• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

A viewer contacted our "On Your Side" newsroom Tuesday, concerned about a Facebook page created within the last several days with vicious posts and comments targeting students and teachers at Middleton High.

"I'm just shocked at the ugliness," Michael Valencia, a parent of two at Middleton High said. "It just broke my heart."

"Viking Confessions" was allegedly created by a student(s) within the last week. It is the latest example of cyber-bullying, featuring derogatory comments aimed directly at students and teachers.

Sophomore Harmony Hines says one post talks about a teacher having sex with students. Hines is disappointed with the actions of her peers. 

"It puts a bad reputation on us," Hines said. "People here are going to think of the "Viking Confessions" page and they are going to think of all the stuff, the bad things and not the good things about us."

Middleton High principal Mike Williams first learned about the Facebook page early Tuesday morning. He and staff members spent much of the day taking the page down. They have made little progress in finding those responsible, but Williams argues parents and Facebook share in the blame.

"[Parents] You're responsibility doesn't end when they walk out the door, Williams said, "it doesn't end when the bedroom door shuts at night. And, for every day I suspend a student is it $100 dollars I lose? Is this going to cost me $500 dollars or $1,000 dollars? This is because of Facebook, not the school, Facebook. So where does there responsibility lie in this? It's a question we need to answer."

Kelley Anderson, a school resource officer with Middleton for more than a decade has a clear message for the culprit(s).

"This isn't a joke," Anderson said, "it's not funny, they're talking about real people when they make these comments, when they create these posts. And, these real people have real feelings and they're affected by it."

The high school's Information Technology Director confirmed to Today's 6 and Fox 9 "Viking Confessions" was created on a home computer or a cell phone because the Middleton School District does not allow its students access to Facebook on school computers.