By Vivian Sade
CHURUBUSCO, Ind. (Nov. 2, 2009) – Robert H. Fleming, a longtime Churubusco citizen, spoke up during the public comment portion of last night’s board meeting at Smith-Green schools, stating he was upset that his tax dollars would go toward fighting an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit involving two teens who posted racy photos on an Internet social network site.
“This is not the school’s position to do anything in this case,” Fleming said. “And now you’re wasting tax dollars to fight a lawsuit you should have never gotten involved in in the first place.”
Fleming said the school had other priorities, including low and failing ISTEP scores, that they should be focusing on instead of reacting to photos copied from the Web by another adult and handed over to the principal at the high school. “I would show that principal the door and tell him not to let it hit his posterior on his way out,” Fleming said.
Churubusco High School principal Austin Couch sat two seats away from Fleming and did not react as Fleming talked.
Fleming was referring to a recent lawsuit filed against Smith-Green Community Schools involving two sophomore girls who were punished by the school for posting sexually suggestive photos on Facebook (not MySpace as stated in earlier news reports) this past summer.
The news broke Wednesday, Oct. 28, after a federal lawsuit had been filed by the ACLU on the girls’ behalf. The lawsuit states that the girls free speech rights were violated by Churubusco High School after administrators banned the girls from sports for what the teens said “was just a joke.”
The two girls, along with three other girls, were attending a sleepover during summer break and took photos of each other posing in lingerie and holding phallic-shaped suckers. The girls did not wear anything that identified them as students of Churubusco High School, and stated they had controlled the privacy settings on Facebook so that only invited friends could view the photos.
The ACLU argues that the incident had no effect on the school, since it happened during summer break. The identity of the parent(s) who downloaded and delivered the photos to Couch, who is named in the lawsuit, has not been confirmed.
The ACLU said Couch went too far after kicking the teens off of all sport teams – first for the entire school year – and later reduced to the fall semester. The girls were also required to apologize to an all-male coaches board and to undergo sexual addiction counseling, which the suit stated was “humiliating.”
ACLU officials have said they are seeking to have all references to the incident expunged from school records and also seeking to prevent similar actions in the future. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling stipulates that students can be disciplined for activities that happen outside of school if the school can prove the activities were dangerous or disruptive.
Although no one on the board responded to Fleming’s comments, near the conclusion of the meeting, board president Tanya Young offered handouts of a statement prepared by Steve Darnell, SGCS superintendent.
Darnell has been advised by Weber not to discuss the pending case in detail, but offered the following statement:
“The multiple pictures brought to school caused a disruption within our athletic teams at the beginning of this year’s seasons. The pictures were highly inappropriate in content and did not reflect the high standards of conduct we expect in our athletes and students who participate in extra-curricular activities.
“Students who are athletes at CHS are subject to rules and expectations at a higher level than students choosing not to participate in extra-curricular activities. They represent our school and community through participation in extra-curricular events and sports in our community and other communities when traveling to away events. We expect our athletes to be held to a higher standard of behavior identified by IHSSA and our board through adopted student behavior rules and expectations. Voluntary participation on a student’s part in extra-curricular events requires students to abide by the code of conduct and identify their agreement to follow these standards of behaviors.
“We stand behind the decisions made by Mr. Austin Couch, high school principal, in this case. When students choose to violate extra-curricular expectations, there are consequences. Violation of the athletic code of conduct requires removal from athletics for a year unless the violating student participates in self-help counseling and appears before the athletic board (comprised of the high school principal, athletic director and varsity coaches) to explain what was learned from the self-help sessions. When a student completes this process, the suspension is reduced to 25 percent of the season.
“As a district, we support our student behavior policies for expected behavior in and out of season. Our administration at the high school makes every effort to assure fairness exists for all of our students.”
A trial date has not yet been scheduled in the U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne.
The suit has unsettled the small town of Churubusco, with people lining up on both sides of the fence. Associated Press, as well as numerous other outlets, have picked up the story and it has since appeared in various media across the nation.
Locally, on Buscovoice.com – a digital news blog launched 18 months ago - the flurry of people posting comments has caused administrators of this Web site to work overtime moderating, editing, posting and deleting comments. All of the comments are listed below the original story.
“It’s been unbelievable,” said Chris Tomlinson, co-owner and technical manager of Buscovoice.com. “People are upset. This is the most response we’ve ever seen to one article. We’ve had to post an editorial plea asking people to please play nice and be respectful of other people’s opinions. But we still have to edit with a heavy hand and delete a few.”
Parents of the athletes involved said that this is the very reason the other parents (of the girls involved in the incident, but not in the lawsuit) chose not to get involved.
These were just young girls being silly, the parent, who asked not to be identified, said. “The other parents didn’t want to be involved in this because they were worried about the backlash from the community, which – after this week – we completely understand,” the parent said.
Above all, said a close friend of the families involved, “We need to remember that these are just kids and this is just high school. Let’s not ruin these girls’ lives over something that was supposed to be a joke, and was quickly dealt with by their parents.”
Well put Mr. Darnell!
Did this incident happen after Aug 1?
actually the photos were on printed from one of the kids Myspace pages. This happend durning the memoredum period when the schoos are not allowed per the state to hold any type of practice or work outs.
you can hold practices, camps,you just can’t disciple them for not participating. So once again I am asking when did this happen?
Mr. Fleming what would you have done when presented with this situation? Why fire Mr Couch for following protocol?
Once again it doesnt matter when it happened. All that needs to be said is that it was durning summer vacation, which by the way, the school did go by the state laws about having practice etc. None of the teams held any practice durning that time. Mr. Couch has done a great job with the tools that have been made available to him. Letting him go would not do justice to the school or the community. He handled the situration the best he could. All the school needs to do is revisit the handbook, this whole thing would be over with.
Lets just drop it. The school was wrong, the person who turned it in was wrong, the girls were wrong (judgement) and now the only one who gets to pay for it is the community. I think the ACLU is wrong as well for persuing it even further. As long as the school reinstated the girls and got rid of the records, the sitiuation should be resolved.
****Editor’s Note****
Everyone who is reading, as I mentioned in the first story, we are proud to provide our readers and community a “digital coffee shop” to discuss any and all issues that are part of our lives and our town. Again, we live in a great country that offers us this opportunity, but I must remind everyone of a few guidelines.
We reserve the right to add, edit, modify or even delete comments at our discretion. Please keep it as civil as possible and by all means please don’t send us comments that are rude or obnoxious. We’re starting to see some of those and if it continues, we will close the comment section entirely.
Thank you again for reading BuscoVoice,
Chris Tomlinson
Teenage girls (under the age of 18) posing in lingerie performing sex acts on a phallic shaped object. I’m not a rocket scientist but this sure sounds like child porn to me! Seems like someone should be investigated and charged with a felony!
These pictures are now posted on the internet, where they can be downloaded by one of their Myspace friends computers and then posted for child pornographers to trade.
Their parents must be so proud!
cheerleaders, football and new era do practice and workout in the summer. and it does matter
To Cheryl. Have you seen the pictures with your own two eyes? because if you had you would know that these girls were not in lingerie and were not “performing” any sex act! they were just posing for a picture with them! please everyone stop acting like you have seen the pictures yourself! No one should be judging these girls until they can say they have seen the pictures! we live in a small town with more rumors than anywhere i have ever lived. You can’t believe everything you hear.
To the comment to the parents about them being proud. In my opinion this was totally uncalled for. What these parents are going through right now is horrible. To make statements like that is so unfair and cruel. You show me a child who has never, I mean NEVER done anything that a parent was not upset about. NO one should be judging these parents it’s not like they took the pictures of them. Now that would be another matter and possibly deserve your cruel comment. All I can say to you is people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. And in this community we all live in glass houses that’ how everyone seems to know so much about our private lives. When people start judging others and assuming they know things they have NO CLUE about it only shows their ignorance. That comment has me really upset as I am proud to say I know these people I know these girls. I’m not as ashamed of them as I am the parent who started all this trouble, the school for getting involved and those who voice comments like this. What these families have had to endure is totally insane. Cruel people in our community attacking them, bashing them and criticizing them for something that should have NEVER become a public matter. Some very educated readers have shined some light on matter of child porn and exactly what it is. Others have taken the time to research the handbook and EVERYONE’S civil rights. I applaud these people because when they make their comments it’s only to help educate people who need educating. The only person I believe who is proud of this situation and all the attention it has gotten, not to mention the publicity, is the parent who printed these pictures and turned them into the school. I truly believe the school is wishing they had made a better choice than to act as someone’s puppet and not act with decency and respect to these families. We as parents raise our children with love, respect and we teach them right from wrong. We teach them to be kind to others and respectful. We support them and encourage them to become successful, respectful adults. The bottom line we can teach them all these things, we can not prevent them from making mistakes or for making poor judgments. This is only a tool for learning most of us learn from our mistakes. And as parents we continue to keep pointing them in the right direction of life. What we have here are some very nice girls who made some very immature, stupid mistakes. Mistakes they will learn from and have already. Parents who love their children and are taking a stand as to just WHO has the right to get involved in their private family lives and start handing out punishments to their children. They have all received punishments at home and that is where it should have come from, that is where it should have ended. NOT one of these people would have dreamed we would be where we are today. I see this as a LIFE Lesson for all of us! A wake up call for not only our children but for us as adults. A wake up call that NO ONE IS PERFECT, NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT TO ASSUME OR JUDGE OTHERS, and HOW MANY PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY JUMP TO CRITICIZE, RIDICULE, AND SPEAK WITHOUT GETTING THEIR FACTS BEFORE THEY POST COMMENTS. In this very small community we have so many people who seem to thrive on other people’s business and misfortune. Who hold themselves superior to others, and can be so very very cruel. But on the brighter side I’ve read comments from people who are intelligent and do a little research about the incident and try to educate so others don’t cast those stones, so they don’t make cruel and disrespectful comments that have NO BEARING ON THE BIG PICTURE AND THE FACTS AT HAND IN THIS CASE.
Why did you take off my comment?
In response to ENOUGH…this is true all children have done things that we regret and that parents regret, but when you make a civil suit about it that is when you have to expect the heat. If the parents cannot take the heat then drop the lawsuit. The comment was justified in my opinion because it is directly related to the pictures and the parents. It does matter, child pornography is a felony offense. If any adult would have been in possesion of those photos there is a strong possibility they would be charged with possesion of child pornography. Yes this is other peoples business, but when you post your business on the internet it is no longer personal. If it was so personal then why is it on the internet? If you want a private life and people to stay out of your business then keep it to your self. This has gotten way out of hand, a lawsuit over a 25% of the season suspension of a high school volleyball season. Who cares it is high school, people make high school the highlight of their lives, yes it is fun, but their is so much more in life to accomplish. I think the best thing that could happen is for everyone to drop this the girls served their suspension and it is done and over with. Why make a federal case about something that doesn’t really matter in the big picture. Mr. Couch simply follwed the protocol, and when you represent a team you represent them as a whole, not as an individual. Your actions count whether you are in season, off season, on the court, or off the court. Playing sports is a privilage not a right. You have to earn the right.
(Some of you) need to go back and re-read the other postings from the (ones) who took the time to get their facts on this case and facts about what the suit is about. These were not child porn pictures. These were not posted on a public internet sight. This is not about the girls trying to get out of a punishment. Ignorant people gazing through a small peep hole rather then looking at the big picture is exactly what’s wrong with not only our community but society as well. Only hearing half of the story when all has been told. As for an adult having possession of these pictures, well that’s exactly how this whole mess got started. An ADULT went into their child’s friend’s “PRIVATE” sight then PRINTED these photos. Hmmm. And to clarify one more thing – these pictures were not PORN. (See the comment from the law student – Joshua Herron – for a link to the laws that define child porn) To Justin: do the victims a favor – GET YOUR FACTS before you post something again.
Enough… The girls posted pictures that the school thought was inappropiate and disciplined them for it. My point is this, the girls represent the High school on and off the field or in this case the court. I played High School sports and the last thing I wanted, was to have a negative reputation. What facts are you speaking of that I had wrong? Read what the student’s agenda states about athletics and extracurricular activities. These pictures were posted on a PUBLIC website, but only certain friends were allowed to see them. It is called a private picture/ album, but the friends who recieved the link could simply save them to their computer and then repost them for the whole world to see. The children are not 18,their parents do have a right to view their facebook/myspace pages. The parent who brought the pictures forward did the girls a favor. When someone makes a mistake their are consequences, what is so hard for people to understand about that, and once again 25% of a High school sports season. Take the punishment and shut it.
I really wish screaming at my monitor changed peoples minds. Lets see what can I say again that I’ve said again already. Um well there’s that whole bit about the first amendment……..Screw it I’m just gonna copy n paste a bunch of stuff because I’ll be honest folks I may know a bunch of fancy words like loquacious but I cant spell them and normally i type like this u c im not use any kind of punctuation (i’ll be damned i spelled punctuation right, thats funny cuz “normally” stumped me) and yeah i usually leave a lot of words out cuz i think 2 fast and type one handed. Now read this
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the Congress from making laws “respecting an establishment of religion”, prohibiting the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech and infringing on the freedom of the press. In the 20th century, the Supreme Court held that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies the First Amendment to each state, including any local government.
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) to the United States Constitution, along with the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, was adopted after the Civil War as one of the Reconstruction Amendments on July 9, 1868. The amendment provides a broad definition of citizenship, overruling the decision in Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), which had excluded slaves, and their descendants, from possessing Constitutional rights; this was used in the mid-20th century to dismantle racial segregation in the United States, as in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Its Due Process Clause has been used to apply most of the Bill of Rights to the states. This clause has also been used to recognize: (1) substantive due process rights, such as parental and marriage rights; and (2) procedural due process rights requiring that certain steps, such as a hearing, be followed before a person’s “life, liberty, or property” can be taken away. The amendment’s Equal Protection Clause requires states to provide equal protection under the law to all people within their jurisdictions. The amendment also includes a number of clauses dealing with the Confederacy and its officials.
Now I would like to take up a little digital space to remind everyone of the existence of such sites as, google.com and wikipedia.com I’m not finished just too tired to continue. I will return, to finish nailing the naysayers, and to all yous naysayers if your tired of gettin nailed maybe you should try gettin stoned.