High school students face disciplinary action for racist and homophobic prank

A group of at least ten students, who spelled out racial and homophobic slurs on t-shirts, will have disciplinary action taken against them by the school.

The students - who are seniors at Escondido High School in San Diego, California - posed for photos where their t-shirts spelled out the offensive words, which were later shared on social media.

According to BuzzFeed, Cade Pannell, a graduate of the school, saw a video of the students on Snapchat and then shared it on his Instagram page where it went viral.

Once it came to the attention of the school, officials and police investigated what had happened and took the action that they felt was necessary.

The incident is said to have taken place at the annual senior picnic where the students are given t-shirts to spell out pre-approved words.

It has not been made public what type of punishment the students will receive. Principal Adriana Lepe-Ramirez said in a statement via Facebook:

As the principal of EHS, I want to thank you for sharing your concerns and suggestions following the situation that occurred last Thursday on our campus.

I want to assure you that actions have been taken and students are receiving consequences; however, specifics must remain confidential.

We believe the lessons to be learned need to, and can, far exceed a period of punishment.

Our school community, along with alumni, families, fellow schools and others are sharing in this pain.

Together, we have begun the process of educating all on the implications and power of one’s actions and decisions.

This will be a continuing process and I will provide updates throughout the year.

Students have reported that the punishments that have been dished out involve suspensions, being expelled from clubs and organisations and being barred from graduation.

One senior at the school said that racism isn't a problem at the establishment and "nothing like this has ever really happened before".

In an interview with Free Hugs Project, one of the students involved in the incident apologised for the prank which they thought was "going to be so cool and funny".

She added:

I am scared to go back to school but I am going to try and show people that's not who I really am because that's for sure not who I want to be.

I want to show people that's not right. I've learned from my mistakes.

HT BuzzFeed

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