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Lauren Conley, a senior cheerleader for Ridgeway High School’s football and basketball teams, said she was removed from the squad because of some pictures she had included on her profile at Myspace.com. Lauren said the pictures contained images of her holding a cigarette and a cup that her cheerleading sponsor thought contained liquor. There was also a picture of her wearing a short skirt and skimpy top.
“Myspace profiles are public and should have nothing to do with school,” Lauren said. Lauren said her sponsor didn’t seem to think so. The school let her sponsor decide on the punishment, and she chose to kick Lauren off of the squad. Lauren said she did not receive a warning and felt as if she was set up by another member of the squad who seemed to be close to the sponsor.
“I was humiliated after the situation because everyone knew what happened, and the teachers even had a staff meeting about me because they felt that the pictures were kind of degrading,” Lauren said.
Lauren said she wrote a letter to the sponsor apologizing to her and thanked her for time she spent with the cheerleading squad. She said she never received a response.
Lauren’s story is one of several that occurred this past year with MCS students who are involved in extracurricular activities. Lauren and other students say that it’s not fair that some students are banned from participating because of infractions while others are allowed to continue in their activities. The punishment varies from school to school and from activity to activity.
The Board of Education’s Administrative Rules and Regulations No. 5135, which can be found on the MCS Web site, addresses this issue, but is not specific. The policy says that for students to be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities, they must exhibit good conduct at school and before, during and after extracurricular activities and events. They can be declared ineligible if their conduct warrants such action. This includes excessive and/or severe infractions of the Student Code of Conduct. It says that students participating in extracurricular activities have to exhibit acceptable behavior at extracurricular events and respect other teams, clubs and participants.
There is nothing in this policy that addresses specific behaviors. Because of this, a student at one school might be banned from an activity because of a picture on a Web site while another student at another school might be allowed to continue participating.
After several public incidents this year, the policy is being reviewed, but the board has no set time frame for making any changes.
It seems unfair that students involved in extracurricular school activities are treated differently because of things that go on in and outside their activity. The MCS rules and regulations are too vague and give too much discretion to administrators. There needs to be a uniform policy that applies to all students involved in extracurricular activities, whether it’s football, basketball, cheerleading or the debate team. Many students say that it seems to them that administrators often look the other way when the infractions are committed by athletes.
The board knows this is a problem. They need to update the policy, make it uniform and make sure students know the rules if they choose to play a sport or be involved in other activities. If Lauren can be punished for a picture posted on the Web, then surely other students, such as athletes, should be held to the same standard.