Serra High lawsuit: Catholic school boys competed for up-skirt photos of female teachers

[Starry Messenger]

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_25770434/serra-high-lawsuit-catholic-school-boys-competed-up

<snip>

Kimberly Bohnert claims that administrators failed to protect her over two years of humiliation that also involved sexually explicit tweets, graffiti and an online image reproduced by a number of athletes at the school. The storied institution, celebrating its 70th anniversary, is best known as the alma mater of such sports stars as Barry Bonds, Tom Brady and Lynn Swann.

<snip>

Bohnert, who grew up in parochial schools, started teaching at Serra High in the 2006-07 school year. During her second year there, a female English teacher had her buttocks photographed and shared by students, Bohnert said. The following year a student was caught in the act of taking an up-skirt photo of a female Spanish teacher, she said.

<snip>

One student who took up-skirt photos, with the help of classmates who would distract the teachers, told police that it was a long-standing practice on campus.

San Mateo police officer Brian Curley wrote in a 2013 police report, obtained by this newspaper, that the student, a junior at the time, said he was told about it when he was a freshman in 2011. " ...(The juvenile) said there is major bragging rights to anyone who can obtain the photo of a teacher. He said that person instantly becomes very popular and has an infamous status," Curley wrote.

<snip>

Must be female privilege oppressing those poor boys.

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Their parents must be so proud.

[Starry Messenger]

2. I know, although these days they'd probably blame the teachers for wearing skirts.

Or something else female. I would never want to work at Serra. I'm sure these angels will be transferring to my local public school. Yay!

[Initech]

3. Classy students. Seriously.

[Starry Messenger]

4. 17k a year for tuition.

No home training though.

[alp227]

5. Geez, this is way worse than that Van Halen "Hot for Teacher" song.

These stupid boys...ugh.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Yet there are those who say that gender segregated education is better for boys.

I guess there'd better not be any female teachers either, since feminism ruins education for boys.

[RandySF]

7. No one with common sense agrees.

I read about an experiment done not long ago at a school where they separated male and female students. The girls were more likely to participate and engage in discussions. As for the boys, well, they actually got worse. Male students egged each other on to see who could be the most obnoxious.

[Starry Messenger]

8. Interesting.

If you happen to know where to read about the experiment, I'd enjoy reading it too.

Kids of all genders have different learning styles. I have male students I know would feel overwhelmed in an all-male environment too, especially if the culture was very geared toward athletics and this kind of "bro" male-bonding.

[dsc]

20. Like anything there are plusses and minuses

In the plus column is the fact that if a school is all boys, the boys who are interested in non gender conforming activities are more likely to get involved in them (the school will still have a chorus and a play etc). The minus side is that boys do tend to egg each other on to be worse behaved.

[Starry Messenger]

23. I teach in a public high school--there's always lots of boys in the choirs and plays. YMMV

Maybe it's different outside the Bay Area.

[dsc]

31. It is getting better

but it is still quite hard for many public high schools to field balanced choruses with the female parts dominating.

[Starry Messenger]

9. Bay Area Students Expelled Over Upskirt Video of Their Teacher

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Bay-Area-Students-Expelled-Over-Upskirt-Video-of-Their-Teacher-259445401.html

Bohnert learned about the photos last May when she said a student who had seen them told an administrator. She says she was called into the office and informed about the so-called rumor. But within a few minutes, Bohnert learned the mortifying truth by asking students herself.

"They go, 'Yeah, Ms. B, we've seen an upskirt photo of you. In fact, we've seen a lot of them, and they've been going around for awhile,’" she said.

Bohnert said she immediately went to police and began her own investigation, helping to uncover not just videos, but sexually violent messages and images on a social media website.

"I felt scared there's a kid walking around that really thinks that -- am I some target?" Bohnert said.

[Starry Messenger]

10. Kick

[bemildred]

11. Maybe cell phones and PDAs are a bad idea in High School. nt

[Starry Messenger]

12. That horse has left the barn.

Parents want their kids to have them.

Hopefully this school can turn around the culture at the school, and teach the boys that all women aren't their personal sex Disneyland.

[bemildred]

13. It should be put back in the barn. nt

[Starry Messenger]

14. Or, they could learn to use them responsibly.

When they grow up to be adults with phones, they'll know that creep shots are not cool.

[bemildred]

15. Teenagers? Is that what we want them doing in school?

Learning not to use their PDAs?

[Starry Messenger]

16. Do we want them growing up to think filming women up their skirts is cool?

I can flat-out guarantee that the parents paying 20k to send their kids to this school will scream bloody murder if their lamb is not reachable by phone during the day.

[bemildred]

17. It will be harder without the little cameras in their pockets.

As far as the moron parents, they get what they pay for, which is absolution from any further involvement in their kids lives.

[Starry Messenger]

18. That won't stop the other stuff, like the Internet memes with the rape threats.

[bemildred]

19. Yes, the young men need to be educated better about their relations to women.

And vice-versa. I mean, I'm an older white male, the beneficiary of all that privilege, and I could not agree more. The battle of the sexes is a big mistake.

But you still need to get the electronic interference level under control. Focusing on the latest gadgetry won't serve you well in the long run. My wife is a teacher, and she tells me stories.

[CreekDog]

21. They are really disgracing the man their school is named for

This type of behavior is not what Father Junipero Serra was known for. (yeah, having trouble using "Saint" in front of his name...)

Why couldn't they just forcibly convert indigenous people to Christianity and enslave them under the guise of giving them "salvation"?


fyi: Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo graduated:

Barry Bonds
Tom Brady
Lynn Swann

among others...

[Starry Messenger]

22. I wonder if any of those guys will say anything about this?

I thought I'd hear people at my school say something about this today, but it's been oddly quiet. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the public school kids knew about this too though, there is overlap in friendships.

[CreekDog]

27. that would be awesome, but looking at the list...

i like all three of those guys, but...

of the three biggest names from that school (sportswise at least), I think Lynn Swann would probably be the most willing, however, almost nobody under 40 has heard of him except in Pennsylvania where he played for the amazing Steelers teams of the 1970's and ran for governor (as a Republican).

i think some of this behavior would be less acceptable in a gender integrated setting, and maybe that's part of the solution, in my opinion. also, i think this story getting around may do some good. among their school peers it might seem cool, but i'm pretty sure most of them don't want everyone to know that they took photos up women's skirts.

[Starry Messenger]

29. Or that they spent time up at Hillcrest.

Hopefully anyway.

[William769]

24. I can't comment it won't come out right, so consider this a kick.

[Starry Messenger]

25. Thank you friend.

[William769]

26. Anything for you.

[CreekDog]

28. ironically

this statue was based on Father Serra catching someone sneaking a sketch up his dress.

[Starry Messenger]

30. That is ironic!

I always wondered what he was pointing at.

[LeftyMom]

32. Here I thought he was signaling a first down.

[Starry Messenger]

33. We used to joke about something to do with Bellermine, but it's lost to memory.

My uncle taught there, so there was a rivalry.