FREDERICKSBURG, Va. - Taking deep, dark secrets of teenagers and publishing them in a high school yearbook has won national awards for students in other parts of this country. But that most unusual way of sharing the hidden truths of adolescence has backfired in Spotsylvania County.
17-year-old Massaponax High School senior Kate Cummins was a copy editor on the yearbook staff that decided to solicit and print the anonymous secrets of her classmates in the Massaponax school yearbook titled: Truth Be Told.
"We didn't want to hurt anyone," Cummins told FOX 5. "We didn't want to offend anyone. We wanted to make sure everyone was included."
By everyone, Cummins means teenagers on the fringe of society.
"We didn't want to ignore the darker side of high school," said Cummins. "We wanted it to be the truth, the real life of what goes on. What happens."
Here are some of the secrets published:
"I say mean things to people because like to see their reaction."
"I get so lonely that I set my phone alarm to go off in intervals and pretend people are texting me."
"The bullying I went through in elementary school still ruins my life everyday."
"I used to be afraid of dying. Now I would do anything to see my brother again."
"The image of my dad putting a gun to his head right in front of me has scarred me for the rest of my life."
They are the anonymous confessions of Fredericksburg teenagers. Kate Cummin's classmates.
"People aren't stupid," said Cummins. "They know what goes on in high school. But to have it printed and have it out there - that's a very, very, very large step."
And now Massaponax High School principal Joe Rodkey has reportedly ordered all copies of the yearbook already handed out be turned in. A new version of "Truth Be Told" will be printed without the student confessions. Kate Cummins called that disappointing, but understandable considering the firestorm that has erupted.
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