Pubdate: Sat, 12 Jan 2008
Source: Daily Journal, The (MN)
Copyright: 2008 Fergus Falls Newspapers Inc
Contact:  http://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2568
Author: Susan Larson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

INTERNET CAN UNVEIL FFHS POLICY VIOLATORS

Like Eden Prairie, Web Has Alerted Administration To Some
Wrong-Doing.

Days after students at Eden Prairie High School were  interviewed
about suggestive photos on the social  networking site Facebook,
administrators at Fergus  Falls High School say they, too, share
concerns about  what students post on the Internet.

In the case of the Eden Prairie students, photos on  Facebook
suggested students were consuming alcohol at a  party, prompting
interviews and disciplinary action on  the part of administrators and
a walk-out by roughly a  dozen students Thursday.

Fergus Falls High School Principal Greg Winter said  local staff
simply don't have time to peruse the  Internet for potential offenders.

"We do not go looking for those things, in all  honesty," he said.
"But certainly if that information  does come forward, as a school, we
have to investigate  it."

That has happened a handful of times in the three years  Detective
Kevin Sonstebo has served as the school's  liaison officer. A couple
years back, Sonstebo said,  online photos showed students holding cans
and bottles  clearly marked as alcoholic beverages. This year,  photos
on MySpace showed a Fergus Falls student smoking  a marijuana pipe.

In both cases, Sonstebo said, the students' peers  reported their
behavior to school officials.

"That's the main resource that we have - students  looking out for
other students," he said, explaining  that high schoolers may come to
staff with concerns  about the health of their friends.

When an incident is reported, Sonstebo said, parents  are notified and
students are referred to Jim Schaffer,  high school social worker.

"We try to be as fair as possible and talk to those  students," Winter
said, "but we already have procedures  and consequences that are put
in place for those things  that students are well aware of, especially
student  athletes."

Athletes and participants in other activities under the  Minnesota
State High School League are subject to the  League's zero-tolerance
drug and alcohol policy  year-round, Sonstebo said, recommending all
students be  smart about Web use.

"They've got to understand that everything on the  Internet is
available (to nearly everybody)," he said.  "Those pictures are not
just their property. All  somebody has to do is cut and paste them."

Winter said he thinks the school does a good job of  educating
students about the consequences of poor  choices on the Internet.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Steve Heath