The punishment meted out to six Honokaa High School football players after they directed an inappropriate social media post at a rival team was too harsh, according to one parent.
The students were removed from the Honokaa Dragons varsity team Monday after school administrators learned the boys posted a picture of themselves holding up their middle fingers prior to last Friday’s game against the Konawaena High Wildcats. The photo was accompanied by a caption reading “Win or lose f—- the zoo crew,” an apparent reference to the Konawaena team.
In a letter to state schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi and Honokaa Complex Area Superintendent Art Souza, Abigail Parel, the mother of senior running back Quin Fojas, admitted the photograph posted to Instagram was an example of “bad sportsmanship.” However, she argued, the school overreacted when it kicked the boys off the team, and administrators did not confer with parents or perform a thorough investigation into the incident.
“(Honokaa Interim Principal Rachelle) Matsumura failed to conduct a proper and thorough investigation. NO investigation of any kind was conducted. I DID NOT receive a phone call from Ms. Matsumura. The Principal, the Football Coach, and the Athletic Director failed to follow appropriate policy and procedure when they decided to discipline my son, a minor child, and expel him from the varsity football team,” she wrote in the Oct. 16 letter.
Administrators reacted strongly to the posting, Matsumura explained in a Wednesday phone interview, because they classified it as an example of bullying or cyberbullying.
“We took it as derogatory of the other team,” she said.
In a letter sent home to the players’ parents Monday, Matsumura said the punishment was based on the school system’s “zero tolerance policy for bullying and cyberbullying.”
“Since the event took place on school grounds, it is within the school’s right and jurisdiction to ensure that the students who were involved have appropriate consequences,” she wrote.
In addition to kicking the students off the team before Friday’s semi-final game, the school also is requiring each of them to submit two-page papers about the subject of bullying.
Parel wrote in her Friday letter the students’ actions did not qualify as cyberbullying.
The school policy defines bullying as being “sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that it creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment,” a bar the Instagram post failed to meet, she said, since “it was one instance, one photograph, posted by one student, (Keaka) Swift, which is identified in the post,” she wrote.
Parel claimed since the publication of the incident in the Tribune-Herald and other news media, her son has received “serious threats.”
“Social media has blown up, and I have been receiving calls and text messages up until this morning from concerned individuals, fearful of retaliation against my son and his friends,” she said. “Ms. Matsumura has exhibited such gross negligence and inadequacy in being a strong and positive leader that she should not be chosen as the permanent principal. Because of her actions, and lack thereof, a formal lawsuit is pending.”
Matsumura did not respond Friday to a phone call seeking her response to Parel’s complaints. A request for comment instead was directed to state Department of Education spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz, who responded via email.
She said she could not yet respond to Parel’s complaints, as the DOE had not yet received the letter, but she did go into more detail regarding administrators’ thought process after being made aware of the Instagram post.
“The school conducts an investigation into a situation of concern that is brought to the administrators’ attention. That is what occurred at Honokaa High,” she wrote. “Administrators and athletic personnel made the decision that there was a Chapter 19 violation based on the definition of cyberbullying. Additionally, there was a violation of team rules because these students were involved in inappropriate behavior while representing their team, their community, and their coaches.
“This decision was not made lightly. The Complex Area Superintendent supports the school’s decision.”
Debate about the issue has proliferated online since Thursday’s article in the Tribune-Herald. By Friday afternoon, the story had been shared about 2,800 times on Facebook, generating dozens of comments, ranging from profanity-laced diatribes to thoughtful observations.
“It’s got nothing to do with bullying or ‘cyberbullying!’” wrote Facebook commenter Greg Green. “It has everything to do with acting like a disgusting, uncouth BUM. The kids on the football team have a whole school and town standing behind them in support. They are held to a higher standard and this should not be that standard.”
Carol Mendes said via Facebook she supports the decisions made by the principal and coaches, arguing “the punishment fits the crime.”
However, she thought the newspaper showed poor judgment in bringing the issue to light.
“I’m disappointed with the tribune herald making it the headline in today’s paper and posting the picture with the names of the students in the paper and online,” Mendes said. “It’s time for lessons to be learned and supporting the families and school. The Trib did not need to sensationalize it or provide more exposure to the act.”
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
