High School, Beer Pong and Social Networking

Mason High School students in Cincinatti, Ohio are dealing with the fallout from pictures of an assistant basketball coach engaged in what appears to be a round of beer pong during a party at his home. This would not be bad in and of itself, but the pictures suggest that there were people under 21 in attendance, and Mason Police are now investigating just what went on and who was there, according to the Enquirer (no, not the supermarket rag).

A private group of citizens calling themselves Citizens for Accountability and Results in Education (CARE), with a long history of criticizing the way the Mason school district has conducted business, presented the potentially incriminating photos to school officials this week. They claimed to have obtained them from an unnamed social networking site of one of the party participants. The photos were eventually turned over to the police.

We’ve covered stories like this before. They are nothing new with the inter-connectedness of the web growing by leaps and bounds seemingly every day. But what stuck out from the article for us was this quote from the coach’s attorney, Patrick Dunphy, to the Examiner:

“Any accusations that my clients participated in or hosted a party for Mason High School students where alcohol was served are absolutely untrue. […] “The accusation that my clients held a party in their home where alcohol was consumed by minors with their prior knowledge are absolutely false,” […] “Mrs. Crotty was out of state on the date apparently in question. […] I caution you that my clients are not public figures and that they will undoubtedly incur damage to their reputation in the community by the reckless reporting of unsubstantiated accusations.”

The attention paid to the reputations of his clients is certainly admirable and justified. Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, internet has once again proved to be a powerful reputation engine that can bring about consequences in the real world.

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