Concord School District Students Hit With X-Rated Zoombombing

CONCORD, NH — The Concord School District has been fielding complaints from parents about a number of "Zoombombing" incidents during the first three days of remote learning.

Zoombombing is the process by which hackers, either on purpose or by invite, invade the private space of an online teleconference. The hacking of online teleconferencing has exploded internationally due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

Here in Concord, at least three incidents have been reported to Patch and the SAU 8 during the past 24 hours.

During one incident, when the students signed into their class, they heard loud music and then, saw a man slapping his own backside. The man then turned around and shook his private parts at the camera. A teacher was able to shut down the class but later, a naked woman was seen backing up to the camera and showing her backside. The incident was reported by at least two parents.

During a second incident, a high school student impersonated another classmate by renaming themselves and then, made "racist, harmful remarks in the chat," according to Kaileen Chilauskas, an assistant principal at Concord High School. In an email to parents, she called the classroom, even if it is remote, "a sacred space and we are taking the fact that people violated that space very seriously." Chilauskas told parents the incident was under investigation — a process that would take time.

In the third incident, a student displayed a toy gun during a class — which shocked some younger students and was not really considered appropriate for the Zoom classroom.

Interim School Superintendent Kathleen Murphy confirmed the incidents Thursday. They were, she said, the only major issues facing the district in an otherwise relatively smooth first few days of school. The district moved from Google to the Zoom platform due to more capacity and capabilities, she said, and it was horrific that the incidents were happening on the first days of school for some students.

"Everyone has been on it," Murphy said. "The big question parents asked was, 'Are there securities in place?' Absolutely … all in place."

The district's school resource officer investigated the incident with the toy gun and police and Karen Fischer-Anderson, the district's new safety compliance officer, will be looking into the other incidents. While not wanting to get into the specifics of the investigations, she said they were underway immediately after Murphy was told of the incidents Wednesday, and involve both students and possibly parents, too.

The incidents are one of the dangers of live remote learning and instruction, Murphy said, a process parents requested from the district for the new school year. But, she added, it was also a teachable moment for students and parents to understand the dangers of some technology — and the need for oversight. Although that fact did not lessen the negative impact on children or potential criminal activity, specifically, indecent exposure and lewdness or certain uses of computer services prohibited charges which, often, are felonies.

"I want to be very clear — this behavior is not going to be tolerated," Murphy said. "We will know (and) we will find out who they were and they will receive significant discipline … for the students that were involved in these situations. They are not funny. I don't find any humor in this. I want to ensure people that we take this seriously."

Emails were sent out to some families involved and Murphy will be sending another email out to parents Thursday. Information packets and communication tool information, too, will be sent out to help parents and students maneuver within the different platforms.

"It is a good reminder that you've got to be observant about what your kids are doing online," she said. "And to sit with them and discuss the impact of these decisions and how they use communications tools. These are crimes and, again, we're not tolerating it."

Concord police were unavailable for comment before post time.

Late last year, Rundlett Middle School students were able to access a pornography website via Chromebooks and iPads in school by visiting a website with a similar structure as the school district's website. After finding out about the site, Pam McLeod, the director of technology for the district, placed a block on it.

Other tactics the school district uses to protect students as well as their Chromebooks and iPads is a program called Relay as well as a network-wide filter, which all traffic flows through, and a district firewall, too.

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