Heard this on the news the other night...
From KWQC.com
Several Bettendorf high school students are in trouble for so called inappropriate actions
Seventeen Bettendorf high school students are in trouble for so called inappropriate actions, which allegedly involve paddling a number of middle school students off campus. The high school students involved have been giving suspensions, but some parents say the punishment is too much and they are fighting to get the suspensions lifted. One of the students who faces suspension says it started in a parking lot near Bettendorf middle school. Several middle school students were hit with paddles. The school district says incidents also took place at private homes. Some Bettendorf high school students were surprised to hear about that type of initiation at their school. Bettendorf high school handed down two-day suspensions to at least 17 students for the start of next year. Athletes will have to miss one game, and all are required to do community service. Still, some think the incident has been blown out of proportion. Parents of those who face punishment plan to try and legally block the suspension since none of the incidents took place on school grounds. A mother of two boys who received suspensions did not want to go on camera, but she says parents will fight the punishment. She feels the school doesn't have the right to suspend students for something that happened off school grounds and after the school year was over.
*shakes head* those last couple of sentences are what we do not need... parents letting kids shirk from accountibility...
At least most of the parents aren't fighting thsi.
I realize a line must be drawn where there are limits on what is punishable by the schools and what is not (as in after school is over and the kids have left) but this seems appropriate to have the school take some action as it was an attack on the incoming freshman, also the athletes are spokespeople for the school, and reflect upon it, just as action would be taken for underage drinking (even in the summer if you are ticketed/arrested for an atheletic code violation, you must face punishments) and it seems that punishment by the school is fair to me.
Also:
School district investigates harassment
Bettendorf students suspended in harassment case
Zero tolerance in Bettendorf