By Imran Siddiqui
The Tower Pulse
Grosse Pointe South HS
1st Place Division 2, News Writing
Online Breaking News Coverage
JUDGING CRITERIA
- Reports as much of the who, what, where, when, why and how as possible
- Story is in the form of a short report to get out essential facts as soon as possible
- Does not sacrifice accuracy for the sake of timeliness
- Sharp, attention-getting lead that underscores news story importance
- Uses inverted pyramid
- Emphasizes news elements, i.e. timeliness, nearness, impact, and prominence
- Avoids opinion unless properly attributed
- Proper diction/grammar; use of third person
A tweet portraying two South students using derogatory language, including the N-word, was posted on Twitter last Saturday, June 22, by another student.
The two white students were seen arguing in the video calling each other the N-word four times and used the term slave twice. One student said “You’re a f—ing n—. You’re my slave,” in the video.
Just over three years ago, a similar incident occurred when a photo showing four South students with the N-word written on their bodies was posted on Instagram. This resulted in a five-day separation from the school for all four of the students.
Three months after this incident, a video surfaced that included three South students calling black people “stupid” and “worthless.” The students insisted how in their ideal future, black people are “going to be owned by white people,” and they would “burn them on stakes.” All three students were separated from school.
When the video was posted on Twitter this weekend, it gained traction quickly. The original post has 14.4 thousand views and 69 retweets at the time this story was published. Many comments on the video urged the school district to take action.
The school district’s official Twitter account replied to a tweet on Sunday, June 23, explaining “The district is investigating and we ask the community to help– help with restorative justice, help end this cycle, help us be a community where all feel safe and welcome and this is not tolerated.”
Superintendent Dr. Gary Niehaus issued the following statement to The Tower:
“Over the weekend, the district was informed of a disturbing video of some high school students circulating on social media. While it clearly happened outside the school year and off property, federal and state law restrict what the district can do inside our Code of Conduct unless it impacts instruction. However, the Extracurricular Code of Conduct is a 24-7, 365 policy with direct consequences. And the district is already using Restorative Justice practices with the families and students involved.
As you know, for the past two years, diversity and equity have been the focus of half of our professional development. The district continues to work with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, University of Michigan Summer Youth Dialogue program, Wayne RESA and the local NAACP on training and programming to bring our community together and ensure all students and staff feel safe and welcome.”