Archive through May 01, 2002
The ClubHouse: Archives: Principal's panty peep petrifies parents:
Archive through May 01, 2002
Ocean_Islands | Tuesday, April 30, 2002 - 06:15 pm     Girls made to show underwear at school dance LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) --Angry parents demanded the resignation of a California high school vice principal Tuesday because she lifted the skirts of teenage girls at a dance in front of men and male classmates to make sure they were wearing "appropriate" underwear. Parents at Rancho Bernardo High School in suburban San Diego say the vice principal, Rita Wilson, made the girls prove that they were not wearing thong underwear before they were allowed into the dance on Friday. In some cases, said Rancho Bernardo parent Kim Teal, girls also were made to partially undress if Wilson or another teacher suspected that they weren't wearing bras. "These girls feel violated," said Teal, whose daughter Rebecca, a sophomore, was asked about her underwear but escaped a search after telling Wilson that she was not wearing a thong. "One girl just cried after having to tell her father this story, she was hiding her head in a sweatshirt," Teal said. "After a while the girls finally got the idea that they shouldn't say 'thong' when they were asked. Wilson and Paul Gentle, Rancho Bernardo's principal, were unavailable for comment on the skirt-lifting. But earlier Gentle told local KGTV that he was looking into the situation and planned a meeting with the offended parents. Don Phillips, superintendent of the Poway Unified School District, said students, staff and others were being interviewed to determine what happened at the dance, which he said was attended by about 725 pupils. "The principal is talking with the parents involved," he said. "We are taking this seriously and want to ensure that any actions to be taken are based on the facts of the situation." Teal, a 43-year-old attorney, said she was told about the skirt-lifting after the dance by her daughter, whose friends were forced to lift their skirts in front of boys, teachers and police officers standing at the door. She said hundreds of girls attended the dance, which had a "blast from the past" theme and that most of those wearing skirts or dresses reported being grilled about their underwear or forced to show them to Wilson or another teacher. Teachers also checked several boys who were wearing toga-style costumes, Teal said, and girls were often asked about their bras. "I just got a call from one mom who said her daughter was wearing a poodle skirt and an off-the-shoulder top and a teacher reached right out and grabbed the front of it and pulled it down to check," Teal said. Teal said she and other parents would meet with Gentle to demand the resignation of Wilson and any other teachers willingly involved. If Wilson does not resign, she said, the parents were prepared to file a lawsuit against the school district for violating the civil rights of their daughters. |
Xxlt | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 09:30 am     i smell lawsuit. |
Grooch | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 09:38 am     I smell one too. And the kids should be compensated in some way. But the sad thing is that the money will ultimely come from the school budget and there will be less money to teach kids with, and the taxpayers will be footing the bill. That vice principal needs a serious head check among other things. |
Whoami | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 11:00 am     Geeze, what business is it of any of those "adults" what type of underwear is being worn? Don't tell me there is acutally a dress code on underwear? |
Sia | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 11:43 am     Boy, some people certainly have their knickers in a twist over this one! It's hard to imagine that the vice principal didn't hesitate for just a second--long enough to realize that what she was about to do was wrong, insensitive, and inappropriate. There are a whole bunch of people on the planet who do not self-edit, unfortunately. They go ahead and make the wrong move without thinking of the possible consequences. Some people will try to cover up having made a mistake, and others try to correct things later. Still others don't care! |
Xxlt | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 11:56 am     my ? is...if the kids have no problem with the chance that they may 'expose' themselves while on the dance floor why are they so uptight when they are asked to 'show' at the door? they are probably two or three reasons that they were checked. 'decency', fending off the possibility of a sexual harassment suit (some young man may be 'offended' at the sight of brief underwear on a woman).... it's the a-hole parents that are quick to make a buck on the lawsuit lotto that hurt the kids... fer crissake, get an apology and go on with life. the same kids that were crying are the ones you see at the store with the belly shirts and low slung jeans showing their underwear! drop the lawsuits and teach they friggin kids that rules are rules....i remember 'jock checks' in high school, the gals gathered over to one side of our area....they saw what was going on and no one died.... my employer has a dress code and the women are asked not to wear 'thongs'. most wear white slacks and it can be distracting/disgusting at times....i have no problem w/what underwear anyone wears.......but at work and school there is a need to have rules to keep things orderly. the biggest oxymoron is 'civil rights', being civil is not a right, it's an attitude that should be extended as a matter of fact. |
Grooch | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 12:04 pm     What makes you think that all the girls have no problem with this? <<my ? is...if the kids have no problem with the chance that they may 'expose' themselves while on the dance floor why are they so uptight when they are asked to 'show' at the door? >> |
Twiggyish | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 12:22 pm     XXLT: "it's the a-hole parents that are quick to make a buck on the lawsuit lotto that hurt the kids... " Whatever is under the clothes is private. I find the teachers and principal indecent!!! You better believe those parents should sue! On a side note, some women wear thongs to prevent a panty line from showing. It doesn't make them indecent. |
Xxlt | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 12:28 pm     why break the rules??? obviously the rule was put into place for a reason. if you have ever been to a dance there is the chance you are gonna catch a look at a thigh, tush or ??????. if the kid has no concept of the rules then she probably has no problem with wearing thong underwear while dancing. it has to do with decorum. my problem is the fact that rules are put into place because people NEED TO BE TOLD what to do, how to act and how to behave. a couple of million dollars should take care of the whole problem........i think that's a great precedent for the kids.....if anything happens SUE!!!!!! did i say "all the girls"???? |
Guinevere | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 12:38 pm     Xxlt, if the adults are supposed to be teaching the children decorum, how does exposing these girls in front of various and sundry people do that? As far as I'm concerned, there is no justification for this. I don't think anyone should get millions of dollars, but if a girl was exposed against her will, I think a lawsuit is not inappropriate (and I am not generally lawsuit-happy). I wonder about the motivation of the teacher(s) involved in this. If the vp was male, people wouldn't hesitate to assume some sort of sexual deviancy. It's pretty bizarre behavior. Xxlt, if my kid was subjected to this sort of violation, you better believe I would be disturbed and concerned. Does that make me an "a-hole"? |
Xxlt | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 12:51 pm     in palm springs a janitor working in a grade school went to clean out the b-room-he found a large amount of blood in the floor. he reported this to the principal and the youngsters in that area were asked to go to the nurses office so they could be examined. (a molestation was suspected...) the kids were asked to drop trou so their underwear could be checked. as it turned out the blood came from the skinned knee of a young girl. the kids WERE asked to go to a private area to 'disrobe' but there is still the fact that the kids were 'examined' and the parents reaction..... had there been a molestation and no 'action' taken by the administration at the school what would have been the outcome???? damned if they do and damned if they don't.... back to the 'panty' story.... let's say a gal goes dancing, flashes some thong encased arse and some punk decides he's going to be a jerk and harrass or attack her afterwards.... now, BECAUSE SHE WEARS A THONG THAT IS NO REASON FOR HER TO BE TREATED THAT WAY........but you cannot tell these days-maybe the school may just try to protect themselves from such an incident. maybe the school has some rule about 'decent attire'. maybe there has been a problem with the way women wearing thong underwear have been treated in the past. the 'search' could have been handled in a more discreet way. my concern is the immediate jump to lawsuit and the lawyers who jump to 'rescue', and the parents who think that their kid's lives have been destroyed. there are worse things in life than having someone see your underwear.... |
Karuuna | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 12:57 pm     Teachers and principals are authority figures - ones that we are taught to respect and not to question. It is a quite different thing to choose what you will wear, knowing that you may be exposing some part of your body - than to be *told* authoritatively to reveal that to someone. When a teacher or principal inappropriately and *abusively* (IMO) demands to look at the underwear of a teenager; then that teacher and/or principal ought to be held liable for their misconduct. |
Alaskagal | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 01:00 pm     I see why parents are upset I would be. But I don't think a lawsuit with a cash settlement would make me feel better. Just fire the Vice President and whoever else was involved and make sure it never happens again. Criminal charges are what I would be looking for. I think what XXLT was getting at is how is giving them money making it better? Our society has changed in that way if something happens more than punishment for the crime we want money to blow to make us feel better. I do think it's sad these parents will sue and the children will ultimately suffer as the money they win will come out of the school budget. |
Twiggyish | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 01:05 pm     First of all, that is a different case. In that situation, there was a suspicion of harm being done. Boys see more on MTV and other tv shows. If they can't control their hormones, that's a bigger problem!! (Stay away from any Florida beach) I think the problem here is with the principal and his/her assumptions. Plus, the fact that the inspection was done in a public place!! |
Xxlt | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 01:14 pm     twig, gym class locker rooms. i went to lunch with a friend of mine and her daughter 'showed' up with more arse crack showing that my plumber. also there was an inordinate amount of underwear showing. it's as private as a person wants it to be. guin, didn't say WHO was teaching decorum, i mentioned it as a concept. "it's the a-hole parents that are quick to make a buck on the lawsuit lotto that hurt the kids... " i was talking about the A-HOLE parents that are QUICK TO MAKE A BUCK. you have every right to be concerned and disturbed, and probably look into what and why it happened....you're probably not as quick to jump the gun as some other parents would. how much of the girls were exposed? i wasn't there. i think if the girls were exposed there would have been more of an outrage by the 'victims' and onlookers...... for some reason the whole story makes it sound like the girls were made to strip, do a pole dance and pose for pictures. i've seen more flesh on people that were dressed than i have seen in playboy. in typical 'if it bleeds, it leads' fashion, it has all the makings of a 'shocking tale coming out of the san diego school district' look at the headline of the story........jeez, even that makes it sound salacious!!!!! |
Kaili | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 02:31 pm     I looked this up and got this from http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/sand/news/stories/news-142482620020429-200409.html This isn't the whole article, but it does serve to clarify one thing. There was NOT a dress code regarding underwear. Think about the boys who wear pants that sag so low their boxers/underwear show. That never seems to become an issue. "Well, I just saw ... a line of people and the vice principal, Mrs. Wilson, she was checking to see what the girls were wearing under their dresses. And she was literally lifting up their skirts and embarrassing them in front of everyone else," one student told 10News. Parents and students have placed the blame on Wilson, for spearheading the thong underwear checks, even though there is nothing in the school dress code against them. "It's not their right to know what kind of underwear these kids have," Garvik told 10News. 10News contacted school officials, who all declined to go on camera. But Principal Paul Gentle did say that he is "looking into the situation." Parents are now asking for Wilson to resign. Gentle said that even while enforcing the school dress code, it is not proper procedure to ask students what they are wearing underneath their clothes. |
Buttercup | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 02:56 pm     I am in complete disagreement with what happened. The vice principal, Rita Wilson, publicly humiliated and violated these girls. Even if she was justified in checking the girls out (if they have been warned beforehand), the very least thing she could have done would be to take the girls to a seperate room (with another female adult present) before she expressed her concerns. Like several people here already have pointed out, if any of these girls wanted to expose themselves it would be their choice, which is a whole different issue all together! By the way, from what I read, the parents' first choice is the resignation of the vice principal. If that doesn't happen then they are prepared to file a lawsuit agains the school district. Perhaps some will be in it for the money. However, putting myself in the parents' shoes, I would do the same thing to draw attention to the issue and to make a statement that this isn't acceptable behavior towards any child/student. Personally I could care less about the money as long as I knew that my action made a difference and that other children would be spared from going through the same thing as these girls had to endure. If any money were won in such a lawsuit, I would suggest giving it to a charity that handles violence and abuse. |
Alaskagal | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 03:02 pm     Good idea Buttercup "If any money were won in such a lawsuit, I would suggest giving it to a charity that handles violence and abuse." I think your right most of the parents are not in it for the money they just want to know this will not happen to thier kids again and that the VP is out of a job working with kids. It is sad though that there will be that handful that aren't worried about how it affected thier kids but rather how big of a check they can collect. I just want to know what the VP was thinking and why none of the faculty put an end to it when they saw it. Did they think the students wouldn't tell? Did she think what she was doing was ok?? Where do these people come from? |
Dahli | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 03:32 pm     I hear you Xxlt, know what you're saying ...and agree. |
Xxlt | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 04:29 pm     i looked at kaili's link and went to the 'sound off' section of the article. different opinions and one thing jumped out at me, a person posted a note about previous events, might that have given the VP some warning, A kind of baseline for checking for thongs? we do not know what went on at previous dances and what kind of behaviour the chaperones encountered then. i really think that some of the humiliation and abuse involved being denied entrance to the dance in front of your peers. in the commercial for the 'girls gone wild' tapes some of the 'ladies' shown weren't that much older than high school aged ladies. yes, all those gals are over 21 and drunk, no one under 21 EVER drinks, smokes or does drugs...... yes it's a chaperoned dance, and there were cops present but how many of us went to school functions and smoked, drank or did drugs in the back, bathroom, parking lot-and if we were busted we cried, "FOUL!" maybe we'll get the whole story bit by bit maybe we won't. i don't think the VP woke up in the morning and decided she was going to abuse, humiliate or degrade anyone. "jeez, i have a good job and i think i'll get fired today!" she made it to be a vice principal postition, so apparently she's not feeble or a monster. she had to have some reason make the 'panty check' at least could give the VP the benefit of a doubt by giving her a chance to explain her position. twig mentions that people who cannot control their hormones are a bigger problem. most definitely!!!!! the maturity level of a teen isn't very receptive to what is proper in any situation......but why tempt fate? we will tell out kids not to smoke, drink and drive- but we won't tell them to be respectful to themselves and to the people around them. p.s. one of 'san diego's finest' watched the panty 'raid' and did nothing except tell the principal about the vp's behaviour...'let's see, that ordinance doesn't cover it, um, neither does that one.....', if the abuse/humiliation/threat to the kids was so horrendous why didn't the cop jump in and say something? he chose to talk to her boss instead.... |
Twiggyish | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 06:48 pm     With all due respect, I still think the Rita Wilson was out of line. There were NO prewritten school codes. As to drinking and smoking at school dances.. umm That's been going on for many years..it isn't anything new. |
Squaredsc | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 06:57 pm     and the cop is a bigger a-hole than the vp was. sorry xxlt can't agree with you on this one. imo if it was my daughter or son for that matter, and an authority figure exposed them in public, then i would have to kick someone's a**. sorry but i would be just like a lioness protecting her cubs. if she was so concerned about thongs, then they should have sent notes home or posted it somewhere, and if they were checking then it should have been done in a private place. your previous msg about the blood and possible molestation, the check was done by the nurse was it not? in a private place? i have no problem with that if done by the nurse and done in a private place and if the parent was notified. sorry xxlt but can't go there with you, and if the vp was a male, wooh, i would have totally gone off on him and i would have been arrested. |
Karuuna | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 07:02 pm     Teenagers are human beings with rights! Imagine what would have happened if adults had gone somewhere and been asked to lift up their skirts... Great post, Butter! |
Twiggyish | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 07:18 pm     Agreed Square and Kar!! I'd be a lioness, too. Why didn't anyone send home a notice first?? This Wilson woman sounds like someone who disregards the rules when it comes to searching the students. (I read the article) |
Firebird05 | Wednesday, May 01, 2002 - 07:24 pm     Since when do you give up your rights at the school house door. It seems to me this is where wou should be learning the bill of rights. I can pretty much gaurantee you that I would not be showing my underclothes to anyone. Not without a court order. Just because you are under the age of eighteen does not mean that you lose all rights as a citizen when you walk in to a public school. I dare say that if those over the age of 18 were asked to show their underware in public, they would not go along with it. We already object to the procedures we have to endure since 911. I can"t image what it would be like if adults had to submit to an underware search to be able to go to A DANCE. Yes there are teens with problems, but I don't see how searching for correct underware uses of other teens helps that. |
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