Dear BHS Students and Families,
I am writing to let you know about some very upsetting Instagram posts that have been circulating at BHS. The posts are anonymous, and target students and staff at BHS. Many of the posts amount to cyber bullying and sexual harassment, and are deeply upsetting, and impacting the mental health of our community members. BHS administration and the school resource officer have been investigating these posts since Thursday morning, and have not yet been able to identify the owner of the account. We have also repeatedly requested that this account be taken down, but the social media company has not responded to our requests yet. Clearly, this sort of behavior represents a serious violation of the BHS student handbook, and any student found to be involved will face consequences from the school and possibly the police. We do believe there are likely students with more information about who is responsible for this account, and encourage anyone with information to share with administration directly or through the anonymous tip line: 508-203-1686.
Although the anonymous nature of social media means that it is often not possible to catch people involved in cyberbullying and sexual harassment, we can all play a role in combatting this hate. The best thing that we can do is to unfollow, block, and report this content. By continuing to follow, we consent to and normalize such behavior. We can also support the victims of this online abuse by refusing to engage or gossip about what is being posted. As parents, we can generate conversations about good social media use by asking our children how they use social media, and what they do when they encounter abusive content. Currently, there are hundreds of BHS students following this account, and that is part of the reason why it continues to have the power to bully and harass members of our community.
Isaac Taylor, Principal
