Girls’ dodgy MySpace pics upset school principal
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- Two girls who posted what they thought were funny pictures on their MySpace pages and upset their school principal are now suing through the the American Civil Liberties Union.
“The girls, identified only by initials, were part of a sleepover last summer attended by other students from Churubusco High School,” says the Whitley County Top News Examiner, going on:
“At the event, they took pictures of themselves ‘pretending to kiss or lick a large multi-colored novelty phallus-shaped lollipop.’ In other photos they were dressed in lingerie with dollar bills tucked into their clothing. They posted the photos on their MySpace pages, which can be accessed only by the friends they select.”
Someone told school principal, Austin Couch (right), and, “Citing a student handbook provision that gives him authority to bar student-athletes from participation if their conduct ‘in or out of school reflects discredit upon Churubusco High School … or creates a disruptive influence on the discipline, good order, moral or educational environment’,” he suspended the girls from “all athletic and extracurricular activities for the year,” says the story, going on:
“When their parents appealed the decision, he gave the students the option to reduce their punishment by 25 percent if they would submit to three counseling sessions and apologize individually to the Athletic Board, made up of coaches for the varsity teams, all of whom are men. The girls submitted to the counseling sessions, and the reports were turned over to the principal.
“The forced counseling was humiliating to the plaintiffs, and being forced to appear before the coaches to apologize for their intended humorous photographs .. was profoundly embarrassing,” according to the Fort Wayne Gazette which adds the ACLU wants the Smith-Green schools prohibited from “continuing to punish the two students and from interpreting the conduct policy to allow such punishment, as well as expunging all references to the matter from their records, according to court documents”.
Whitley County Top News Examiner – ACLU lawsuit over teens’ racy pics on MySpace shakes up sleepy town, October 31, 2009
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November 2nd, 2009 at 3:43 pm
Oh. The school tells people what they can and can’t do in their private lives? At a sleep over? A girls night out? What’s moral and what’s not in their private lives? Punishment for their private lives?
aaaaah
…another brick in the wall.
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:34 pm
I wish we could criminalize stupidity…..
Teacher (principal) leave those kids alone
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:34 pm
We applogize you weren’t on our friends list and couldn’t see some hot kiddie porn.
Wait oops nvm.
Though it brings the question, if he can’t tell the pics are there what proof does he have. And if he saw the pics, were are the kiddy porn charges
November 2nd, 2009 at 6:17 pm
All depends. Public or private school. Public school, should have nothing to do with their private lives. Private, well, they can do what they want. Its not like there was not already a provision saying what they could not do.
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:33 am
The Principal is just mad he wasn’t their friend on Myspace.
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 am
” I wish we could criminalize stupidity….. ”
So putting the pictures on MySpace ,where ANYONE could see them, was smart ?
November 3rd, 2009 at 11:14 am
From the Article
” he identity of the parent who delivered the photos to the high school principal, Austin Couch, who is named in the lawsuit, is unclear. ”
Since their profiles WERE set to private, it’s not going to be too hard for them to figure out which parent did it.
Some girls’ life is going to really suck when they figure it out.
” The Principal is just mad he wasn’t their friend on Myspace. ”
Naah, probably the mother of a girl who wasn’t able to make the team. We’ve read here before how far some of todays parents will go to harm the kids that compete with their own.