Boys at a New Hampshire high school have sparked outrage after secretly trading Pokémon cards that have salacious pictures of their female classmates.
Students in grade 9 and 10 at Bedford High School were accused of taking secret photos of girls in grade 11 and 12 without their consent.
They then stuck them on trading cards that featured the girls’ chests, bums and names on them.
Principal Bob Jozokos warned parents about the ‘upsetting’ behavior and promised those involved would be heavily punished when they are identified.
Boys at a New Hampshire high school have sparked outrage after secretly trading Pokémon cards that have salacious pictures of their female classmates
They then stuck them on Pokémon trading cards that featured the girls’ chests, bums and names on them
‘This is absolutely inappropriate behavior and not expected of our students,’ Jozokos wrote.
‘Let your teen know that I take this sexual harassment very seriously and there is no place for it in our community.’
The trading cards featured the chests, backsides and names of the girls according to NBC10 Boston, with one senior boy saying he was horrified when he found out.
‘This is horrible. That’s just disgusting,’ the high school senior told the broadcaster.
The student, who did not wish to be identified, said for at least a week boys had been printing pictures of the girls and taping them over the Pokémon cards.
‘They were, like, rating them, from 0 to 10… like bad or not bad,’ he added.
The senior said the girls were completely unaware of the nefarious card game and one of the girls rated was a friend of his.
‘She’s p***ed, she’s not happy at all, she was just very embarrassed,’ he said.
Senior Kristen Caldwell started an online petition calling on the district to take the allegations seriously.
‘I personally felt like there were definitely girls who could have been victims of this that were too scared to speak up,’ she told WCVB.
The Change.org had 4,356 of 5,000 signatures as of Wednesday and pressed administration to take a bigger stance on the boys involved once they’re identified.
‘The young women attending Bedford High School deserve justice,’ the petition says. ‘These shameful young boys are treating their fellow peers as sex objects.
‘How would you feel if your daughters privacy was invaded without her knowledge?
‘How would you feel if you found a trading card, containing your daughters sexual body parts, name, and a rating on her looks, and were informed it was made by a group of her peers in a place where she is supposed to feel safe and protected?’
One senior from the high school said the girls were completely unaware of the nefarious card game and one of the girls rated was a friend of his. He asked to keep his name anonymous (pictured)
Superintendent Michael Fournier acknowledged the gravity of the situation, but stressed its hard to enact a punishment without having identified the culprits
A Change.org petition had 4,356 of 5,000 signatures as of Wednesday and pressed administration to take a bigger stance on the boys involved once they’re identified
The petition continues to question how an institution for education has become a dangerous place for women.
‘What has school turned into for these young women? We are not a toy for your son to play with, nor a piece of paper that can be traded like a Pokémon card,’ it continued.
‘After finding out this information, many young women attending Bedford High School were quietly outraged.
‘What was Bedford High Schools solution to this revolting issue? Suspension. A temporary absence from school was the greatest extent taken by authorities for exploiting teen girls, and distributing inappropriate images of these teen girls without their knowledge.’
Caldwell believes the boys responsible should be permanently expelled from the school and questioned why the issue had not been ‘taken seriously’ enough.
‘These students have no place in our school, and need to be removed immediately.,’ the petition reads.
‘The damage they have done to our community is irreversible and cannot be compensated in any form other than justice for their disgustingly irresponsible actions.
‘As a 12th grade female attending Bedford High School, I will refuse to be silent about this issue in honor of the girls that are too afraid of ridicule to speak up, and I encourage all members of the Bedford community and beyond, whether you are a parent, teacher, student, etc., to support our protest in the lack of discipline Bedford has demonstrated.’
Superintendent Michael Fournier told NBC10 Boston that he acknowledged the gravity of the situation but stressed its hard to enact a punishment without names.
‘The administration has been talking to kids. No names have come forward. So if there are names, we would like those names,’ Fournier said.
‘This is inappropriate. We’re going to deal with it. There will be consequences. Once we know, then we’ll know which consequences to issue.’
Antonio Bruno told WCVB his daughter, 15, may have been one of the girls whose photo was shared unknowingly.
‘She saw the picture and she thinks she’s one of the girls,’ he said, adding that she no longer wants to go to school.
‘We’re thinking about maybe we’ll move my daughter somewhere else because if she’s not safe in school, where’s she need to be safe then?’
Bedford has about 23,000 people and is located just outside of Manchester in southern New Hampshire. About 1,500 students attend the high school
School officials said students who received the inappropriate images were not given consent by the girls depicted in the photos and their families have been told
According to WMUR school administrators interviewed 35 students on Friday over the incident, but there are still no solid leads on the boys involved.
Jozokos said one student shared two collage photos of girls wearing bathing suits, shorts or tops with school administrators.
None of the pictures depicted nudity and school officials said they were not taken in or around campus.
He confirmed at least two students received those images and numerous reports said three to five students were sharing the pictures through Snapchat.
School officials said students who received the inappropriate images were not given consent by the girls depicted in the photos and their families have been told.
Bedford has about 23,000 people and is located just outside of Manchester in southern New Hampshire. About 1,500 students attend the high school.
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