New Method Allows Loudoun County Students to Make False Hate Reports, Parents Warn
Virginia | May 27, 2021
Administrators within the Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) are calling on students to report — anonymously — any acts of bias, discrimination, harassment, or intimidation motivated by prejudice.
LCPS spokesman Wayde Byard told The Virginia Star Wednesday that students may use what they call the Share, Speak Up, Speak Out: Bias Reporting Form to report instances of prejudice or bias.
“Such incidents are usually associated with negative feelings and beliefs about another’s race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, political affiliation, or disability,” Byard said in an email.
Loudoun County parent Karlee Copeland, told The Star this anonymous method has her worried.
“It’s subjective, of course. It’s someone’s anecdotal experience. The kids can go into this tool and report what happened. They can provide the name of the person that they are accusing, and they can choose to not provide their own name. What could go wrong, right? I envision a group of people who maybe want to target an individual child, and they falsely report incidents. They don’t have to be held accountable at all for reporting false information,” Copeland said…
(Excerpts from the Virginia Star)