Avon Lake Principals Letter to Parents on Facebook, Texting Issues

Avon Lake City Schools

175 Avon Belden Road

Avon Lake, Ohio 44012

April 2011

Dear Parents and Guardians,

This letter is being sent on behalf of the Principals of the Avon Lake City School District. We need your help to ensure the safety and well being of your child(ren).

The city of Avon Lake is an outstanding community with many amenities. The Avon Lake City School District with its “Excellent with Distinction” rating as one of the top districts in the state is a primary reason that many families have chosen to call Avon Lake “home”.  We are proud of our students, parents, teachers, administrators and staff who have worked so hard over the years to contribute to that outstanding rating!  So it is with genuine concern for our community, our families, but most of all our students, that we are seeking your assistance.

Over the past few years we have had to meet challenges within our community and school district as a result of “social networking.”  We see the frequency of these issues increasing and as a result we are concerned, not only for the educational implication, but also for the emotional and social well-being of our students.

We, the Principals of Troy, Learwood and the High School, estimate we spend a significant amount of time mediating, counseling and investigating individual and group cases that involve either facebook or texting. The majority of our students have their own facebook page as well as their own phones with texting capabilities. In this process we have had the opportunity to read many of our students’ postings on facebook and their text messages. These are some of our findings:

• Language beyond inappropriate – it is appalling
• Language of a sexual nature – X-rated
• Slanderous comments regarding fellow students (innuendo, rumors)
• Threatening language (harassment, intimidation)

Even though this activity may be initiated outside of school hours, the impact is felt 24-7 which includes the students’ time under our supervision. Education encompasses the child’s whole being. When a student misses multiple days of school we are not only concerned, but obligated to take action. Upon our investigation we learn that students are afraid to come to school because of a threat posted by a peer on facebook or sent out in a “burst” text to all students in the school. When parents call us to tell us that their child is becoming sullen, angry, withdrawn, and exhibiting personality changes, we follow up on this. We then discover that the student had a rumor started that is so disturbing and widespread due to facebook and texting that they are overwhelmed and feel helpless.

As educators we go to extremes to provide an environment conducive to learning. We know hungry children cannot concentrate – so we feed them; we know that children need to feel safe and secure in order to learn – so we go to great lengths to make our schools welcoming and safe. We also know that children who are “socially stressed” not only have difficulty concentrating and learning, but they also experience emotional “trauma” and for some it can be life-threatening.

If your child has a facebook account and/or texting capabilities on their phone we are asking you to obtain their facebook log-in and password and check their wall postings and friends list daily. Please begin monitoring their text messages daily. We are stressing the word daily because the problem with social media is that a misunderstanding between two people or a few people can be handled between them, but with facebook and texting it involves everyone in their social circle, everyone in the school and at times everyone in the community. This is generally irreparable and the ramifications can be devastating for a child. All children deserve and need to be parented regardless if they are 5 years old or 18 years old. We cannot control this problem, but you can and your help will go a long way in assisting us to keep our focus during school hours on education and community building.  (We do not think it is an accident that they call it a facebook “wall” because that is exactly what it is for many students – a barrier to the development of healthy social skills and positive interaction with their peers.)

 In closing, we would like to thank you for reading this letter and for recognizing our deep and genuine concern for your children and our students. We urge you to take the necessary steps we have underlined above so that we can all, parents and educators alike, continue to provide our students with the excellent education and strong sense of community and care for others that makes Avon Lake the outstanding community that it is today!

 Sincerely,

 Dr. Joanie Walker, Principal                    Ms. Jane Ramsay, Principal                    Mrs. Kelli Cogan, Principal

Additional Resource:

School Resource Officer: Detective Brian Hurd @ Brian.Hurd@avonlakecityschools.org

440-933-6290, x1555