Work on social media risks not finished, says Sullivan

NEWS — The Kamloops-Thompson school district won’t let up in its efforts to convince students of the risks of social media, says superintendent Terry Sullivan.

RCMP said Thursday three high school students have been charged with distributing child pornography after police investigated the exchange of inappropriate material online.

The students are under 18 and can’t be named.

Sullivan said today neither the investigation nor efforts to reduce inappropriate behaviour with social media by students are over. “We’re going to still continue to do everything we can,” he said in a CBC radio interview. “We are going to continue to do this work while the criminal investigation continues.”

He said concerns about social media in the district aren’t new — in fact, the district has been working on issues around social media for a long time but “despite all our best efforts, the facts are this behaviour has not diminished.”

Adults have to provide an environment in which young people can’t do harm to themselves or others, he said.

“Sometimes we have to protect adolescents from themselves.”