A new high school sexting scandal erupted, resulting in the suspension of as many as 20 students last Friday in New York. The students were suspended for sending or receiving a lewd video on their smartphones. The video, shot by two boys from Smithtown High School in the Kings Park Central School District on Long Island, featured at least one of them having sex with a 14-year-old girl, WABC reports.
The boys in question are facing felony charges, according to the NYSE Post. Meanwhile, at least 20 students from nearby Kings Park High School were suspended after receiving the video, an act that many parents find outrageous.
Kings Park Superintendent Timothy Eagen has stated that he is offering full cooperation with police. Parents attended a school meeting to discuss the suspension of their children, and Eagen sent out a letter urging parents to speak with their children about appropriate social media and smart phone use.
"Now we must move forward and continue to remain vigilant and proactive in educating our youth about the problematic use of today's technology, which has become a serious and global issue," Eagen stated, according to ABC News.
On Tuesday morning, several parents of Kings Park students showed up to protest what they perceive as unfair treatment by school officials. The protest culminated in one suspended student, A.J. Fenton, being escorted off campus by police. Fenton's father, Andrew Fenton, stated his son "was unjustifiably, supposedly suspended, although we still have not been officially notified."
Donna Lieberman of the New York Civil Liberties Union raised questions over the way officials handled the incident, stating, "I have concerns about whether the kids were subjected to illegal cell phone searches. Were students intimidated by school officials into signing incriminating statements?" Seattle Pi reported.
The suspension of Kings Park students comes hot on the tail of a recent incident that occurred at Colorado's Canon City High School, reported by HNGN last week.
