Sadsbury Township parent Donna Durham told the Octorara Area School Board Oct. 11 that teachers - not just students - need to be trained to keep cyber bullying and dangerous social media out of schools.
Durham, who parents a middle school student, said she has heard of incidents of "sexting" on buses and students who have used Ipods during classroom testing.
Middle school Principal Elena Wilson said school policy mandates that students place all electronic devices in their lockers when they arrive at school.
"If we see it, we take it," she said, while admitting teachers need to better enforce the rule "across the board."
"Are we educating our teachers enough on this issue?" asked Durham. "Are they adequately trained to know the challenges out there and the things students are capable of doing through social media?"
Wilson said the issue was on the agenda for her Tuesday faculty meeting.
"We need to educate teachers," Wilson said.
Durham thanked the school district for recently hosting a parent program on cyber safety and called some of the possibilities in cyberspace "totally scary." She lamented that only eight parents attended that informational meeting.
Primary Learning Center Principal Lisa McNamara said it is sometimes a problem getting parents to attend school programs.
"We do what we can," McNamara said.
Wilson said following the program she wanted to go home, throw away her computer, and wrap children in bubblewrap.
Superintendent Tom Newcome said bullying is a district-wide concern addressed with the Alweis curriculum. He agreed technology is an additional "challenge" and said there are places he will never visit, including Facebook.
"It's important for us to make ourselves informed," Wilson said. "There's a lot more we can do, teachers as well."
During the work session Nelson Stoltzfus of the district facilities committee said the PTO had recently finished fundraising to pay for the intermediate school playground. As for ongoing high school renovations, he said the facilities committee is considering how to reduce noise in upstairs classrooms at the high school, and a manitenance problem with the gymnasium ceiling.
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