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HIGHLAND — Two anonymous Twitter accounts appear to target gay and minority students at Lone Peak High School, and the mother of one of the targeted students is speaking out against cyber bullying.
Students at Lone Peak High School seem to be aware of the incident, but many of the students have not seen the tweets or the Twitter account.
"They would take pictures of the minorities here and say things about them on Twitter — like, some pretty racist remarks about them," said student Matthew Johnson.
However, the account had several followers who are Lone Peak students. The tweets have not been included due to their offensive nature, but a mother who saw them is campaigning for justice.
"I am a mother who has cried for two days. I have tried to protect him," she said.
The mother has asked not to be identified so that she could protect the identity of her son, who is a student at Lone Peak High School. Someone at the school took a picture of him and posted it on Twitter with a derogatory remark.
"It isn't OK to use the 'N' word," the mother said. "I thought we were past that in this society. They degrade them and belittle them. It is truly a hate crime."
District officials said as soon as the tweets were discovered, the principal had a letter read to the student body warning about cyber bullying, and offered a $100 reward for information about who was responsible.
"We do take things like this very seriously," said Alpine School District spokesperson Rhonda Bromley. "By the end of the day, the site had been taken down."
An apology was later posted on a different Twitter account, claiming it was only a joke. District officials said the school resource officer is investigating.
However, the mother fears she will have to move away, and hopes her son's story will motivate parents of all high school students to have a discussion about bullying.
"The issue really starts at home, so what I want to say is, parents, please talk to your children about cyber bullying," she said. "It is truly a hate crime what has happened to me and my son."
The school district said it is difficult to control what students or others are doing with the school's name or logo on social media.
The victim's mother also said she has contacted the FBI about the incident. The FBI would not confirm or deny if an investigation is underway.
