Administrators at a Bay Area high school are looking to educate, not discipline, students after the discovery of a so-called fantasy sex league where male athletes competed for "scoring" points with female classmates.
Piedmont High School Superintendent Constance Hubbard said Monday that school officials are working with families following the revelation that there is a "fantasy league" involving sexual activity among students.
The high school's principal, Rich Kitchens, sent a letter to parents on Friday informing them that the fantasy league came to his attention after the school's annual freshman assembly on date-rape in early October.
Hubbard said in a statement, "This is a matter of school and family working together to support our teens to make good choices and to treat each other with respect and dignity."
She said the letter was sent to parents because, "We wanted to communicate to families to encourage a dialogue and to inform parents of what we as a school community are doing to proactively address activities that are detrimental to the culture we want for our students."
Hubbard said, "We are confident that our students are capable and willing to step up to the challenge to be active participants in strengthening what is fundamentally a safe, respectful school community."
In his letter, Kitchens said male students on some of the school's varsity sports teams "set up a 'Fantasy Slut League' in which our female students (unbeknownst to most of them) are drafted as part of the league" and the males "earn points for documented engagement in sexual activities with female students."
Local
He said, "Although I was surprised and sorry to find out that this concept is not unique to Piedmont High School, it does not deter our responsibilities as an educational community to address it."
Kitchens said the league has existed in one form or another for five or six years "as part of 'bonding' for some varsity teams" during their sports seasons and many students, both male and female, "were aware of it and participated."
He said students "felt pressure to participate and/or lacked confidence to overtly stop it" and older students often pressured younger students to participate, sometimes by using alcohol to impair judgment.
Kitchens said because school officials don't have specifics about participants or victims, "Our focus is on education and understanding moving forward, not discipline for past activities."
He said in the future there will be a meeting for athletes at the start of each season "to address issues of sportsmanship, conduct and integrity."
Kitchens also said there will be a school assembly in the near future to address the fantasy league and "other related personal integrity issues."
Afterward, there will be structured discussions on the topic with students in their classes, he said.
Kitchens told parents in the letter that they should contact the school's wellness center for support "if you discover your child is in distress or has been taken advantage of."
