ML schools fight the social media battle

Any call early in the day on a Monday that first asks a question just might have trouble attached.

Medical Lake Schools Superintendent Tim Ames received that call a couple of weeks ago with the greeting: “Mr. Ames, how are you?” as he got word the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office was investigating possible involvement of a student in dissemination of sexually explicit photos that allegedly featured some high school students.

It’s a case investigators have cautioned will not likely be finished anytime soon, but the district constantly does its best to make sure there are no such cases in the first place.

The effort begins with the school resource deputy, Travis Pendell, who every year talks to students and families. “In fall he meets with high school students, speaking about social media and safety — what’s legal, what’s not,” Ames said. Early in the school year, he also talks to sixth graders.

“Usually spring time we go to the middle school with social media and cyber bullying,” Ames said. “We also have a parent night in conjunction with this push about social media and safety.

Obviously, it is not enough, Ames laments, nor is the timing right.

Recently, Ames and several members of the school board were attending a conference and they had the opportunity to listen to a presentation from Safer Schools Together.

“We went up and spoke to the guy and said ‘We could have used you yesterday, or about a week ago,’” Ames said.

The program goes beyond the annual efforts that districts tackle to educate students about the dangers of social media. “We learned a lot about things that we didn’t know,” Ames said.

Spokane County’s Sexual Assault Unit detectives were called to assist with the investigation that began on Nov. 11 when a detective was summoned to a Medical Lake residence to investigate a possible sex crime.

Deputy Krystal Bitzer was told a juvenile who attends Medical Lake High School was selling log-on information to an Internet drive which reportedly contained sexually explicit pictures of female juveniles, believed to live in west Spokane County and who possibly do or did attend Medical Lake High School or other schools in the area. 

The district’s intent is to dig deeper into the issue and educate parents and staff. “They know the technology and they know the signs to look for,” Ames said.

Whether it’s a company or a program the answer currently remains to be seen. “It’s going to be an investment, but it’s going to be worth it,” Ames said.

The board is willing to do whatever it takes, at whatever cost, to successfully fight this battle, and, “Make sure we’re being very intentional about getting to our students, our parents and our staff,” Ames said.

That process started Nov. 28 with a meeting involving administrators. “We’re working with our tech director; whether it’s this company or not, we’ll invest in something sooner than later,” Ames said.

Another focus, Ames said, is trying to monitor what is taking place, when and where. In the recent instance, the suspect reportedly did activity — once — in the school cafeteria, but further instances happened away from school property.

With one exception, “You can say this was all done outside of school by individuals, Ames said.

The real challenge is to get proactive and stay in front of the problem as early as possible.

One company has a program that covers the gamut of students, K–12.

They start talking to kindergarteners and first-graders where the message is more to be careful and “stranger danger” type of teaching, but becoming more complicated as the grade levels increase, Ames explained.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].