When I was in high school, senior year "superlatives" were a big deal. Graduating students got to choose who among their peers was the most popular, best looking, funniest or most likely to succeed. But at one Washington high school, the only thing that matters is who is the hottest. Students at Issaquah High School have created a controversial "May Madness" bracket, according to msn News, that pits female students against each other in a tournament-style contest ranking nothing but their looks.
Pissed-off parents tried to have the May Madness website taken down, but school administrators say their hands are tied because the contest isn't school-sanctioned or run on its property.
"I think it's certainly a form of harassment and bullying," Issaquah School District spokeswoman Sara Niegowski told Fox News. "I don't think it's set up to make people feel good and just from the start you're basing things on looks, personality, popularity. That's preying on people's confidences when you're already at a very vulnerable age."
Maybe I'm naïve. Maybe kids will always be kids, and maybe that often means that they will be stupid, shallow, cruel and insensitive. But when I read this, the first thing I thought was Where are these kids' parents and what are they teaching — or more aptly, not teaching — them? In our house, we talk about bullying a lot. But the lesson I try to drum into my daughters' heads isn't just "don't be a bully"or even "don't be a victim" because neither of those things is enough.