By Jesse Serwer
³Most of the Web pages that our kids had were absolutely fine, but there was a fairly small number of kids who had posted a variety of objectionable material, from hate speech to vulgarity to pictures of inappropriate and illegal behavior,² said South Side Principal Carol Burris.
The Myspace crackdown ³was all everyone was talking about² for several days after Burris confronted students with photos culled from the Web site May 25, said Zack Richner, editor of the Sportsman, the school newspaper. ³Most of the seniors were done with school by this time, so it was mostly juniors who got in trouble.²
The matter came to the administration¹s attention after Assistant Principal Elizabeth Pryke heard ³concerned complaints from teachers who had heard kids talking about material,² Burris said. ³She investigated and was concerned and disturbed by what she found.²
³We felt, as an administration, when we see kids engaging in self-destructive or foolish behavior, we need to let parents know,² said Burris, who gave students a 48-hour grace period to remove objectionable content before sending out a May 27 letter. ³It is part of our job. These are things that are dangerous and embarrassing for students, and could come back to haunt them later in life.²
Several students from the school, she said, had posted swastikas and racial remarks, as well as photos of themselves and other students drinking alcohol and posing in compromising situations. Worse, she said, it could be found easily with a quick flick of the mouse and by typing the words ³South Side High School.²
³As easily as we were able to obtain the pictures, so can pedophiles,² Burris said. ³There were students who put identifying information like pictures, names, their high school and their town.²
Members of the increasingly popular Web site create personal pages that they use to link up with friends and meet new people with, it is hoped, similar interests. But that is not always the case, said a Myspace spokesperson.
³I¹d say it¹s more of a girl thing,² Richner, who is the son of Herald publisher Stuart Richner, said of the presence of South Side students on Myspace and other similar sites like Friendster. ³About half the girls I know have profiles on Myspace or are on sites where you just post photos.²
While most of the offending content was no longer on the site by last week, a number of students reacted with messages and expletives directed at the school¹s administrators. ³If you go on the site right now, what you will find from South Side students is pretty benign except for some things about us,² Burris said. A handful of students polled by the Herald last week said they had never even heard of the site or the content from fellow students that appeared on it, until the letter arrived at their front doors.
The racially offensive material was turned over to the Rockville Centre Police Department, which then referred it to the Nassau County police hate-crimes unit. No charges against any students had been filed as of press time. While no students have been suspended as a result of Myspace postings, a number have had invitations to the National Honor Society withdrawn, high school PTA Co-President Pat Jacob said.
Parental response to the administration¹s letter, which instructed them on how to navigate through the site, was ³overwhelmingly receptive,² according to Burris.
Comments about this story? JSerwer@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 221.
