Wilmington Middle School Addresses Growing Social Media Concerns

WILMINGTON, MA -- For the second time in as many months, Wilmington middle School officials are dealing with problematic social media use by students. In a note to the school community Thursday, Principal Kevin Welch said school officials had been alerted to several social media community pages where demeaning comments and memes about students and staff were being posted.

"Derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our school community. At Wilmington Middle School we strive to create a responsible and respectful environment," Welch said. "We are currently working to have any derogatory comments that have been posted removed."

Welch asked parents to discuss the appropriate use of social media with their students. "At the school we will be reminding our students about the dangers of social media and the potential consequences at school if social media comments have an adverse effect on our school community," he said.

Last month, school officials sent a note to sixth grade parents after a Snapchat trend where students were asking each other to answer a question about the characteristics of other classmates and then posting the response. Wilmington Middle School Assistant Principal Jeanette Quirk met with sixth graders to discuss the issue.

"This type of social media post might not seem like a big concern, especially when the questions are complimentary towards a student; however, it does quickly become hurtful or mean," Quirk said in a Jan. 15 note to sixth grade parents. "These posts have negative impacts on the students personally and within school environment, whether the student posts the question, answers the question, or the student is named in the answer."

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).