The original incident, where a student brought the hood to class, sparked immediate reaction from the teacher in the class. But somehow a photo of the student wearing that hood made its way to social media. That’s where the controversy picked up steam.
“This is disrespectful,” said one comment attached to the photo on Twitter. Another stated: “Some serious action needs to be involved. CJ is a good school and kids just make it seem like it's bad because of stuff like this.”
The Catholic school has declined to talk directly to us about the incident, despite multiple requests to school leaders and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
News Center 7 has obtained copies of the letter our sources say was sent to parents by Principal John Marshall.
It begins by saying: “Earlier this month an inappropriate prop was brought to school as part of a history class group project presentation.” It goes on to say immediate action was taken by the teacher in the classroom, but that the school later learned that earlier that day a student modeled the prop in a classroom and another student posted it on social media.
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CJ parent Mike Henne of Clayton gave us his reaction by telephone.
“We use this as a learning experience ... point to emphasize to our son that social media is not private. It is very public,” he said.
He said his son was not involved in the photo in any way, but does attend the school.
The principal’s letter to parents says: “We have concluded that this unfortunate incident was an isolated act of ignorance by a very limited number of students.”
Henne said he supports the school and its handling of the situation.
“I’m very proud of how CJ handled it. It was appropriate, swift, the right thing to do in the right time frame,” he said.
Disciplinary action against the students behind that photo is being considered by the school.
The parent who brought this to our attention wanted to remain anonymous, but felt the focus of the principal’s letter was too much on the use of social media ... and not enough on the original action by the student who brought the hood into the classroom and how it might make other students feel.
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