Eastern Tech To Educate About Racism, Social Media Following Incident

As a result of a racially charged, student-drawn picture distributed via Twitter, officials at say they will be holding sessions on racial tolerance and social networking when school resumes next fall. 

Three students at the Essex school were suspended for drawing the racially offensive picture in a classroom, photographing it, and sending it out via Twitter.

The picture was drawn on June 7—the next to last day of school—by two 10th graders, while a third classmate posted the photo online, Eastern Tech principal Tom Evans said.

The incident was first reported by The Baltimore Sun. The image can be seen at foxbaltimore.com.

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Evans said the drawing, which has been removed, displayed three nooses hanging from a building. It also depicted a burning cross and a tombstone with President Barack Obama's name.

The students created the drawing while the teacher was distracted, speaking with other students regarding a final exam, Evans said. The principal added that once he and the faculty were made aware of the situation, he took immediate action.

"The faculty and staff were appalled by the drawing," Evans said. "We've been told from some parents of African American students that they have heard racially insensitive comments from other students, but never to the level of this drawing."

Evans said he plans on using this incident to educate students in the fall about racism, especially in a school like Eastern Tech, which has a 30 percent minority population. He added that the minority population figure does not account for those of Middle Eastern backgrounds, who are considered white under the demographics breakdown.

"There is no tolerance for this type of behavior," Evans said. "I truly believe that these students involved don't have a hatred for African Americans. These were teenagers making bad decisions when a teacher was not paying attention. Acts like this unfortunately happen far too often still in this country, but as a school we have the ability to use the incident as a teachable moment."

Baltimore County Public Schools spokesman Charles Herndon said this incident, while "troubling" and "concerning," was isolated and should not place a dark cloud over Eastern Tech,

Also, Eastern Tech announced that 94 percent of its Class of 2012 will attend some form of college in the fall and earned $4.6 million in scholarships.

"This was a poorly ill-timed decision by three kids and people should believe nothing but the best when it comes to an exceptional school with national recognition like Eastern Tech," said Herndon, who added that Baltimore County police will not file criminal charges in this case.

"I hope people keep this in context of this being poor decisions by three kids. There's no doubt this is offensive, but no crime was committed and the incident was investigated thoroughly by the school's administration, who took swift and proper action."

Evans said the incident also sheds light on the growing use of social media by students and the impact it can have in the community. While sites like Facebook and Twitter are blocked on school computers, Evans knows that social media plays a large role in the lives of today's youth.

Social media also played a large role in last year's among students. In addition, dozens of Eastern Tech students and alumni turned to Twitter earlier this year when word spread of , which turned out not to be the complete truth.

"Social media makes educators' jobs more difficult," Evans said. "Kids today have grown up with social media in their culture. They post all types of things that they think people aren't looking at it.

"Some of real problems at schools begin on Twitter, especially when those who read a post don't understand its context. Many parents try to monitor their children's use of these sites, but it can be hard, especially if they have multiple accounts."

Herndon said while educators have yet to find a redeeming use for social media in the classroom, it has provided many benefits to schools. It has been used to stop a confrontation when word leaked out about it on Twitter, and using sites like YouTube has helped identify students involved in incidents that were recorded and posted online.

"We live in a constantly evolving media landscape and our educators and administrators are working hard to ensure they keep up with the latest trends."

Do you believe the students at Eastern Tech should be suspended for their racially offensive drawing? Tell us in the comments section below.