via
komonews:
Dozens of Gig Harbor High School students demonstrated outside the school Monday to protest an official's decision to show parents surveillance video of their daughter kissing another girl.The controversy arose after the school's dean of students, Keith Nelson, saw the two kissing and holding hands and found video of it on the surveillance system. He showed it to the parents of one of the girls because they had asked to be kept apprised of her behavior.The parents moved the girl to a different school district after watching it.
One student reporting the demonstration for the school paper, Amber Critchley, said the protesters believe it was an improper use of the surveillance video, which is primarily a security feature. Classes continued during the disruption, said Principal Greg Schellenberg. He said he congratulated the students on holding a peaceful demonstration. The protesters wore T-shirts that said "free love" and waved peace signs.Schellenberg agreed that it was wrong to show the surveillance video to the parents, and said that from now on school officials may only use the surveillance for security monitoring and discipline for actions such as trespassing, vandalism and fighting.Hurray for effective use of school equipment!
Have your parents ever spied on you to see what you and your SO were doing? Do you blame the school, the parents or the girl in this situation?
Recommend
Comments (101)
What, exactly, was the girl doing wrong?
That was completely inappropriate. It'll make students feel paranoid that any little improper(improper because affection is okay but there are some things you should probably hold back on at school) action they take might be broadcasted to their parents.
And to the parents of the girl, way to freaking go. Instead of communicating to your daughter, you just up and move her? how understanding.
It was wrong of the school. Unless it's something dangerous, the private lives of students should ultimately be respected.
shame on the school , way to paranoi the students and be a total tight ass.
way to go students , it takes a lot to hold a peaceful dem and keep all the fighting and stupid stuff out of it.
the parents of the girl should have gotten informed and talked to their daughter , not go and move her away
that dean is definitely not a homie.
The school should have denied the parent's request. The student's love life is none of their concern
Parents these days.
They asked the school system to tell them what their child was doing? Unless the girl was in some more serious trouble before this happened, seems like paranoia to me!
Also, this is what happens when parents like those ^ and school systems that don't properly think these things through join forces. Congratulations are in order for the students, I only wish the parents would have been a tad more open-minded.
poor girl, she couldn't be happy.
Yeah because moving schools is going to stop how a person feels.
People are so stupid and reactionary.
Parents + school are the problem.
I blame the school and the parents. The school because of an abuse and misuse of their power and the parents for not letting their daughter be happy.
@lapis_lazuli917@xanga - Amen! I think the schools were completely wrong to have showed and released that informations to parents. And kudos to the students for responding so well.
As for the overall question presented in the post: My school released private information the the student body. Worst school ever.I approached a school counselor in private about a boy who was asking me to do thigns sexually I was not comfortable with. And I caught him telling another teacher about my situation and well..rumors spread quickly. My school promptly gave me an in school suspension for freaking out about it while I was labeled as a whore. But private catholic schools can get away with anything...
que? jk. that's lame.Â
I would say that the surveillance equipment being used in this fashion is a misappropriation of both school resources, and the resources of the school's employee.
Ultimately though, the wrong doers here are the parents. This is a fairly obvious denial of their child's wishes in favor of some kind of dogma or social stigma. Their daughter's reaction to it in the way that she interacts with and deals with them once she is no longer a minor will undoubtedly reflect that decision. If the parents don't reconsider, I should hope that the daughter would have the fortitude to make them understand that choosing to avoid stigma over her happiness was the wrong decision to make.
Parents and school were both irresponsible.
Unless the school had a strict no hand holding/kissing policy and did the same thing for all other couples, no matter what sex, I definitely blame the school.
@MartialArtist322@xanga - what the hell! thats so stupid!
conselors are supposed to keep student things confidential, by law.
by the way, where's the logic? if you WERENT comfortable with sexual things, how does that make you a whore, exactly? isn't that kind of....the opposite?
As a parent, I don't see how this it is wrong to want to know what your children are up to. There is a fine line between privacy and just not having any trust, but if the girl had given her parents reason to think she was acting against their rules.....they are her parents, they have the right to know.
Nah, my parents don't keep track of that stuff anymore. We're both 18, it's whatevs. The school totally sucks in this situation.
I definitely blame the school. I feel as though they weren't using the security cameras for what they are needed for.
How could anybody blame the girl?
@XxFireXboltxX@xanga - There's a difference between being alerted to disciplinary problems and being alerted to a relationship.
shame on that dirty, narrow minded man!
A stupid move that will create a further gap between teens and parents/authority figures.
That's terrible. If she were making out with some random boy, nothing would have happened.
@josiebunny@xanga - Exactly my thoughts!
that is absolutely ridiculous.
@another_rebel_without_a_cause@xanga - But it's the same thing, maybe they had forbid her from being in a relationship, boy or girl. I would expect the school my son attends to let me know the second anything happens --- maybe this girl she was seeing had her own disciplinary issues and the school didn't want the other girl to be involved --- either way, her parents have the right to know.