Racist Messages Airdropped To iPhones At A Westwood Middle School

WESTWOOD, MA — Police are now involved after racist and inappropriate messages were anonymously sent to the phones of students and staff via AirDrop at a middle school in Westwood this week.

Thurston Middle School principal Michael Redmon sent out a letter to parents Wednesday saying students and staff members both "reported receiving highly inappropriate, offensive and racist messages" from an anonymous number using the AirDrop feature on their iPhones.

Some students reported receiving an AirDrop message from an iPhone whose username alias was a racial slur, another one received a message using a "vulgar phrase about President Biden."

Redmon called the incidents "harmful and disturbing," adding that one student received an AirDrop message "with an unkind image intended to make fun of the recipient."

AirDrop is an iPhone feature that uses Bluetooth to instantly send media between iPhone devices within 30 feet. The sender can change the name of their device, making it harder to determine who sent the messages.

"The use of racist or hateful language and symbols is a transgression against the community and has no place in our schools," Westwood Schools Superintendent Emily Parks said in a statement. "We will continue the important work of helping our students learn to treat one another with dignity, to respect differences and use technology ethically."

Westwood police are aware of the incident, and Redmond said school officials will now enforce a strict "no phones in school" policy. Redmond added that there will be an evening program for parents on social media usage on May 7.

"These hateful messages were clearly intended to put down others and cause disruption - they have no place in our community," Redmon said.