Blog shut down for being "insulting": Shouldn't this be an issue dealt with by the parents? This story in the Chicago Tribune requires free registration. Mind you, there were no pictures or even nasty cartoons, just text.

Four 8th-grade boys in Wilmette were suspended from school for posting lewd and offensive comments about female classmates on a Web site discovered by one girl's father, officials said Thursday.

More pupils at Wilmette Junior High School, 620 Locust Rd., could be disciplined if officials find out that someone looked at the Web site on a school computer, said Glenn "Max" McGee, District 39 superintendent.

The site contained sexually graphic references regarding specific girls and slurs against Asians and students with disabilities, he said, adding that there were no pictures of pupils or pornographic images.

"We took swift and appropriate action," said McGee, declining to release names of the pupils or the length of their suspensions. Under school code, pupils can be suspended for a maximum of 10 days.

Three pupils developed the site using a home computer, and a fourth had the ability to delete and add to it, he said. Others knew about the site but failed to report it, he said.

Because it disrupted learning, the boys, who identified themselves on the Web site, were disciplined under school code, McGee said.

"It was something the students were talking about, and the girls who heard about it, some of them were obviously very upset and to a certain extent fearful," he said.

A parent found the site last week while reviewing his daughter's computer history, finding her name among the victims of the crude commentary. He reported the Web site to police and e-mailed McGee on Feb. 10.

No criminal charges were filed, but a day later Wilmette police later addressed the entire 8th-grade class during a school assembly. The district sent a letter to parents the same day informing them of the incident.

Meanwhile, one of the boys wrote a message of apology on the Web site, calling their actions "cruel and immature," McGee said.

The site has been disabled.

"I really was so disappointed in the judgment the boys had in doing this," said Mary Raitt, the parent of an 8th-grade girl who was not named on the site. "I felt so bad for the entire class ... particularly when the school has made it a priority to make the kids aware of the importance of treating each other with respect."

Another 8th grader's mother said her daughter had been repeatedly harassed by pupils through instant messaging. She said they sent messages with comments such as "Everybody hates you" or that referred to her as a lesbian.

"This IM stuff can be great, but it's a whole culture to itself and it can be brutal," said the mother, who asked not to be identified for fear that her daughter would be targeted again.

Police Chief George Carpenter complimented school officials and parents on handling the incident quickly and with mutual cooperation.

"It was cause for quick action," Carpenter said. "The school has turned this into a learning opportunity for all of its students."

The Family Awareness Network of New Trier Township, which had scheduled an April 13 seminar for parents on Internet safety, will adjust the program so it includes the topics of cyber-bullying and harassment, said Cynthia Bridges, an organizer.

"We hope to learn from what's just happened and make the presentation pertinent," Bridges said. "Parents do need to be aware of their children's activity."

The public program will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Highcrest Middle School, 569 Hunter Rd., Wilmette.

McGee said this was the first Internet-related incident that he has handled.

"I've been a superintendent since 1985, and maybe back then it was the equivalent of writing something in a notebook or putting something on the bathroom wall," McGee said. "Technology takes things to a whole new level."

I can't recall anyone ever getting in trouble in school for "writing something in a notbook," and comparing what someone puts on the internet, from their home computer, to defacing school property by writing on a bathroom wall, well I have always thought that the strength of the analogy often indicates the strength (or weakness) of the actual case.

I hope at least one of these parents sues the hell out of this school.