MCPO Conducts Bias and Cyber Bullying Presentation at Morristown High

Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Samantha DeNegri and Sergeant Patrick LaGuerre recently visited freshmen and sophmore students at Morristown High School, and lead a presentation on bias incidents, cyber harassment, and making smart choices about social media.

The presenters stressed exercising good judgement when it comes to how you interact with others or what you post on social media, adding this applies to videos or images utilizing song lyrics or meme-ified language. How you conduct yourself online could potentially impact your future.

Social media and technology today document everything. SAP DeNegri explained taking or sharing explicit photos can lead to legal ramifications and unintended consequences even years later, and oftentimes are viewed by those others than the intended recipients. The images can still be accessed even if a device is destroyed, and MCPO would not hesitate to prosecute those who malicious share such material, she added.

Sgt. LaGuerre explained the difference between bias crimes and bias incidents, cautioning students that their school administrators can choose to take disciplinary action even if an incident isn’t considered criminal.

SAP DeNegri said Morris County takes a zero-tolerance approach to threats of violence.

The MCPO routinely conducts presentations at public and private schools throughout Morris County to present on these important topics, and to talk directly with students. This year, they’ve conducted over a dozen such assemblies in Morris, Warren and Sussex counties.

Prosecutor Robert J. Carroll said, “In an age of oversaturated digital communication, the MCPO uses face-to-face visits to make a genuine connection with our students. We want our young people to make smart choices about how they interact online and in person.”