Cape Elizabeth middle schoolers shared insensitive content on Minecraft server
Some Cape Elizabeth eighth graders shared inappropriate content in a joint Minecraft server.
There were racist, homophobic, antisemitic, sexually harassing and sexually explicit symbols, images and words in the virtual world of the multiplayer computer game, according to an email Principal Sarah Rubin sent to students, families and staff. She started investigating reports last Tuesday.
“This type of language, symbolism, harassment and harm has no place at Cape Elizabeth Middle School,” she wrote. “It is not ‘just a joke,’ it is not ‘just Minecraft’ and it is not separate from who we are as a school community.”
Through the preliminary investigation, the school determined who created the server while on the school network, who had administrative access and what content was made. However, Rubin said that it has been impossible to identify who created each harmful message because of Minecraft’s interface. The school is still looking into the incident and is encouraging students to report what they know or have seen.
The school’s technology department is working to tighten computer access and supervision on school-issued devices, Rubin said in her email.
Elizabeth Goodspeed, the parent of a first grader, said that this incident makes her more concerned about the overuse of technology in the classroom, especially given that the harmful content was created on a school network.
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“It’s a societal issue,” she said as she picked her child up from school on Monday afternoon.
Maine was the first state to launch a program to provide school-issued devices to every student, originally with the goal to equip all middle school students and teachers with their own devices. Since it launched more than 20 years ago, the program has expanded to more grade levels.
In Cape Elizabeth schools, students are issued devices beginning in elementary school, starting with an iPad.
“It’s harmful for our kids,” Goodspeed said.
The middle school will reemphasize expectations for appropriate use and review when and how they are used.
“We know there are students who feel hurt, angry, targeted, blamed, worried or unsafe,” Rubin wrote in her email. “We also know there are students who may have witnessed something and not known what to do, students who joined without fully understanding what was happening, and students who are now caught up in rumors and accusations.”
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Cape Elizabeth Superintendent Chris Record said in an email Monday that the district is “taking this matter very seriously” and will address any student found to have violated school rules. He also said the school district is providing support to impacted students and “examining our own procedures to help prevent anything like this occurring in the future.”
Eighth graders will gather as a class to address the harm that this incident caused and work toward community repair, Rubin wrote.
“There are larger issues we need to address together,” Rubin wrote.
Staff Writer Drew Johnson contributed to this story.
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Tagged: Cape Elizabeth Schools, technology
Dana Richie is a community reporter covering South Portland and Cape Elizabeth. Originally from Atlanta, she fell in love with the landscape and quirks of coastal New England while completing her undergraduate. More by Dana Richie
