Two American Fork fifth-graders could face criminal charges for looking at pornography on a school computer, but some people are wondering how they were able to access the images in the first place.
Police were called last week after two 11-year-old boys at Forbes Elementary School pulled up images of sexual acts on a school computer and then showed the pictures to nine other students, said American Fork Police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow. The incident came to light when one child told a parent and another told the principal.
Ludlow called the images “pretty explicit” but declined to elaborate. He said the boys made multiple attempts on different days to access inappropriate material. Ultimately, they typed the word “lesbian” into a search engine and were able to pull up pictures not blocked by the school’s Internet filter.
The school suspended the boys for two days. They could face charges in juvenile court of dealing in material harmful to a minor or lesser charges for viewing pornography at school, or be referred to the probation department instead of going to court, among other possibilities, said Chris Yannelli, deputy Utah County Attorney. If they are adjudicated in juvenile court, consequences range from community service to serving time in a juvenile detention facility, he said.
Isn’t it filtered? OK, we’ll block google images. But, but, we need that! OK, we’ll unblock google images. You can’t have it both ways.
/works at a school board
//in the IT department
///had this conversation
# 20 Olo Baggins of Bywater said, “Fortunately, most schools don’t have zero tolerance on these because innocuous searches DO turn up unexpected results. ”
Going to a mistaken search result is one thing, sitting and searching FOR and viewing it are two different things… In the latter case, floor scrubbing and booting off the system would handle it nicely.
#11 Dallas said,
#6 Surprisingly we agree.
And it’s a damn good thing I was sitting down when I read your response…..
This is ridiculous. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s the fault of the school, not the fault of the boys. And there is nothing wrong with those boys that indicates a need for counseling. Kids spread rumors about sex around that age and share copies of Playboy; why wouldn’t they want to show other kids porn they found?
I think it’s about time that sex ed included what to do if you stumble across porn online.
Paddy,
Spoken like a typical right winger who has the most shallow grasp of the issue.
(sorry for being harsh, but that’s how you come across.)
It’s not an issue of “get a backbone”. That’s just silly jargon.
It’s a complex dilemma of the wired electronic information age that can’t be glibly dismissed.
In the past, librarians could vet the information in their libraries, both for age-appropriateness and credibility. One librarian could supervise a hundred kids because they didn’t need to worry about any kid seeing any of the material.
But now libraries have a “pipe” of totally un-vetted information coming into the library. And they don’t have the increased staff to watch them. Often they have LESS staff than previous years. (thank you anti-tax conservatives!)
Yet, the librarian is still accountable for the student’s experience in the library.
Making kids scrub floors doesn’t even remotely come close to fixing that dilemma.
Greg
(… and don’t call this a lefty issue. The Right Wing Christian parents will be the first to sue if their Johnny is exposed to lesbian sex in the library and then forced into child labor for doing so.)
Olo Baggins,
THANK YOU for taking this issue seriously.
I am going to face it professionally, soon, and I’m vexed by it.
Cameras would probably reduce porn use but recently parents at my daughters school WENT BALLISTIC when a legitimate staff person videoed their kids for something. He was forced to write a letter of apology to the whole school! It might be legal, though some usage agreement, but it might cause endless hassling. I don’t know.
For sure, terminals in a high traffic area help with browsing of porn — both only if there is a staff person to watch the kids. (the kids don’t turn each other in.)
BUT anti-tax conservatives will FIGHT LIKE HELL to block any solution that costs money.
# 25 Greg Allen said, “Spoken like a typical right winger who has the most shallow grasp of the issue. ”
LOL! I’ve forgotten more about “filtering” tech & and its related issues than you will ever know.
Please tell me why my solution won’t work…
There was a similar case at my son’s school here in the UK – 2 boys working their way around the school’s ‘net filters to try and get a glimpse at something slightly more compelling than yet another oxbow lake!
They eventually succeeded and got themselves caught in the act (or, more accurately, looking at other people ‘in the act’!)
The major difference in this case was that the parents successfully sued the school to firce the Local education Authority to implement better controls. The Judge admonished the school for “failing to exercise the appropriate duty of care” over the two boys.
isn’t that natural? what is the big deal?
Why everyone is against porn nowadays?, who hates it?
no one gets enough sex,
Its when they ARENT INTERESTED, in the idea of SEX, or Exploring interesting things, that we have to worry.
And I would be interested HOW they could spell or FOUND the word lesbian..
If they took the time to discover this word and others, THINK of the intelligence they must have, and HOW can you redirect it to make them SMARTER..
#29
the big deal is the THOUGHT that kids CAN NOT be kids.. and SEX is something you dont even THINK about until you are 20 years old..LMAO..
Boys will be boys and idiots will continue to be idiots.
…doesn’t the statement “but some people are wondering how they were able to access the images in the first place” imply that the level of knowledge of those asking the question leads to the inference that any security they implement (filters) would be get-aroundable?
I just found that line incredibly hilarious. “How’d they see porn in the interwebz! Oh noes!”
Now I’m not apt to call people retarded or anything but… fuckin’ ‘tards.
My son, 8th grade, got caught using a free online proxy server to get around the school filters.
He was suspended for the rest of the six weeks from using a computer at school. You may not think that is harsh but 50% of his daily schoolwork has to be done on a computer — which he was prohibited from using.
Guess what he got to do when he got home at night instead of playing video games and watching TV and riding his bike and . . .
He learned a valuable lesson and one he hasn’t forgotten since.
Had these kids been caught watching naked middle-aged white men then they would personally get a personal and private reprimand from a Republican Senator.
GregA…In these times it’s worthwhile to have a basic understanding of computer forensics. Just knowing what is possible, and some fundamentals, will get you the ammo to make an impression on students.
s7acker presents a perfect example…with the right approach and a little skill you can nail the little bastards with the records kept by OSX and Windows.
Consider contacting the nearest RCFL:
http://rcfl.gov and getting a tour or speaker to come visit.
#34, Nice way to insinuate that watching gay white men leads to pedophiliac encounters.
I was told there was no connection in another post but when I see a self-proclaimed gay man making the connection, I have to wonder just how honest either of you are. Is there a connection? If not, why push the image then? You are only hurting your own cause.
I mean, if you can’t take your own identity seriously, why should I?
I think it’s really unfair for you to post that picture of those two boys with this story, implying that they are the boys in the story. That’s just mean.
#36 Libertylover,
I was poking fun at Mark Foley who DID sent dirty text messages to underage pages.
It is soooo time to stop prosecuting children for being children.
On the other hand, getting them into juvie for a while might not be a bad idea. Learn some new life skills they’ll need when they have to register as sex offenders and can’t find a job.
Why is porn in quotation marks in the headline?
It was porn, wasn’t it?