WINDSOR, Colo.—Students and parents at a northern Colorado high school said they were offended by a Wyoming police officer’s presentation about Internet safety that characterized some of the student’s Web pages as sexually provocative.
Students and parents at Windsor High School said the Tuesday presentation by Officer John Gay of the Cheyenne, Wyo., Police Department displayed the MySpace pages of several students.
They said Gay mocked the students’ pages, claiming they were sexually suggestive and invited interest from sexual predators. One student said she left the room crying.
“He told a story about a girl in another state who was tracked through MySpace who was raped and shot and then said Shaylah’s page is inviting people to do the exact same things to her,” parent Ty Nordic said, referring to his daughter Shaylah Nordic.
Gay said he’s been volunteering his time to make Internet safety presentations to schools and community groups for about two years. To prepare for a presentation, he typically does a quick search of MySpace to find examples from his audience that he then inserts into his slideshow, he said.
Gay said he doesn’t purposely embarrass people. Rather, he said he’s drawing attention to the fact that personal information and pictures posted on the Internet can be very public.
“It’s a choice they made to post that picture for the world to see,” Gay told The Associated Press on Thursday. “The objective is to raise awareness. It goes back to whatever is posted on the Internet is a public forum, including every single student at the presentation, every single teacher.”
Windsor High School Principal Rick Porter said he supports the message of Internet safety, but he apologizes to anyone who was embarrassed.
Shaylah Nordic said Gay’s presentation included showing a MySpace page containing her phone number.
“The whole school saw my phone number so I am getting texts from people I don’t know,” she said.
The school district says the incident is under review.
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Information from: Fort Collins Coloradoan,
