At the end of the school day on Friday, during our Black History Month Celebration assembly, multiple inappropriate images or ‘memes’ were shared by anonymous students using the AirDrop feature on Apple iPhone. To our knowledge, no school computers or network were used to share these images. Our IT is working to try and identify the anonymous users. Unfortunately, several of the images were not only inappropriate but also deeply offensive and racist. The fact that anonymous students chose to send these out during a Black History Month Celebration is even more disturbing.
We will be following up with all students, as a staff, Monday morning about the incident, and asking for their help in identifying the people who sent the photos. We will also be reiterating to them how serious of an issue harassing is, and that racist, sexist, and inappropriate language will not be tolerated, and consequences for students caught using such language will be immediate and serious, including involving law enforcement and pressing charges when possible.
How you can help:
- Please help us out by asking your students if they saw or heard anything during the CD that could help us determine who did this, and encouraging them to reach out to their teacher or administrator first thing Monday.
- Make sure that they understand that you also as their parents won’t accept this type of language being used and that you don’t ever think it’s appropriate or funny for them to share inappropriate
- Encourage them to “See Something, Say Something” – to report other students sharing these types of memes or making inappropriate comments in person or on social media directly to a school administrator in the future.
- You can also address the student’s privacy issue on their personal devices, which we have no control over. If your student’s iPhone accepts airdrops, consider having them turn it off, in general, this is a good privacy and safety tip. Here is how to do it for one version of iPhone operating systems: https://www.howtogeek.com/301313/how-to-turn-off-airdrop-in-ios-so-you-dont-get-unsolicited-photos/ You may need to look up your specific phone’s OS.
DVC is a family, a school that celebrates our diversity as a student body and staff. It is a huge part of what makes DVC great. We will not allow a few students making a terrible choice to change that. Thank you for your support in this important matter.
Dr. Weatherford