School disciplines students in video of sex act, those who circulated it
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A Snapchat video depicting the sexual activity of two charter school students was circulated on social media, leading staff to notify police.
Those sharing the video as well as the participants in the sex act have received disciplinary action, according to a communication sent to parents of students at Carpe Diem Innovative School-Northwest, 5435 W. Pike Plaza Road. That’s near 38th Street and Moller Road on the northwest side.
The disciplinary action the students received as well as the number of students disciplined was not disclosed in the communication.
According to a Tuesday IMPD report on a sex crime at the school, it involved a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl. A summary in the IMPD report described the incident: “Students were filmed allegedly having sex and video passed around.”
No arrests were mentioned in the IMPD report.
“A brave and caring student” notified school staff, the communication said.
“That is a final example of what we look for in leadership. We need to encourage that,” said Kimberly Ewing, a prevention bully trainer with KDE Motivates.
Ewing said she teaches students how to stand up to bullying and how to make the right decisions in and out of the classroom. She shared with us what she would share with the students involved in the crime.
“You made a very poor mistake. This is not who you are. It is the fact that we do not celebrate but it is not the child that we throw away and it is so easy to do that, we do that with adults too, this is poor judgement,” Ewing said.
Ewing added it is important for parents and guardians to talk to students about making the wrong choices and the pitfalls of social media.
“Kids make poor judgments all the time, a lot of times it does not make Snapchat,” Ewing said.
Here is the communication to parents:
Dear Carpe Diem Parents,
Yesterday, October 10, 2017, through the actions of a brave and caring student, school staff was notified that a video depicting sexual activity of two students was being circulated on the social media platform Snapchat.
Staff immediately followed protocol for handling this type of situation. Parents of all participating students were called to the school, law enforcement was called as was Department of Child Services. A member of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department acknowledged the thoroughness and diligence of the staff in handling the situation.
Through extensive interviewing of students and review of electronic exchanges, school staff was able to quickly ascertain the participants in both the original sex act, as well as those sharing the video via Snapchat. Those students have all received disciplinary actions from the school and are awaiting any necessary action from law enforcement if a crime was committed.
Carpe Diem Innovative School acknowledges the importance of supervision of students during school hours. We are aggressively addressing strategies to ensure that students are supervised at all times in all areas of the building. We will also address social media safety through additional presentations for staff, parents, and students.
Carpe Diem is extremely proud of the student who took a stand for another student in this situation. This student exemplifies the type of young people who attend our school. We are also extremely proud of our staff that sprang into action to protect the students involved and supported their families as they move quickly to address the needs of their children.
-Carpe Diem Innovative School Northwest