Ontario schools dealing with swearing and racial slurs in virtual classrooms
CBC
During a short stint of remote learning in Ontario, some school boards are dealing with people entering virtual classrooms uninvited to swear, use racial slurs and share "disturbing and graphic images."
Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) in Windsor and Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) in Hamilton both had incidents in the past week.
GECDSB spokesperson Scott Scantlebury says a high school using Microsoft Teams dealt with one brief "uninvited intrusion during a class last week" that involved inappropriate language. He didn't have a full report of the incident, but said the school contacted affected families.
Some people refer to it as "Zoom bombing," a reference to the video communication software called Zoom. There have been similar incidents in online vigils and provincial courts.
HWDSB says it's investigating a racist incident that took place in an online elementary school class last Thursday.
The board says someone got access to a Collegiate Elementary School virtual classroom and "used anti-Black racial slurs and other inappropriate language, and shared disturbing and graphic images."
HWDSB spokesperson Shawn McKillop says the board apologized for the incident and had social workers offering support.
The board says it also reported the incident to Hamilton Police Service, which says it's continuing to investigate.
The board also thought it was an isolated incident — but it wasn't.
On Wednesday, Jeremy Reece said his daughter, a Grade 7 student at Ridgemount Elementary School, had a similar experience the day before the Collegiate incident.
He said a supply teacher was running the class when someone got into the virtual class room and started swearing and using racial slurs.
The board wasn't aware of the incident until receiving questions from CBC Hamilton on Friday.
The news prompted a letter from HWDSB to families on Monday. The board said it was "closer to understanding these breaches did not come from an external source."
HWDSB didn't elaborate, but apologized to families and students affected. It also said the incidents aren't common in remote learning, and educators are aware of enhanced security settings in MS Teams.
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