Cheerleaders' Nude Photos Spark Dispute

Images Making Rounds Via Text message; Parents Sue School District After The Cheerleaders Are Suspended From Squad

(CBS)  Two cheerleaders at Bothell High School, near Seattle, were suspended from the squad after school officials learned nude cell phone pictures of the girls were circulating throughout the student body, via text message.

Now, the girls' parents are suing the Northshore School District, alleging school officials acted inappropriately while reprimanding the cheerleaders and failed to go after the students who actually sent the photos. One was suspended for 30 days and the other for the whole school year.

One teen's mother, whose name CBS News is withholding because her daughter is a minor, told us, "If she had been caught taking illegal drugs twice, she would not have been punished this severely. The school has arbitrarily taken away the one thing that my daughter loves most. She will never get that back again."

The school district says it stands by its disciplinary action.

Matthew King, an attorney representing the two families, told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez on The Early Show Tuesday the teens "admit that what they did was an incredible error in judgment. The issue is not whether or not the photos were improper. The issue is what happened after the administration learned of the photos.

"Initially, they (school officials) did not report these to the police until after one of my clients' mothers discovered the photos were floating around and contacted the police herself. In addition, they have done absolutely no investigation into who transmitted these photos, where they came from, how many people had them, those kinds of things."

School administrators say they gave both girls a chance to appeal their discipline to the school board and the disciplinary committee and "everybody across the board thought it was the right thing to do," Rodriguez pointed out.

"Again," King responded, "it's not the issue of the discipline of the girls necessarily as much as it is the lack of discipline. There is an implied 'boys will be boys' sort of mentality here, where none of the boys who had these photos on their phones were ever punished. That's a problem, we feel."

King concedes that, "The student code of the conduct does say that athletes are held to a higher standard. The problem that we have -- one of my clients took the photo back when she was 13, before she even was a student at the school and the photo, unfortunately, has been following her around from grade level to grade level. As a result, I find it difficult to believe she can be punished for something violating a code of conduct that she simply had no knowledge of until after she got into high school."

His clients, King added, "certainly know this is an inappropriate thing to do. They know that, even though it may sounds like a fun and sort of frivolous idea, it can have serious impacts for the rest of their lives."

King says the families aren't seeking monetary damages, but want the record corrected. "They do not want this to affect college admission," he told CBS News, "and they are asking for school district to apologize for the improper way investigation was handled. They also want the legal fees paid for."

[ArwanCrow]

Ok, I have read and heard enough about all of this from all points of view. I Usually stay out of things that don't concern me or my family. I was raised a nudist and a christian one at that. However I also have a son and daughter and I don't run around nude in front of them, nor do I allow them to run around nude. I believe it is to each their own. I don't agree that CHILDREN should be allowed to take photos of them selves or other children nude. Much less send them out to other people. In this day of advanced phones, and cameras it makes it especially hard to stop it. Yes most people just figure boys will be boys, I don't agree to that either. I believe in complete equality though and if the girls are going to get punished then so should everyone involved. CHILD PORN IS ILLEGAL NO MATTER OF AGE OR WHO, OR WHAT YOU DO. I have seen on news how they have arrested foreign officials for collecting it. They didn't arrest, or punish the girls that took the photos. If a person is caught with it they get arrested, so why don't they arrest the people who are sending the photos as well as the people taking them. I think they all need to be punished.

Also I read about this on another news sight and people are trying to blame the schools or the teachers. Since when is it the teachers job to raise our kids? I think a lot of these parents need a swift kick in the rear and a good smack across the head to get their brains working. Take responsability, (yeah maybe a typo), for your own children and quite trying to blame everyone else. Maybe if you raised your children with higher standards and morals they wouldn't do these things.

I know that my children are going to act up but I hope never in these type of ways and if so then they better get prepared. The bible itself says "spare the rod not the child". My daughter is 1 and when I tell her to go to bed she lays down and goes to bed. My son is 3 and when I tell him to do something he listens. I believe that if more parents start them out young instead of thinking they have 18 years to try and fix it maybe their kids would grow up proper and correct.

YOU PARENTS THAT HAVE KIDS THAT ARE DOING THESE THINGS OR KIDS THAT ARE SENDING THIS STUFF, YOU NEED TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR SAME AS ANYONE CONDONING IT.

ALSO AS FOR THE 1 AMENDMENT IT ONLY APPLIES TO ADULTS, OR HAVEN"T YOU NOTICED THAT YOU HAVE TO BE 18 TO USE THEM YET?

I tried to use the constitution in my favor when I was 16 and it is clearly stated that you have no rights till 18 years of age. That's why there are parents.

[momoftwoboy1]

sorry about the reposting

[momoftwoboy1]

Well from my understanding of the situation, it is not that they were punished, its the fact that 3 additional girls were not. Yes there are 3 more girls involved from what I heard and they received no punishment at all. And yes the school knew apparently since june and did nothing till sept. I think all involved, boys and girls alike should be punished equally.

CHECK ALL CELLS PHONES (like locker searches) FOR EVIDENCE of the pictures. if they got it then there should be a punishment, if they resent it an even bigger punishment.

[momoftwoboy1]

Well from my understanding of the situation, it is not that they were punished, its the fact that 3 additional girls were not. Yes there are 3 more girls involved from what I heard and they received no punishment at all. And yes the school knew apparently since june and did nothing till sept. I think all involved, boys and girls alike should be punished equally.

CHECK ALL CELLS PHONES (like locker searches) FOR EVIDENCE of the pictures. if they got it then there should be a punishment, if they resent it an even bigger punishment.

[momoftwoboy1]

Well from my understanding of the situation, it is not that they were punished, its the fact that 3 additional girls were not. Yes there are 3 more girls involved from what I heard and they received no punishment at all. I think all involve, boys and girls alike should be punished equally.

CHECK ALL CELLS PHONES (like locker searches) FOR EVIDENCE of the pictures. if they got it then there should be a punishment, if they resent it an even bigger punishment.

[nocensorship]

Got to love that school....overbearing toads....let''s Punish them...fine....but I think the law about passing images around needs to be changed. I don''t consider Nudity as a reason to be punished your whole life for a stupid mistake you made when you are a Teenager....we already know they have Undeveloped brains so this is just a child''s act.....but the School acted more childish in it''s respect to the cheerleader''s. Once something is in the Public domain if sent in Private it should be no concern at all to anybody......1st amendment rules!!!

[zwaggsy]

To pinnerssn

The boys these girls cheer on are athletes & represent their school to! What the parents are complaining about is that the school initially ignored the problem, only taking action after the parents themselves complained & got the police involved. When the school did act it took the lazy option of simply punishing the girls while turning a blind eye to the apparently illegal activities off the rest of the student body.

This looks more like the school was trying to cover it''s rear once the problem became a serious matter while at the same time have a take a low shot at the people who blew the whistle! Hardly an example of honesty & integrity, more like cowardice & laziness.

[pinnerssn]

You all have it wrong, Athletes are to be held at a higher level. If a cheerleader does something distasteful than she needs to be punished for it. Frankly as a 6th grade teacher I wouldn''t want a girl who thinks posing nude is ok to be on our cheer squad. Representing our school is an honor.

[shochikibo]

right now, i am imagining you all naked. not a pretty sight!

[neo269]

You have to be incredibly sick to think nudity is evil. These are the same kind of hypocrites who are closet Pedophiles.

[mrknewitall]

Being nude is not a crime!

"They are protected by the First Amendment and are not subject to local obscenity laws or ordinances. The depiction of adults and children nude in the visual media has enjoyed constitutional protection in the United States since 1958...(Sunshine Book Co. v. Summerfield, Postmaster General, 355 U.S. 372). The right to depict adults and children in innocent nude poses has been upheld without a pause for 41 years. In case after case, the Supreme Court and lower courts have always upheld the constitutionality of "nudity without more," specifically referring to the nudist depiction as a fully constitutional form of expression."

http://www.bebaretoo.com/legal.html

[grandesign]

Amen!! The girls posing were just acting stupidly, the boys spreading were acting criminally!!
Posted by AR_Teacher at 12:11 AM : Dec 11, 2008

Gosh, I thought is was the boys acting stupidly and the girls spreading.

[grandesign]

Do you want a society that encourages the abandonment of innocence for full adult sexual responsibilities on 13 year olds, or 15 or 17 for that matter?
Posted by jimmyc1955 at 02:37 PM : Dec 09, 2008

Have you ever seen some of the dancing that cheerleaders do? They have that Bouncing simulation of the act down for show. I''ve seen 7 to 12 year olds do that, and I bet they don''t even understand what that movement represents. Our society encourages this all the time. We want more--and younger participants.

[liberate40]

sero5. If the boys are not caught and punished, here is another scenario you should consider: Teen boys sneaking into the girls'' locker room taking spy photos of girls undressing and texting it around to other kids. This scenario would be every girl''s and parents worst nightmare to happen at school.

[sero5]

The boys won''t face charges. Do you all think the police can round up all the cell phones from the students of this high school and figure out which ones sent the pornography? Who is going to cooperate with the police? How much would it cost to do the investigation? These boys will get off the hook because of their perverted youth.

The boys who kept up distributing nude photos should be arrested and charged with multiple counts of distributing child pornography.

Posted by liberate40 at 12:05 AM : Dec 11, 2008

Amen!! The girls posing were just acting stupidly, the boys spreading were acting criminally!!

[liberate40]

The boys who kept up distributing nude photos should be arrested and charged with multiple counts of distributing child pornography.

[nwihoosier]

Peace and Love
once again, kuei12 proves he/she/it is an IDIOT!
Peace and Love

[sero5]

She''''s not a woman. She was a 13 year old GIRL.

That''''s not allowed on the internet.

Posted by txgrouch2007 at 07:22 PM : Dec 10, 2008

The photo was taken a few years ago when she WAS 13 years old. She is not 13 years old at present. She is being suspended by her high school for an old photo being repeatedly circulated year-after-year by ***** teenage boys. Do the unsavory boys get suspended? No, of course not. Boys will be boys.

[shanev137]

Technology is making people dumber and dumber in this country by the minute.