 "Photo: Yvonne Freckmann")
When newspaper staff member and senior Kimberly Gohlke of the Taft High School Raider Review logged onto a Web site from a school computer to post photographs of herself with friends, she did not realize she was violating her school district's electronic- use policy.
Two days later, along with two other girls whose photos were displayed, the 18-year-old senior was suspended for three days and prohibited from playing in the annual junior-senior powderpuff football game.
She was accused of accessing and posting "personal information" on a social networking Web site from a school computer.
"I was really upset, because I was a pretty good student," Gohlke said. "It was my senior year of high school, and I had never gotten in trouble before."
Gohlke's suspension in 2003 was one of the first for students involved in accessing social networking Web sites from a computer on a public school campus.
To prevent students like Gohlke from accessing personal Web sites on school campuses, the San Antonio, North East and Northside school districts have extended their electronic-use policies to include the prohibition of access to social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Xanga.
The policies provide guidelines for system users about illegal activity, appropriate uses, copyright laws and personal and system safety, including an agreement not to reveal personal information such as phone numbers, addresses and passwords.
Social networking refers to a category of Internet sites on which users can create profiles, post blogs and photographs and socialize and meet other users who share their interests.
According to the Polly Klaas Foundation, which helps find missing children and promotes child safety legislation, 99 percent of all teens use the Internet; among those, 44 percent have posted personal information online.
Patricia Hollub, the San Antonio School District executive director of technology initiatives and support, said both students and teachers were complaining of impersonation and threats of bullying on MySpace.com.
"There are a lot of safety issues we are concerned about," Hollub said.
Pascual Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the Northside School District, said the social networking sites were called to the attention of his district and investigated.
"(These Web sites) have created a lot of fear, anxiety and stress not only for the students, but parents as well," said Gonzalez, citing gun threats posted online against Warren High School in November.
Four students posted messages saying they would bring a gun to class and promised there would be a "shooting and killing" at the high school. Only 400 of the school's 3,000 students showed up for classes the day the shooting was to occur.
"The threats created chaos, and we had a lot of parents that were very scared," Gonzalez said.
More than 2,500 students returned to the high school the following day, after four suspects were identified.
The North East School District also was affected by the MySpace Web site in February when two Lee High School girls claimed they were raped after meeting men who had contacted them through MySpace.com.
According to news reports, the girls said they were taken to a house to drink and do drugs. They were later dropped off on campus, where administrators approached them because they seemed disoriented.
Two men were arrested, charged, released on bond and now await a trial date.
A 14-year-old Travis County girl said Monday she was sexually assaulted by a man she met on MySpace and filed a lawsuit against the site seeking $30 million in damages.
According to a news report, the girl told 19-year-old Pete Solis she was a freshman in high school. Solis reportedly told the girl he was a senior football player and picked up the girl from school, after which they went out to eat and watch a movie.
The girl accused Solis of taking her to an apartment complex parking lot where he sexually assaulted her.
According to NetRatings Inc., the top 10 social networking sites, including YouTube and Xanga, collectively grew 47 percent in one year.
Of those, MySpace, since it's creation in 2003, ranked No. 1, with 38.4 million visitors per year and a growth of 367 percent from April 2005 to April 2006.
"MySpace is not a new phenomenon, but it is increasingly coming into the classroom as of this past year," said Deborah Caldwell, spokeswoman for the North East School District.
NISD's Gonzalez agrees.
"These cyber social clubs were a big distraction for our schools," he said. "We are not able to completely police these sites. That is not our role as school administrators."
Representatives from the three districts, which began to block social networking sites in fall 2005, said students will be disciplined on a case-by-case basis if they access the sites using proxy servers - off-site computers - to bypass firewalls.
Hollub, the SAISD technology expert, said the district has blocked the word "MySpace" from search engines to prevent proxy usage. She said the district will upgrade its filter this summer to block all potential proxies.
NEISD and NISD both monitor internal usage. When a proxy portal is opened, or when a student finds an alternate route to access a social networking Web site, the school technicians are contacted to block the site.
Students guilty of accessing proxy sites are given punishments ranging from a detention to a few days of suspension.
"Student safety is important," Hollub said. "Predators are using these sites to have access to students, and we do not want our students to be harmed by them."
NEISD also provides free booklets for parents, "A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety," which explains Internet lingo and how to delete a MySpace account.
"There has been an interest from the community to be educated," NEISD's Caldwell said. "(This guide) is a way for families who have different levels of understanding to learn how to be safe using the Internet."
Gonzalez, the NISD spokesman, said students who display "inappropriate photos or messages" on their MySpace profiles are usually reported to the administration by their peers or other teachers.
"Occasionally, if we have reason to search the Web site (for a reported profile), we will," Gonzalez said.
Students face counseling if they are found to have publicly displayed photos of themselves "partially nude, nude, with school uniforms, using school logos, or participating in illegal activity."
If a student denies the request to be counseled, the parent will be called in for a meeting with the administration.
Threats and impersonation of other people also are deemed inappropriate by the NISD administration.
"We strongly believe this is a family and parental issue," Gonzalez said. "However, if we come into this information, then we must act upon it."
Gonzalez added that students will be called into the school office again if their behavior does not change.
Mike Hiestand, an attorney and legal consultant to the Student Press Law Center, said school policies must balance dangers and freedoms.
"There can be a legal problem when school officials think that when something is posted online, they have the jurisdiction over that (private activity). That's not the case," Hiestand said. When newspaper staff member and senior Kimberly Gohlke of the Taft High School Raider Review logged onto a Web site from a school computer to post photographs of herself with friends, she did not realize she was violating her school district's electronic- use policy.
Two days later, along with two other girls whose photos were displayed, the 18-year-old senior was suspended for three days and prohibited from playing in the annual junior-senior powderpuff football game.
She was accused of accessing and posting "personal information" on a social networking Web site from a school computer.
"I was really upset, because I was a pretty good student," Gohlke said. "It was my senior year of high school, and I had never gotten in trouble before."
Gohlke's suspension in 2003 was one of the first for students involved in accessing social networking Web sites from a computer on a public school campus.
To prevent students like Gohlke from accessing personal Web sites on school campuses, the San Antonio, North East and Northside school districts have extended their electronic-use policies to include the prohibition of access to social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and Xanga.
The policies provide guidelines for system users about illegal activity, appropriate uses, copyright laws and personal and system safety, including an agreement not to reveal personal information such as phone numbers, addresses and passwords.
Social networking refers to a category of Internet sites on which users can create profiles, post blogs and photographs and socialize and meet other users who share their interests.
According to the Polly Klaas Foundation, which helps find missing children and promotes child safety legislation, 99 percent of all teens use the Internet; "School officials don't have 24/7 control over their students, or the right to preside over that private activity.
"There's nothing wrong with school officials looking things over," Hiestand added.
"But when they are simply upset with what students are posting, or if the idea that is being discussed has nothing to do with the school, then that (involvement) would be illegal."
While MySpace and Facebook are popular social networking sites among high school students, local teachers also have created their own profiles.
Willey Perkins, an aquatic science teacher at Taft High School, has a profile created for him by a student. Perkins said he has 401 friends, all of whom are former students.
"I don't have a problem with MySpace because I know everyone who has added me as a friend," he said.
Mitzi Moore, a chemistry teacher at the International School of the Americas, who has had her profile for about a year, added, "MySpace is a valid way for my students to get into contact with me if they have a question about the class. It's a way for people to build a community together."
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