Posted on 05/16/2004 8:44:37 PM PDT by arjay
COMMENTARY
Teen party video raises moral, ethical questions By Mary McCarty
Dayton Daily News
"Did she do the right thing?"
After all the buzz surrounding the infamous Bellbrook videotape — which recorded underage drinking and drug use during a five-day series of parties in November — it boils down to this one question.
Nearly everybody agrees that drinking and drug use are a problem at Bellbrook High School, as they are at nearly every American high school. Nearly everybody agrees that it's not a new problem.
What's different about this case, what has made it the talk of the town for the past five months, is the videotape — and the mother who turned it over to authorities.
She is the center of the storm, drawing fire from some parents whose children have been charged or suspended from school activities. Many praise her as a courageous mother who took a stand and did what was right, despite the personal cost to her family.
Reached at her home Friday, the mother declined to make any public comments.
Two Bellbrook High School seniors pleaded not guilty to the charges last week in Xenia Municipal Court. Jay Thoms, 18, pleaded not guilty to underage possession of alcohol and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. William "Stu" Smythe, 18, pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor charges of underage possession of alcohol, keg law violation, possession of drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Five other teens have been charged in Greene County Juvenile Court. The violations took place Nov. 24 to Nov. 29 at evening parties on Little Sugarcreek Road and in the Bayberry Cove apartment complex off Ohio 725. Sugarcreek Twp. Police Chief Kelly Blair said Friday that the investigation is ongoing and that charges may still be brought against adults who supplied alcohol and marijuana to the students.
Blair wouldn't confirm widespread rumors that the videotape depicted teens involved in sexual activity, but he did say no sexual misconduct charges would be filed.
Blair said the mother turned the videotape over to Bellbrook High School Principal Chuck Birkholtz, who turned it over to Sugarcreek Twp. police.
"That absolutely took guts," Blair said. "It put the parent in a heck of a position."
It's one thing to spout platitudes about "kids being held accountable for their actions." It's another thing to make that call about the baby you brought home from the hospital in that pink or blue knit cap, or the kid who grew up next door. That's what has many Bellbrook parents feeling so torn.
"From the outside looking in, it looks really bad," said Gay Georges, whose daughter, Shelby, is a senior at Bellbrook High School. "But I know so many of those kids who were involved, and they're good kids, polite kids, respectful. They may have done something wrong, but it breaks your heart. I feel very lucky my daughter wasn't there."
Since the story broke, Blair said, parties involving underage drinking appear to be on the wane. "I can only hope this has been an eye-opener for parents," he said. "What the parents don't understand is the liability they assume when they allow students to drink in their home. They could lose everything they have. Regretfully they have the attitude that 'it's only beer.' They want to be a friend and a buddy and not a parent. There's a big difference. When you're a parent you have to make the hard decisions and not be well-liked. It's a bear."
Bellbrook High School student sophomore Aaron Schaffrinna said he has noticed more caution among his peers. "There's a pretty heavy drinking problem here," he said. "This has instilled fear. It's making people think twice."
Schaffrinna said that some students and parents are angry with the school administration for suspending the students involved from sports and extracurricular activities. "At one pep assembly, kids held up signs saying, 'Free So-and-So,' " he said. "It was a big issue. But if the administration hadn't suspended the students it would be telling students that the school is weak and it's OK to break the law."
Like Schaffrinna, junior Jennifer Gigandet is active in the Bellbrook High School chapter of S.A.D.D. (Students Against Destructive Decisions). She, too, supports the administration's decision to suspend students: "It needed to be done because student drinking should be stopped. It's negative in the sense that it gives Bellbrook a bad name, when it's the same as any other school and better than some."
Some longtime Bellbrook residents, such as Pam Brooks, said it was time the police and school officials did something about the problem. "This has been going on in Sugarcreek for a long time," said Brooks, whose sons graduated from the high school in 1991 and 1994. "It's condoned because it's an affluent community. Parents sponsoring the party will tell you, 'I'm taking the keys away so it's perfectly safe.' They need to understand if you serve alcohol to kids, you are breaking the law."
Some parents wish the issue had been handled by the parents rather than the school district. "If my kid got in trouble for something they did outside the school, I'd be upset if the school disciplined them," said former Bellbrook mayor Dave Buccalo, who has a daughter at Bellbrook High School. "I don't think it's up to schools to instill any semblance of moral education or sense of purpose; that's up to the family unit. Maybe people turn to the schools to do what they can't do at home."
Some students feel the same way. "Parents are stepping up and putting the school district in a situation they shouldn't be in," said Shelby Georges, 18. "It's as if they're trying to make the school take the place of the parent."
Shelby and her mother fear that student-athletes have been punished more than others. "If you take everything away from a kid, what do you have?" Mrs. Georges said. "Nothing. I think the students should pay a price, maybe be suspended for a couple of games. Something has to be done, but this punishment really has been going on forever."
The mother who turned in the videotape is the center of the storm.
"Did she do the right thing?"
From the outside looking in, how could any of us know?
Moral lesson #2 - always assume you're being videotaped.
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