AMERICAN FORK — Forget the Playboy magazine lurking on a back closet shelf.
The fact that pornographic Web sites can be accessed anywhere, anytime — including in an elementary school computer lab — continues to worry professionals, police, parents and school officials.
Last week, American Fork police received information about two 11-year-old boys who through "trial and error" bypassed the Internet filter at Forbes Elementary School and pulled up a pornographic Web site during class.
They then told nine other fifth-grade students to come see the pornographic pictures, said American Fork Police Sgt. Gregg Ludlow.
"Two of these kids, separately, had gone into the principal, saying that they had seen this and that it had been quite troubling for them," Ludlow said.
The principal called Alpine School District officials and then the police, who opened an investigation.
After an initial review of the computers, officers learned that since the first incident on March 31, the boys had again tried to access the pornographic Web sites at school, Ludlow said.
The boys were suspended Thursday and Friday and are currently on spring break. They will return to class Monday, said Rhonda Bromley, school district spokeswoman.
The substitute teacher who was in the classroom has also been talked to and advised, Bromley said.
Consequences
Rhett McQuiston, captain of Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, didn't fault the school for involving law enforcement, as every situation is different, but said harsh charges for the boys would be unusual.
"If an adult provided them with the images, I'd go after them pretty good," McQuiston said, "but if it's just a couple 11-year-olds looking at adult porn, we usually just give them a good tongue lashing and turn them over to their parents."
McQuiston said he normally gets involved when kids are caught with multiple images of child pornography and they're sending them to their buddies, especially if they involve an estranged girlfriend who attends the same school where the images are circulating.
"We don't actually have a policy about when to involve police," Bromley said. "But there are obvious situations where we feel it's necessary to keep the students safe."
Because the boys are only 11, any legal repercussions would come through the juvenile courts.
Officers haven't finished their investigation yet, but showing pornography to other children means an extra level of culpability beyond just viewing it, Ludlow said.
However, charges for juveniles are not the same as adult felonies or misdemeanors, nor do they carry the same heavy punishments.
In juvenile court, the main focus is on counseling, therapy or rehabilitation.
"When you're dealing with students this young, you're concerned about getting them they help that they need, as well as preventing this from happening with other students," Bromley said. "(But) to say 'boys will be boys' is the wrong way to look at it."
And because of that, the parents of the nine children who were exposed to the images have a right to request consequences, said Rory Reid, a licensed clinical social worker who teaches a class on human sexuality at Utah Valley University.
"The research is still bearing this out," Reid said, "but in the years to come, I expect that we will start to see issues where kids are harmed and traumatized by premature exposure to pornography. It (creates) confusion for kids developmentally."
But he also didn't want the demand for justice to scar the boys for life and create two more victims.
Robert Williams, a clinical psychologist in Orem, suggested one appropriate resolution would be to have the boys — with an adult monitoring their computer use — compile a list of 100 child-friendly Web sites and distribute that list to their peers.
Protections
Occurrences like this are somewhat rare, Bromley said, but always concerning.
The school requires that students and parents sign an Internet use agreement that states students will not try to access inappropriate sites.
The school also uses a filter through the Utah Education Network.
Immediately after this situation, the search word used by the boys, "lesbian," was added to a list of blocked words, Bromley said.
But police officers and therapists both say Internet safety requires more than just a filter.
"With today's technology, parents very much need to be Internet savvy, be able to go in and look at their children's browsing history, see where they've been, what they've been doing," Ludlow said.
Williams said he has talked with young clients who would wake up at 2 a.m. to access the computer, which was in an open area with a filter, but missing a password lock.
"Online pornography is especially pernicious," he said. "Kids have to be protected from that."
Williams encourages parents to begin discussing pornography with their children as soon as they start using the Internet. He also recommended that parents teach a child what to do if a friend invites them to look at something harmful.
"It's basically a variation of the 'just say no' philosophy," he said.
Contributing: Jacob Hancock
Internet safety tips
* Make sure the computer is in a public place
* Install a Web filter
* Require a password to enter the computer, known only by the adults
* Monitor viewing history and cookies
* Be around when your children are using the Internet so you can supervise
* Talk to your children about what they're viewing online
* Teach them how to deal with disturbing images if they stumble across them accidentally
Source: Dr. Robert Williams, Child & Family Psychology in OremInternet safety tips
* Make sure the computer is in a public place
* Install a Web filter
* Require a password to enter the computer, known only by the adults
* Monitor viewing history and cookies
* Be around when your children are using the Internet so you can supervise
* Talk to your children about what they're viewing online
* Teach them how to deal with disturbing images if they stumble across them accidentally
Source: Dr. Robert Williams, Child & Family Psychology
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com