Statement by Andrew McKeough on the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District Sexting Scandal
THE AKSM PRESS
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release | November 13, 2015
Villanova University - Villanova, Pennsylvania
Statement by Andrew McKeough on the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District Sexting Scandal
I just wanted to take a minute to talk about the pressing issue that is creating a storm cloud over our community. Tredyffrin/Easttown School District is one of the best in the country and now that I am part of the Conestoga alumni now, I am proud to have called T/E my home for thirteen years of my life. But right now Conestoga is in the spotlight, not for their academics or their outstanding achievements, but for something much, much worse. Sexting is no joke whatsoever. I am disappointed and sickened to have to wake up in the morning and see on my kitchen table next to my breakfast multiple newspapers all with the latest updates on the T/E sexting scandal spread across the front page. Each year I am proud to be called and asked to work with the Valley Forge Middle School music department. I get to meet a variety of students, from all different backgrounds, who come to share something special. Music. Every day I get to work with these talented students but every day that I walk into the school and I see something that upsets me. As soon as I walk into the main lobby I see, and hear, the tapping of fingers against glass screens. Sometimes I take a moment to look around at the sea of screens that I have to fight the tidal waves of just to get to the other side of the hallway. Social media and the usage of cellphones are killing the school. When I attended that same exact middle school six years ago, the problem wasn’t cellphones, it was us being too loud talking to each other in the halls. Not many of us had cellphones in middle school, and if you had a cellphone it was for emergencies only and you were probably in eight grade and going to Conestoga next year, let alone being a fifth or sixth grader and knowing how to use the latest “text lingo”. Now, I see my fifth grade students using Snapchat in the halls and my eighth graders posting to YickYak. This is just wrong in general and is repulsive. Going back to my middle school experience. If you had a phone, it wasn’t even a smart phone let alone an iPhone. That being said, there is a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Not only in T/E but in school districts across the country. I would like to take a moment to talk about what exactly happened here. Last year, when this all started, we had five middle school students in different TESD schools. As I am not happy that a middle schooler would even conceive of an idea to take photos like these, I would like to point out that she was only in middle school. Middle school is where you go to make your mistakes, show your flaws and come out stronger. That does not go for those boys though. There is no excuse for what they did. They crossed the line between making a mistake and committing a crime. Now three out of the four, including the victim, attended and are attending Conestoga. One of these four boys decided to get back at his former girlfriend for dumping him by spreading sexually explicit photos of her around to the three others. This one action started a chain reaction of events that lead us to where we are today. I would like to agree with what Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan stated yesterday when he said that these boys did everything in their power to make her life “hell on earth.” I cannot even begin to imagine what that feels like. To be cyberbullied, then bullied in school; the one place where you think you are safe. After my two living grandmothers died six weeks apart from each other in the winter of 2007, I experienced a period of sadness and grief. I would exclude myself from school activities and was sometimes made fun of for that. But that does not compare anyway to this. As a message to these four boys, all the bullies in the world, and to anyone else involved in this case, bullying is not the answer. Isolating a girl because of what she did is not the answer. Cyber-bullying is not the answer. In the past year our community has had the hardship of having three teen suicides. The last two happened within the last month. All three had personal connections to me. The first was one of my former campers, the second one I had a more personal connection to and was asked to serve the funeral of, and I was unfortunate to see the scene of the third. Each one of these suicides have lasting emotional impacts on me and it makes me upset to know that three of them happened this ear in my neighborhood. But I am proud of the victim for taking charge of this situation as it pertains to her personal life and be stronger than what others say she is. She not only is making her life better, but campaigning for those other victims that are unspoken. In her statement she wrote, “You are stronger than you think”. These words show a strong girl who is not afraid. As I am not happy that a middle schooler would even conceive of an idea to take photos like these, I would like to point out that she was only in middle school. Middle school is where you go to make your mistakes, show your flaws and come out stronger. To the victim, I am proud of you for your course of action and for your words of wisdom to others who are bullied around the world today. This situation is very serious and should not be taken lightly. It can happen anywhere from middle to high school and even from college to the workplace. I am sadden to have to witness this and I hope that this will be a learning experience for the world around us. Being a Villanovan, we learn about the teachings of Saint Augustine. In his writings, titled “Confessions”, he talks about the distractions and the impact of pressure especially from his peers. Here he tells us that these pressures made him loose his true identity and feel empty. To everyone out there, do not give into the pressures around you. Be a leader, standout from the crowd, it’s okay to be different, and most importantly; be you!
-Andrew K. McKeough