices,” said Vince Colaluca, Austintown superintendent.
Alex Geordan, Canfield superintendent, issued a letter on the Canfield Local Schools’s website addressing the issue.
It said, “An innocent example of this [poll question] would be posting the question ‘Who has the nicest smile,’ with options to choose. Several of these Twitter polls are very inappropriate, use crude, degrading language and often refer to specific students.”
All superintendents suggested that parents speak with their children about social media attacks and encouraged them to communicate with their schools.
The posts are hard to track not only because of the anonymous accounts, but also because polls expire after 24 hours.
Geordan said the issue is being taken seriously because it is affecting Canfield’s promise to “ensure a safe and supportive learning environment.”
Poland superintendent David Janofa said during the Ohio Association of Local School Superintendents meeting in Columbus several attendees from all over the state said they were facing the same issue.
“It’s rampant. There were over 200 superintendents there and the issue is just everywhere,” Janofa said.
In Poland, Janofa said if the problem arises in school, no matter where the original material was posted from – home, a friend’s house, etc. – it becomes a school issue.
Poland school officials found the issue primarily at the high school.
Administration at the high school had discussions with each grade and made complaints to Twitter to take down the hateful polls.
“It has been a challenge, but we have addressed it and informed students about usage policies,” Janofa said. “We also have our resource officers to help us deal with some situations. We are trying to be proactive moving forward.”
Colaluca said in Austintown, the challenge falls outside of school walls.
Austintown schools operates on a closed Internet network, making it easy to track posts done during school hours on the school campus. If students post outside of school, officials and parents have to cooperate, making the issue harder to combat.
Geordan said in his letter that students cyber bullying others will be punished, and that he has notified local law enforcement, legal counsel and Twitter officials of the issue.