Several Hollister gossip-based Facebook pages have cropped up, concerning parents enough to get in contact with police and attempt to have them removed.
Interim Police Chief David Westrick said he has received a “bunch of” calls or emails about the pages in recent days. He assigned an officer who is looking into it and also joined the parents in making contact with Facebook in an attempt to get the pages taken down.
As of Monday, Facebook had not removed them. But Westrick pointed out that by late afternoon, the creator of the pages appeared to have committed to taking them down.
With the growth of social media, bullying has become an increasingly apparent problem in school-age communities. Westrick and the local parents are concerned that these particular URLs – a resident sent the names of six Hollister-based gossip pages used in local schools – could amplify such behavior and lead to further problems.
“They’re concerned about their kids,” Westrick said of the parents. “I understand it. I get it. I’ve got kids, too. I try to monitor their online activity.”
The police chief, though, remained uncertain if it is a law enforcement matter and said he understands how a company such as Facebook balances free speech into the equation. Westrick described how the gossip pages include some “scandalous stuff” such as name calling but that it is “kind of light” as well. The department, meanwhile, has been communicating with schools about the pages.
It appears as though the same anonymous poster has been creating the Facebook pages with gossip about students at the two local middle schools – Marguerite Maze and Rancho San Justo Middle School. The first page, the name of which the Free Lance is not publishing, started in June. Several “back-up” pages were created in recent days.
The main page requests students from just the two schools and discourages people from reporting it. The page has 224 likes.
The posts and comments include curse words and bullying-type phrases against students. Some of the posts included pictures of students referring to them as “stupid” and a list of student pairs who are supposedly dating – sparking at least one student to reply it was untrue in their case.
Other posts on the page appeared to be from parents, calling for the creator of the Facebook page to shut it down.
One of the backup pages created over the weekend included posts speculating about student “crushes” and a list of items that the anonymous administrator or administrators planned to gossip about Monday and Tuesday.
On a Facebook page devoted to Hollister parents, one expressed concern about the sites in a post. Another page was created on Saturday encouraging an end to cyberbullying.
Hollister School District Superintendent Gary McIntire said parents also brought it to the district’s attention. He mentioned there was an assembly planned for Tuesday at Rancho and that the issue would be broached with students.
“Obviously, cyberbullying is something we have policies for and something we take pretty seriously,” he said, noting how officials are aware of other “tragic occurrences” across the nation.
He said the district wants to balance first amendment rights, but has an obligation to pursue bullying matters aggressively.
“We are going to do whatever it takes to ensure the kids are safe,” he said.
