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Florida high school's mental health class on Zoom gets 'bombed' with porn

Miami Herald - 3/3/2021

Mar. 3—What happens when porn suddenly appears in a high school Zoom class?

One Florida father says his daughter was so traumatized by what she saw in the mental health class that she can't look at her screen for other classes.

"She's got her tablet face down. She's just listening on her headphones," the father told WESH2 News.

What happened?

A "Zoombomber," a troubling reality in the pandemic world.

According to students and parents, someone broadcast pornographic images in one of the windows on a Zoom video call during a learning session at Titusville High School in Brevard County on Feb. 18.

The Miami Herald reached out to Brevard Public Schools' spokesman Russell Bruhn for comment Wednesday morning.

Bruhn released the school district's statement:

"The district is aware of an incident where a zoom presentation at Titusville High was compromised. We have worked closely with our educational technology team as well as the administration at THS to reinforce security measures and protocols as well as provide additional training."

Brevard Public Schools reported the incident to the Titusville Police Department, which is investigating. Zoom officials were also notified, Bruhn said.

"While incredibly frustrating, we want to assure our families that we will continue to do all we can to provide a safe learning environment in the midst of a very challenging and unusual school year," according to the statement.

Titusville High School Principal Jennifer Gonzalez told WKMG in Orlando that educators shut down the Zoom session as soon as they saw the porn on screen. The school sent an email to parents about the issue.

Zoom bombers" have been a recurring problem for schools and businesses since the COVID-19 pandemic began last March.

Students at a middle school's social studies class in Columbus, Georgia, were subjected to skin-flick images during an online session last year, McClatchy News reported. Such Zoom bombing incidents have affected kindergarten, high schools and college classes.

In February, Temple Beth Or celebrated its 40th anniversary in Kendall with a Zoom meeting but the synagogue's Zoom session was hijacked by hate speech, the Miami Herald reported.

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