Two 16-year-old Watertown High School students were arrested this week in connection with posts they made on Instagram.
The teens are charged with second degree harassment after police say they created an “anonymous” Instagram account in early June, posting photos of fellow students, publicly shaming them online.
Police describe the comments as “hateful” and “harassing”.
Both students were referred to Torrington Juvenile Court and released to the custody of their parents. The investigation began after several students and parents of students reported the page to school officials and the Watertown Police Department.
The Instagram page has since been removed. It had targeted certain kids at the school.
“Our Detective Bureau and our School Liaison Officer provide presentations to the students warning of the dangers of certain aspects of social media, especially when it comes to bullying. We take all complaints of bullying, threatening and harassment seriously. Unfortunately, it seems that each year, students are being arrested for this type of crime,” said Deputy Chief R.J. Desena.
FOX CT spoke with some Watertown High School graduates about the incident.
“Kids in high school are mean nowadays… I don’t think they think they can get caught or that it will get that serious,” said Olivia Hardt, a 2012 graduate.
But the two students believed to be behind this Instagram account certainly did get caught.
Watertown Police used four search warrants to contact internet providers and discovered the teens created the page from a mobile phone connected to the district’s WiFi network.
Police say the students were soliciting other teens for photos and making fun of the two victims’ looks, the way they dress, and their physical features.
“Cyberbullying is like bullying on steroids,” said Board of Education Chairman, Guy Buzzannco.
“We know that in a neighboring district in the past year, a student took her life after cyber bullying occurred. We gave zero tolerance of it here in Watertown.”
The district does take prevention measures which include having students sign off on a code of conduct each year and offering a program called “The Truth about Hate.”
But with smart-phones in so many hands, it may be impossible to prevent all cyberbullying.
“I don’t think there’s a way to fully eradicate it – we’re a student population of 900 students and students have free choice and sometimes make a wrong choice,” said Buzzannco.