Pierce County mom concerned over hacker entering her teenage daughter's Zoom class

People hacking into Zoom classrooms in the Peninsula School District, have some parents concerned over the safety of their children.

During the second week of online classes at Peninsula High School, 14-year-old Jillian Bunch says a stranger entered one of her Zoom classrooms.

“The mysterious person unmuted and just started going off for no reason” she said. “Just vulgar,” Bunch added.

She says this stranger began cursing and saying inappropriate things. The teacher kicked the stranger out of the online class, but the person kept returning to the Zoom.

“But then came back as a different classmates’ name. And it was a girl, but it’s a guy voice so it didn’t add up. So, obviously, it’s not the girl. And he was saying even worse things. And then he went back again as a guy’s name, and he kept going on,” said Bunch.

She says eventually the teacher ended the class. However, Bunch says a similar incident happened in her friend’s class later in the day.

Bunch told her mom, and her mom reached out to the district.

“That’s horrible; who knows who that person is. They can see the children and have the ability to talk through a microphone and chat with them. It’s disgusting and scary,” said Jenn Bunch, Jillian’s mom.

Aimee Gordon, spokesperson for the Peninsula School District, says they are aware of the incidents.

Gordon says a teacher accidentally put a private Zoom link online.

She says IT staff are monitoring Zoom classrooms. She also said they are providing Zoom training to staff.

The bunch family say they are concerned for when Jillian goes back to the online class.

“Actions need to be taken to prevent this from happening in the other classes,” said Jillian Bunch.

Both Tacoma Public Schools and Seattle Public Schools say they are not using Zoom for online classes.

Seattle Public Schools say they’ve had two incidents involving inappropriate content, but teachers are instructed to immediately shut down the session if that happens.

Tacoma schools say they have had no issues.