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IRMO BOMB-MAKING PROBEComputer Filters Not Foolproof Devices: Middle School Incident Shows Need for Human Backup, Educators

Posted on: Thursday, 11 May 2006, 06:07 CDT

By Bill Robinson, The State, Columbia, S.C.

May 11--By law, any school computer a student uses must be equipped with filters to block access to inappropriate information and images on the Internet.

But nothing is a substitute for ever-vigilant adults, those who work in schools said Wednesday.

That was evident Tuesday when an Irmo Middle School teacher spotted a student in possession of Internet printouts that allegedly outlined how to manufacture homemade explosives.

The teacher followed protocol and alerted a supervisor. A school resource officer and the Lexington County Sheriff's Department were notified. They found evidence of bomb-making activity at the eighth-grader's home.

The 15-year-old faces a charge of manufacturing an explosive device after deputies found what they think is a pipe bomb and homemade napalm in his home.

The Sheriff's Department said it believes the teen brought the instructions to school and did not use a school computer.

Although there is no evidence anyone was threatened directly, the student faces expulsion under the discipline code for "behavior on campus that threatens the safety of students or staff members."

It would have been difficult -- but not impossible -- for a student to acquire bomb-making instructions using a school computer because educators are told to monitor their use.

But as Jeff Salters, Lexington 1's top technology administrator, said: "No filtering system is absolutely fool-proof. You need to be aware and knowledgeable about what your children are doing."

Jim Foster, the state Education Department's spokesman, said the responsibility of doing routine audits of school computer usage falls to local school systems.

"Some have that," Foster said, "but how many, we don't know."

District-level security personnel said that while school employees receive training and advisories on what to watch for when students use computers, that oversight ends when the child leaves campus.

"Parents need to be aware of what children are looking at on the Internet," said Sgt. Chris Funk, a school resource officer in Aiken County.

"Too many times we've observed the computer in the child's bedroom. (It) needs to be in a room designated so parents can be aware of what their children are looking at," he said.

Marie Waldrop, Irmo Middle's principal, said she encourages parents to "monitor what your child does on the computer. They should have their children's passwords to check on what they're doing."

Rick McGee, Richland 2's safety manager, said he has a special laptop computer to monitor the Internet for new, troubling Web sites that might slip through the filter system.

McGee said he also conducts routine training for educators to alert them to what he learns surfing the Internet and exchanging notes with colleagues around the state and nation about trends.

"You have to stay current," he said.

Funk encourages adults to set limits or restrictions on computer use because it is easy to "learn how to make pipe bombs or illegal narcotics."

That's why Mike Poole, who has extensive explosives training as a former police officer, spends time training Lexington-Richland 5 employees in his role the district's safety director.

"A lot of people don't know what a common bomb looks like," Poole said. Most are made of pipes, and he'll have an unarmed one to show during a clinic or seminar.

District 5 teachers also learn how to take and analyze a threat, what to do if they find something they suspect might be an explosive, and how to do searches.

"We even talk about ... what an explosive will do," Poole said, including something as common as a plastic bottle used to hold a mixture of chemicals that react and cause an explosion.

Lexington-Richland 5's Buddy Price said the middle school incident demonstrated "the system we have in place worked."

"The negative aspect is that it might inspire copycats. But it also sends a message to parents that teachers are on top of it."

Reach Robinson at (803) 771-8482.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The State, Columbia, S.C.

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Source: The State (Columbia, S.C.)

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