A 16-year-old Virgiinia student says she was recently forced to withdraw from her Catholic prep school after sending an explicit photo to two of the school’s star lacrosse players, but that the boys received no punishment even after they got caught sharing the picture with their entire team. Of course… because teenage girls haven’t experienced enough public shame lately.
According to Jezebel, Alexis texted a topless photo of herself to her friends, Jason and Peter (whose names have been changed), on a dare. “He kept saying I wouldn’t, so I said, ‘watch me.’ It was just a joke,” Alexis told the website. Since the three were close friends, the girl trusted that the photo would be kept between them.
Unfortunately, she should’ve thought twice because soon after, Alexis began hearing that the boys had sent her photo to the rest of Paul VI Catholic High School’s lacrosse team. About a week later, her mother received an email from a parent of one of the players, confirming that a few of the teens had been giggling over the photo together during gym class. That’s when things turned really ugly.
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Meanwhile, Jason and Peter were briefly called into the Athletic Director’s office at the time of the incident and then given no further punishment—despite that they had been the one to share the photo in the first place. “That’s what my school does,” Alexis told Jezebel of the discrepancy in disciplinary action. “They only care about sports.”
Someone please explain to me how any school official in their right mind could possibly think that this was a fair way to handle the situation. Was Alexis naive to send the picture and expect nothing to come of it? Absolutely. Still, it was the boys who brought it to school property and showed it around to the rest of the team. Yet somehow, Alexis is one to get expelled and embarrassed while they just get to continue on with their lives as if nothing happened?
That’s ABSURD…almost as absurd as the argument that these lacrosse players were getting harassed. Let’s review the facts: the boys didn’t come forward and complain about the photo or even try to hide the fact that they had it. They got caught passing it around to their friends and giggling over it. Yeah, that sounds like they were having a really tough time.
Though Alexis should’ve been more cautious, I still don’t think she deserved to be treated as poorly as she did—and she sure as hell didn’t deserve to get expelled. That kind of unfair attitude is exactly the kind of thing that has led to so many recent suicides among young teens. The school should’ve either punished all three parties or not gotten involved at all.
