Attention 5th-8th Parents: Important Message from Principal Shelton

It has come to our attention that South Loop students have created at least two Instagram pages; one private and one public, that contain the South Loop School name and school logo. These pages have not been authorized by the school and are not being used for school purposes. Instead, students are posting inappropriate videos and content that occur during and after school hours. The videos and actions of some students go against the CPS Acceptable Use Policy, can result in an infraction of the CPS Student Code of Conduct, and some can be considered illegal.

The content on these pages shines a negative light on South Loop School, and is not representative of South Loop expectations. It negatively impacts our school environment and causes disruption to the school day and student learning. I will issue a consequence to all students involved in creating the South Loop instagram accounts.

When students’ online activity is unmonitored, they will engage in inappropriate and unacceptable behaviors. Unfortunately, we can not monitor all of your child’s online activity and behavior.

Parents, we can not stress enough the importance of you monitoring your child’s tech devices and online behaviors especially on social media platforms. We understand that parenting in the digital age can be difficult.

While we are in the process of having these pages removed from Instagram, please help us ensure that your child is not continuing to engage in following, commenting on, tagging younger students in younger grades, posting student’s family members, and posting anything to these pages. By watching some of these videos, students could be breaking the law. It is important that students understand that their digital footprint never disappears and the consequence of using various platforms to send inappropriate information or attempt to cause harm can result in disciplinary or even legal action. These real-life consequences can have lasting impacts that we do not want to see haunting our students as they learn to navigate the world, apply for top schools, or even for jobs in the future. You should review your child’s Instagram pages today- go to settings to view their contacts or any private settings.

Please discuss with your child your expectations for their behavior when participating in online platforms. Provide guidance for how they should respond to inappropriate online behavior. Have honest conversations with your child about the laws surrounding transmission of inappropriate photos over electronic devices. Sending, showing, sharing, saving, and downloading illicit pictures without someone’s permission or that may involve a minor is illegal in Illinois and may result in felony charges. These charges even apply if a minor sends pictures of themselves. When students partake in this behavior to any extent, they are breaking federal and state laws. If they are engaged in a conversation where students begin to share inappropriate pictures, students should show the photo(s) to their parents and parents should immediately delete the picture(s). For more information about sending/receiving illicit photos read this article: Sexting: It’s No Joke, It’s a Crime.

Please recognize the urgency in supporting your child around their tech usage, who they interact with, how they interact, and the digital information they put out in the world. Please add parental controls to your child’s device, be aware of when they are using tech devices, and if necessary take steps to block certain apps, pages, and people online. Please use the information below to set parental controls on your child’s tech devices and monitor your child’s online activity regularly.

IMPORTANT:

Your children are tech-savvy. They have ways of only disclosing information they want you to know. Some of them may have multiple social media accounts. They have one account they use to show their parents that is generally safe and does not contain inappropriate materials and another account, their “spam” account, that is used to communicate with their friends. Because they know it is unmonitored, the spam account generally contains inappropriate information.

Parents can check for multiple Instagram accounts by doing the following:

Go to your child’s Instagram account
Click on the three lines in the top right corner
Click on Account Center
Click on Profiles – If more than one account is listed, your child has access to multiple profiles.

Students may also create accounts that are not linked to their main account or profile. Parents can see if there are multiple accounts, can sign into their child’s saved passwords, and see which accounts they are logging in to. On an Apple device, parents can check the passwords by clicking on the Passwords app or by doing the following: