When Old Saybrook High School freshmen attended a recent assemblyon Internet safety, they didn't just hear about privacy settings,cyberbullying and "digital footprints."
They saw friends' actual photos and status updates from siteslike Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr used in the presentation.
It prompted outrage from some students, who felt privacy wasinvaded and that teens should have been notified their photos wouldbe used.
Some took to Twitter to express their frustration, writing on thesocial media site that the school is "corrupt." Others wrote onTwitter, "I hope old saybrook high school is reading this," and "putme on ur slide show I want you to read my tweets."
But police and school Principal Oliver Barton say the purpose ofthe assembly was to make students aware of how public their"tweets," photos and profiles are online if their privacy settingsaren't strict enough. Barton said the presentation showed picturesthat officials didn't think would embarrass anyone and were publiclyaccessible.
"The point was to help kids understand what they're putting outthere. Here are some respectful and appropriate pictures of eachother, so let's keep it that way," Barton said. "I think inretrospect, for a kid to hear about the presentation who wasn'tthere and then get really concerned about it, wasn't something wehad anticipated."
The assembly was attended only by freshmen because older studentswere taking the Connecticut Academic Performance Test. The schoolshowed a different Internet safety presentation to last year's classof freshmen, but this time proved how easy it can be to findpersonal information online.
"They told us we were going to watch something about Internetsafety, and they said they personalized the slide show, " said afreshman named Kayla, who didn't want to use her last name.
Barton and Police Sgt. Kevin Roche said the school resourceofficer put the slide show together by accessing Facebook, Twitterand Tumblr accounts that had publicly available information andusing 15-20 student photos. Even if privacy settings allow onlyfriends or friends of friends access, that could be thousands ofpeople, they said.
"Kids are putting up pictures of parties they attend -- peopleare seeing these pictures. We try to educate them about that. And(as a) way to educate them about that and who's seeing pictures, hehas a Facebook account and he went on and pulled a couple innocentpictures of kids having fun to show as an example," Roche said. "Thepictures were used just as a learning tool. Did he get theirpermission first? No. If he did, that would have taken away shockvalue of what pictures are out there."
Kayla, the freshman who saw the presentation, said older studentswho weren't at the presentation were "really mad" when they foundout their content was used.
"They weren't told until after and all the freshmen came up tothem and told them they were in the slide show," she said. "I kindof thought, it's like if you put it online, anyone can see it, butthen at the same time, it's like kind of not fair for the policeofficers to put that on display without their permission and withoutthem knowing."
A junior, who requested anonymity, said that although she andfriends put things on the social networking sites, she didn't knowschool officials and police could or would use the photos "and showthem to everyone."
In a way, the presentation seems to have gotten its messageacross. Another junior said that when students are talking aboutputting things on the websites, they're warning each other because"this might get back to the school." Still, she added, "I just thinkit's a violation of privacy."
Kayla noted that some of her sophomore friends thought theirprofiles were private, but they weren't.
Police hope that students make their profiles and accounts moreprivate and consider what content they upload, Roche said. Theinformation youths post can get into the hands of Internet predatorswho can track where students are when photos are uploaded if acamera phone has a geotracking function, Roche added.
Colleges and potential employers may also search socialnetworking accounts to evaluate applicants, Barton said.
School administrators and police didn't intend to make anyoneupset, according to Barton, and they're talking with those who wereuncomfortable with their photos being used.
"We believe for most kids this was a very positive learningexperience and didn't leave them upset, and if there are kids whoare, we certainly want to help them," he said.
Call Susan Misur at 203-789-5742. Follow us on Twitter@nhregister. smisur@nhregister.com
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