Not being able to participate in extra-cirricular activities is their consequence. The school has to protect themselves as well as the rest of the students. It was their choice to act in such a manner to get them removed from those activities, no one else made that choice. Their parents would surely blame the school and staff if these girls went on trips with their teams and got into trouble with similar misconduct, not to mention having to be accountable to other parents. If they let them stay on the team and more problems come up, the school stands in danger of a lawsuit.

The blame needs to fall on the students and their parents not school officials who must enforce their rules. I have nephews that play several sports and they have to keep a good GPA as well as keep their behavior in-line. If they were to have behavior issues, they wouldn't be allowed on the team either. If you want to be on a team, you must act accordingly.

Perhaps having to sit it out until next year will make the point...It's consequence for their actions.

__________________
* Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy.

~Ron Paul

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
- James Madison

That's totally sexist and inappropriate. So what if they were female coaches, it would make a difference? Your assuming very disgusting things about someone b/c of their gender.

__________________
* Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy.

~Ron Paul

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
- James Madison

In my opinion, the school was way out of line here. These pictures were taken over summer break (not during any sports or extra-curricular season), posted on myspace with restricted access so only friends could see them (not open to public viewing), and showed no illegal activity. Yes, often students agree certain behavior guidelines when participating in activities. However, the behaviors in question are normally academically-related and things like drinking, smoking, etc. - things illegal for them to participate in anyway. Also, the behavior "agreement" is in place for the duration of the activity. The pictures were not taken during that time-frame.

Print photos also exist beyond the time they were taken. If someone distributes a traditional photo taken three months, a year, or even three years earlier, should that be used to punish students today? Because the problem the school claims is the distribution of the photos, which could just as easily happen with a traditional photo.

For those of you agreeing with the school, I'm curious as to where you'd draw the line. Should the school be able to ban a boy from sports because a friend snapped a picture of him flipping off the camera? Or pointing to the package? What about if a student comes to school boasting about having sex with his girlfriend or her boyfriend - should the girlfriend/boyfriend be banned from activities? Do we really want to go down that path?

And as far as the girls being forced to apologize to the all-male coaches counsel, what on earth are they apologizing for??? Apologize to their parents - absolutely. Random coaches, no way. That's absurd.

As far as the school disruption theory, I think whoever brought and distributed the photos should absolutely get in trouble. But unless I'm missing something, the girls in question were not the ones who brought them to school.

Off my soapbox now, lol.

The girls in question absolutely brought them to school...everyone knows (the kids more than the adults) that anything you post on the web is subject to be seen by the entire world...no question...kids all know this..this is their world and generation and how they've been brought up. Me? I'm older so have to remind myself that everything is out there.

__________________
I just wanna live while I'm alive...

I agree. If one child from that school was on their friends list, they distributed their pics to their classmates.

It's not like they got kicked out of school, just out of the activities that the school has to depend on their good behavior to keep all the kids safe.

__________________
* Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy.

~Ron Paul

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
- James Madison

So what you're saying is that the students who brought and distributed them are in no way responsible for their own actions? If I have a pile of pictures in my home and I allow three friends to view the pictures, and one of them takes a picture and distributes it around the school, how is that different? The girls set their privacy settings to friends only so that friends could VIEW the pictures. Was it the best idea? Obviously not in light of what happened.

And I strongly disagree that kids always think about that the whole world can see everything. I've talked repeatedly with my 12-year-old about his responsibility for digital images that he puts out there yes, but also that he may receive. I don't think most parents have those conversations with their children. And I'd bet that those girls thought their "friends" would never do something like print and distribute those pictures. Most of us did (and still do) have moments where we trust the wrong people and later pay for that choice.

I honestly think if the pictures were of a boy, dressed in boxers, wiggling his tongue through his fingers in the shape of a V, this would not be an issue. It would be equally suggestive, equally inappropriate, but I doubt as many people would view it as a "moral" issue large enough to warrant the school demanding the students to issue a formal apology to a panel of coaches, and suspending them from a good portion of a semester's extra-curricular activities.

I guess I'm not clear on who this is designed to keep safe. Do you mean the girls taking the picture in some way jeopardizes other students' safety? Or that the distribution of the pictures threatens the girls' safety?

Well it puts the girls at risk from taunting peers and unwanted sexual advances. It also puts the school at risk of lawsuit should they behave this way on extra-cirricular outings, not only from the girl's parents but from other children's parents. Yes, this does bring trouble to the school's door. Why should they be made to take risk when their requirements of conduct are set?

Some parental monitoring of their myspace pages would have nipped this in the bud. Why aren't people looking to the girls and parents for accountability at all?

__________________
* Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy.

~Ron Paul

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
- James Madison

If that was their punishment and they can't participate b/c of it, it's their own fault, not the school's fault.

__________________
* Let it not be said that no one cared, that no one objected once it's realized that our liberties and wealth are in jeopardy.

~Ron Paul

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
- James Madison

Our local high school requires each kid wanting to participate in sports to sign a Code of Ethics -- now I don't know what is on it but basically it comes down to a list of things that students cannot do and, if they do them, they will be removed from the team. Sports are not a right - they are a privilege.

I don't have a problem with the girls getting in trouble. High school is suppose to prepare you for adulthood and the workforce. There are things, as an adult, that if I did and them publicized them on Facebook or MySpace that I would lose clients over or could be fired from in my part time position.

The parents of these girls, aren't fixing the problem, they are just prolonging it. At what point do the girls learn that they need to take accountability for their actions, grow up, and move on? They should be glad that it happened now, as minors, where the courts "protect" their identities by not using their full names.