The Antelope Valley Times

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Palmdale parent concerned about pornography at school

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no pornBy Palmdale resident Ronald Clayton, concerned parent

Below is a letter sent Aug. 28 via email to Palmdale School District Superintendent Raul Maldonado. I fear that it may have fallen on deaf ears, as this letter has not been responded to. Considering the nature of the issue, I feel that exposure is the only way to conquer this problem. I hope this helps bring the necessary awareness to our community to better protect our children.

Dear Mr. Maldonado,

This letter is for information purposes to inform our community of educators, staff, noon duties or anyone who may be in direct contact with our students. As a concerned parent (and I’m sure that I’m not the only one), I strongly feel this is an extremely urgent matter that should be addressed immediately.

Those students who I feel are at the greatest risk are middle school students. This doesn’t mean it’s not happening at other grade levels. This is a problem that extends to all school districts of L.A. county, but happens to be of great importance to myself and my family considering we now have firsthand experience right here in our own district. I feel as though it’s my civic duty to inform all schools, someway somehow.

At the end of last school year, my child was exposed to extremely graphic — and I emphasize extremely graphic — pornography while on school campus during school hours by another student using a cellphone.

My wife and I have absolute confirmation that these events have been taking place in locker rooms, the cafeteria, outside and even in class. You name it and it’s there.

We decided to share with our child’s principal some of the events that have taken place in the school before the end of the year. We figure as parents we have to give the principal the opportunity to get ahold of the situation and make necessary adjustments to correct the problem.

My concern is this: Will word get out informing anyone else of the ever growing problem? Will it be kept on-site just at this school and efforts just fade after a week or two? Has your staff had the integrity to tell you?

I was eager to attend back-to-school night. I did, but felt greatly disappointed just by the general atmosphere. Maybe it was just utter disgust at what my child had been exposed to, knowing he will spend another year there.

I was curious to know the results, other than “I assure you it’s not happening because our staff already knows our cellphone policies… blah…. blah… blah.” I decided to ask some staff members if they were aware of such a problem. Their answer was no. Not very responsible if you ask me!

Now I do take into consideration it has only been a few weeks since the beginning of the school year and your AP’s are barely settling in. But I make no excuses for administrators in the lack of their performance of duties nor will I accept blame for not doing my part.

I may ruffle a few feathers or step on a few toes but the word should spread as far and as fast as possible, not just on deaf ears. This is important now more than ever when schools will start asking students to bring their own devices for school purposes and promote using fallible resources such as Youtube for tutoring.

Be vigilant, be strong, be aware. Parents will thank you, Palmdale will thank you, California will thank you.

–

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of The AV Times.

Email letters@www.theavtimes.com to submit a story to Your Issues | Your News.

Filed Under: Opinion

53 comments for "Palmdale parent concerned about pornography at school"

  1. This is exactly why phones should NOT be allowed in school. Back when I was in high school and cell phones were just coming out, phones were confiscated if they were seen. Now kids who are in elementary school have phones that can go on the internet. Honestly I find blame in both the parents and the schools. Reasons like this is exactly why my daughter will only have an “emergency phone”. Something that can only call certain numbers.

  2. I am amazed! The students who are on “SCHOOL GROUNDS” using cell phone devices inappropriately need to have some type of reprimand from the school itself! If that person had a porn magazine instead of the cell phone and was caught I would hope he would be reprimanded. Where is the supervision at the schools which by law they are responsible for each student and staff on there campuses. This say and age cells phones are very useful and in some instances used as educational tools, life line, and emergency. Everyone forgets that children are at risk everyday but we hope they are watched especially in an environment in which the possibility of a teacher or other staff having sexual relations with a child! So why is it different when another student shows sexual content to another student? Of that student was using a computer at school and watched porn that student would be reprimanded!?? The same applys here! I am a parent who is not against kids having cell phones especially with shootings, stabbings, and other crazy stuff that has happened all over schools and campuses. Believe me everyone agrees.
    Times have changed cell phones are in BUT the responsibility of our children being supervised EVERYWHERE in schools and campuses is there responsibility!!? YES parents also need to play the role as Parents to teach responsibility when it comes to Cell phones just like anyone who would teach about guns, knives, and drugs!! Students also need to be held accountable thats why they sign contracts at the beginning of school which are rules and guidelines! Schools also need to abide by similar guidelines! We all as a community need to be aware and act. Did anyone hear the saying it takes a village to raise a child.? …I would question why the students have this extra time by themselves in this locker room?? What if it was children being bullied or maybe having Sex or doing drugs..would the school take action them? I like the way the unsupervised time on school GROUNDS and campuses is when a majority of all issues happen..Who takes responsibility when a teacher has relations with a student during those Times..who takes responsibility if student’s are doing drugs..who takes responsibility if someone has a weapon…schools should find the time to look into how they can remeady the situations…also parents find the time to talk to your kids..
    Cell phones are here to stay. Responsibility should not come and go. Parenting also should not come and go. Without rules and guidelines and everyone following them we find ourselves on this topic and many others…

  3. Wow you parents are stupid. Just for watching porn you wanna do all this stuff. Man this city is doomed.

    • @brian
      “Just for watching porn” you say. Are you a parent? It’s degrading and addicting vile trash. Anyone who watches it doesn’t have any morals. It has ruined many lives. It doesn’t belong on school grounds. The school is responsible for children on school grounds. They need better supervision. Brian the city is doomed with men like you in it!!

  4. A suggestion, the children will check their cellphones in before first period class and be given your average flip phone in its place to quell the life line fears of parents. They would then check in their school flip phone for their own cellphone at end of school. They would learn responsibility in the mean time with such a contract. No smartphones would be allowed during any period or lunch. They would be considered contraband if found otherwise. If they cannot properly control the educational environment of our children, then the education system needs a complete overhaul.

  5. As a middle school teacher, it is one of our biggest challenges. Phones are out, earbuds are in, and students act as if they are entitled to use the device as they see fit. We can’t confiscate it until the end of the day; parents shrug and become angry that we’re preventing a “life line” of communication. Text messages are of obscene and pornographic nature, images are passed around, and we are powerless other than to ask that the phone is put away. I reiterate, parents enable their children with phones and no one has control over them except the child. I commend those parents who have access and control, but they are in a very small minority. The majority of parents just don’t care or simply ignore the problem. It’d be interesting if they looked at their child’s phone once in a while. Additionally, I recently read of an app that looks like a calculator which is really nothing more than a controlled password enabled location where texts, video, and images can be stored without anyone knowing what is hidden. I say students really don’t need phones at school. We have landlines for emergency needs, much like yester-year, when there were no cell phones. What did we do when we needed to contact a parent? Use the office phone. However, the device is “out-of-the-bag” and any attempt to control it now is long lost. Our only hope is that parents become proactive. However, I don’t see that happening either.

    • I really feel this response. Well said.

      I get the ‘life line’ you speak of, but really these are KIDS ppl.. Not only are cellphones being used as what the letter describes above bit also as ‘game boys’. I feel high-schoolers should be the only grades that allow cellphones. That way they can also be held responsible more effectively .

      My daughter is 13 very hard working. Raised on a ranch with me, knows responsibility. She ALWAYS shuts her phone off before school n turns it on walking out of school. If more kids were like this and know they don’t need to feed off these things every minute. But as parents we’re allowing this. The teacher above is right small minority are involved via apps n lockout programs. SAD. Should be more.

      Unless students are in a situation they NEED their phone need to have parent write letter as to why. Otherwise it’s not needed.

      As adults some of us have jobs where we can’t have access to our phones. Should bee the dance for kids as example as well.? Idk

  6. For the love of God, the school isn’t responsible for your child/ren. I am so sick and tired of everyone blaming the school or teachers for the things that go wrong on campus. TAKE THE PHONE AWAY FROM YOUR KID IF YOU HAVE FEAR HE OR SHE IS GETTING ACCESS TO PORN. DON’T EXPECT THE SCHOOL TO DO IT FOR YOU! I AM SO NACIOUS AT THE FACT THAT EVERYONE WANTS TO BLAME SOMEONE ELSE FOR THEIR PROBLEMS. IF YOU CAN’T TAKE CARE OF YOUR OWN CHILD/REN, PUT THEM IN FOSTER CARE AND LET THE SYSTEM RAISE THEM FOR YOU. I can promise you, your children are watching porn in the bathroom or in bed at night…not at school. I have NEVER had wifi in my home and I am almost 50. Forget the schools – you need to remove wifi from your own homes. Hate to break it to you moms but when your boy turns 13, he does what every 13 year old does and it is not happening on his school lunch break – it’s happening under his covers at home.

    • I agree that parents are responsible for their own kids behavior. However, in this case, if you read the full letter, this parent can’t solve the problem by taking her kid’s phone away. This is because her kid saw it on ANOTHER KID’S phone. In this case, I’d say that it is partially the school’s responsibility to bring the issue up with the other parents. This woman can’t personally obtain contact info for all students at the school and then send a letter to them herself. In fact, I bet if she tried, the school would inform her they can’t disclose that info for privacy reasons. A simple letter from the school’s to parents would suffice. As well as, perhaps, parent education on how to curb the behavior and block access to such content.

      Plus, a nice, embarrassing assembly on the topic might just make the kids think twice about looking at that stuff in a public setting. What kind of sex ed are they teaching in schools these days, anyway? Because, while under the covers at home might be normal and acceptable, in public is not.

  7. Entitlement mentality! Take the cell phones away from the kiddos, or just allow them to have a phone that calls or receives a call, and only from or to parents.

    • Yeah! I didn’t have a cell phone when I was a kid, so I never talked to anyone but my parents!

      Oh.

      Wait.

      Yeah, don’t think that really makes any difference.

      • It does make a difference! There are cell phones that only call out or receive. No internet is available Mr. Scott. Just a basic phone that’s set up for incoming and outgoing calls.

        • And these magic cell phones repel magazines? They keep the kid from looking at other people’s cell phones? When I was in fifth grade our classroom encyclopedia had dozens of pages from Penthouse taped into the article on human anatomy.

          You are not going to keep curious adolescents away from porn by taking away cell phones. There ARE good reasons to keep them off cell phones, that just isn’t one of them.

  8. It amazes me to see how parents assume the school is a cure all, teach all, handle all for their kids.
    There is no way a school administrator, teacher or other employee can monitor students for porn or other questionable material.
    That’s absurd. Start taking responsibility for your own kids and quit blaming the school for your own parental shortcomings.
    If you really cared, you would find out who showed your child the porn and have a meeting with that child’s parents.
    It starts at home, folks.

    • That’s how school is marketed. Pay your taxes and support the authority of the state and you don’t have to be responsible for educating your kids. And you can hand your money over for safekeeping to a company without taking even a moment to consider their reliability. And you can walk obliviously about with your earbuds in and your eyes shut and be safe. And you can get in a vehicle made of thousands of parts and drive at a speed where a mechanical failure has very good potential to be fatal and never bother to even think about how those parts go together. And on and on and on…we the people have been trading obedience for the opportunity to be irresponsible for generations.

  9. you people kill me. why do you allow your kids to carry with them a phone that does MORE THAN WHAT THEY NEED??????? when your a kid a phone is for emergencies or to call home to say your late. stop bending over backwards to indulge children or is it your conscience for ignoring them? to a kid a phone is now a status symbol and just another means to be belittle another child. START TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN CHILDREN AND STOP DEPENDING ON THE GOVT TO DO IT FOR YOU.

    g. hernandez LLA

    • It doesn’t take much effort to reduce their data so that searching for porn is a lot more difficult. Your basic websites don’t require much data so they can still use it for other purposes. Assuming they aren’t downloading it at home.

      Really no young person should be viewing porn. Even in teens frequent porn viewing can sort of warp the mind to where actual physical contact becomes difficult because the brain has been rewired to be stimulated by porn only. The amount of youmg men suffering from erectile dysfunction is higher today than ever before due to the increase in porn viewing, since its basically free. If young men (and women) understood this they wouldn’t even want to watch it…much.

  10. It is rediculous that schools spend more time enforcing extremist puritan dress codes than they do teaching boys to control their hormones. We have to learn to have self control in order to carry on with education, careers, and becoming adults. Learn the time and place (there’s plenty of time to look at porn after school!)

    Unfortunately, the best thing this parent can do is let go … because Superintendents have been asleep on the job for decades and the only thing any of us can really influence is our own children. If your kids have integrity and focus then they will do ok.

  12. The best solution to this problem is have all students leave their cell phones and other electronic devices with access to Wi-Fi at home. End of the problem!! But guess what? What happened when schools tried to have students wear Uniforms? Remember that?
    By the way they don’t need to be in school to watch porn, now days its readily accessible.

    • YEAH! Back in my day we didn’t have all these electronic devices in school!

      But come to think of it we still had plenty of porn.

      Maybe this “best solution” really has nothing to do with the issue at hand.

    • Not the solution, the reason why is even through the WIFI within the school, students can still access pornography. My own child witnessed another child do this while he was in 4th grade! WIFI is not truly regulated as they claim, further more, the staff has little to no knowledge about how to track students and who is actually accessing pornography.It is happening in classes the most…BELIEVE IT! Even if they claim they closely monitor their WIFI…children still have access to their own networks. This will only get worse when children have free WIFI on buses and share porn with other children with NO SUPERVISION whatsoever. Bus drivers drive to keep their children on time, they won’t have time to police laptops with porn, kindergartners will see such things if this is allowed!

      • Every school is that is accepting ERate funds is mandated to have content blocking in place. This is called CIPA. This will not address any devices connected to a cell network which is the responsibility of the parents, schools do not provide faraday cages. As with any technology, none is perfect all the time. Content for whatever reason can be improperly classified by the content provider used. To say that staff of any district does not monitor or know how to use the products is slander.

        • You must be someone from the school district…teacher, administrator, tech support, principal …?It is not slander to say the staff has little to no knowledge about the technology. Especially when they ask the student for their help because they have to wait for tech support to come! I’m not saying every staff member is clueless, but your getting a little too deep with this “slander” crap. Many teachers decided to retire because they had no clue how to use this technology, Mr. Happy hour. By the way many schools accept many types of funds for specific purposes, does it mean any of the programs are EVER ran exactly as intended??????How about every parent answer that question…..? To say the parents are responsible for their children while at school grounds PSH………children are in the care of the Palmdale School District , and it is their responsibility to keep our children safe from all predators- INCLUDING other children sharing porn. I am not discouraged though, Mr Maldonado is a wonderful superintendent and I truly believe he wants the best for this school district and is deeply invested!

      • Stupid question but why would any district or transportation agency provide open wifi? If they were to provide it, logically it would be transported back to their existing networks.

        • Common Core.

          Young elementary students are now using iPads and Chrome Books to do their assignments. Most assignments for 5th grade on are completed in Google Docs. Get with the program, our children are learning differently and it is a great advancement.

          • Not sure why you responded to this comment. You offer no information in respect to it. Open and unfiltered internet access would put districts at risk for losing federal funds.

  13. What grade is the student in? Instead of writing a letter, did you attempt to stop by and speak to administration face-to-face? Do you know how many students carry electronics now? From 3rd grade on, it is the norm and I deem it impossible (as a parent) to put the responsibility on the shoulders of teachers and administration. Did your student look away? Can he point out the student showing the pornography? Have you gone to the authorities and met with the other parents? It is very easy to accuse schools of what minors are doing, but trust me, educations begins at home and most families are lacking the motivation to truly educate their children. I can’t believe the AV Times posted this letter. I am going to write a letter accusing my relatives of not shielding me of the “cucuy” and the “llorona” to see if it gets posted. AV Times, did you research before damaging the image of the Palmdale School District? They are coming out of some serious turmoil and they can’t seem to catch a break- geez!!!

    • Having god in the schools didn’t work out really well for the Taliban. Why do you think we should follow their lead?

      • Monty,
        This kind of thing also happens in Christian (and other religious)
        schools. You are just fooling yourself if you think it doesn’t.

        • Two words: Josh Duggar

          Did JimBob and Michelle Duggar take God out of their home-school too? See how silly your argument is, Monty?

    • thats right….call on god – like hes been listening. radical islam says the very same thing as does the honorable r parris who says hes building a christian community, congratulations….effendi. welcome to the republican controlled AV. ck your constitutional rights at the AV LASD door.

    • Went to a private school as a kid. In 6th to 8th grade several students had been in sexual relationships with other students, high school students, other students parents (willingly). Magazines were passed around/sold between students, male and female. The person with adult cable channels was VERY popular.
      Before someone says there was not enough responsible teachers, it happens even with nuns, priests, non-order instructors and parents around in the classroom. Kids find places and time to explore the very basic part of human existence, procreation.
      Same thing happened at my wife’s school, she went to a private Christian school. It happens at public schools. It happens. Rather than demonize the activity, use it as an opportunity to teach your child, to sit down and have honest talks with them. Let them know you are human, they are human, and that the act itself is not evil, but that there is a better time and place (wait a few years, not at school).

  15. It’s always amused me how Americans expect young people going through puberty and intense social pressues in schools to behave with more restaint and responsibility about things like sex than mature adults do.

    Ever notice that grownups, even married ones, don’t always have the best control of their urges? It’s in the news all the time, so much so that it’s considered business as usual. .

  16. It is not unusual at all for young men to become sexually active at 13yo HELLOOOOOO. In fact, it is normal… surprise parents. Its called hormones. Human nature. Than you put cell phones into play (we didnt have smart phones when we were growing up), peer pressure, alcohol, kick backs and so on…. and this is where it gets. Remember talking to your friends when you were young about the opposite sex? Didnt most of us do this? Its all how we raise our children and the words we/they choose. One thing is for sure, most of the children in the AV are raised by a single parent home (usually lacking a father). This is NO plus for a boy. So dont be surprised with all that is going on when you are not home. Just be thankful your not a grand parent of a young person in high school…

  17. Palmdale school district superintendent avoids most issues he doesn’t like dealing with them. I havent heard one parent ever say he actually solved a problem. Always that he past the issue down to who ever is underneath him. I had problems and sent him an email and his secretary responded to me to write my complaint on a green paper complaint form. No response back from him. Very unprofessional.

    • I agree. Palmdale school district is a joke! My daughter is an eighth grader at an east side middle school and the things that go on there on a daily basis are unbelievable. It’s really unfortunate that my daughter has to be deprived of a good education just because we happen to reside on the east side.West Palmdale has their own damn school district!!! The school my daughter attends has NO SPORTS, NO EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, NOTHING!! Times sure have changed….its very sad.

      • I agree. i was a substitute teacher with PSD for three years. I think that kids should be entitled to call their parents from a school phone if there is an emergency, or have access to a “dumb phone,” one that does not allow internet searches. It’s not just pornography. Hell, you can be on facebook and friend a total stranger at the age of 13. Kids don’t need the internet to learn. They need Teachers. The Teachers have the internet if they need to pull up something relevant.

        I’m really sorry for all of you parents that are stuck in this mess. We had a saying at PSD… “Gangsters have kids too.” Some parents are just kids raising kids.

  18. In 8 the grade is when we learned all about sex the act videos where babies come etc I’d rather the school teach it to them that to not know at all educating our kids is the first source these kids have some parents aren’t good at talking to their kids about such subjects like periods , sex ed if its something that is between other kids than they need to again educate on where and when this behavior is appropriate what ever the case should be this parent has the right to he concerned and questions answered and addressed to cal m the concern if there is truly a problem it not don’t just ignore it times have changed I’ve been in the av for more than 20 years we as parents have to he responsible for our child and their friends I hope this turns our to be nothing in the end ;)

  20. This is a concerned parent who is looking for some assistance … the fact that students are not well supervised while at school is not just the foundation of porn but also drugs and bullying … I got a real eye opener when my nephew was with me for a time attending Palmdale High School – he let me know that there were spots on campus where the students could easily do drugs and have make out sessions, he claimed even have sex at school. I agree that it’s up to parents to teach their children what’s acceptable behavior but I certainly don’t expect student supervision to be so lax.

    • So at what point between your nephew being a student and you having been one yourself did you shut your eyes so that they could be reopened? Or were you home schooled?

  21. Not sure what the school district can do about this. If it weren’t on cellphones, kids would bring magazines and books to school about the subject. That is what happened when I was in school in the 70s and 80s. I guess they could physically search every kid and backpack, confiscate electronics, add more cameras and have more children arrested. Another win for the “Land of the Free”.

    Maybe instead the parents should educate their children about sex and pornography and convey their views on the subject. That way the children have a point of reference and things aren’t as shocking or taboo enough to be shared in a clandestine manner on school playgrounds.

  23. Instead of blaming the school on behavior of attending children, one could also educate their own children on what is acceptable and what is not. I am pretty sure no child was forced to watch the videos and thus had the choice to turn around and walk away. But, considering the age and the fact that children are curious by nature, it is the task of their parents to educate them on what to do in these situations.

    Thinking that one could prevent his children from ever seeing these media is, in this era of connectivity, just naive.