On February 5, 2024, an inappropriate image was posted on the social media platform Snapchat by a 9th grade Arrowhead student.
The image was created approximately four months ago by another student, but was only posted to a small, private social media group. The student captured a screenshot of the image months ago, but had not reported it.
The image in question is of two female students in the foreground, with a small group of students sitting at a table in the background. The image has the abhorrent caption that refers to the table as the “N-word” table.
“She knew what she was doing taking a picture of those kids and she knew it was wrong, but she thought she could get away with it,” says senior Olivia Voelker.
“The image was put out on social media this week by a parent of an Arrowhead student. The personal phones and accounts used to create and post the image have no connection to the school district,” says the Facebook post.
According to Arrowhead’s Facebook, “Only the individuals who possessed the four-month old image can explain why they did not bring it to anyone’s attention until now. It appears there may have been an attempt to connect the four-month old image to a separate and unrelated interaction that occurred between students this week. As those incidents are completely unrelated, and involve different students, it is unclear why anyone would try to connect the two.”
District administrators say they have been in continual communication with all of the students and families involved. They say working towards supporting the students targeted by the post as a top school priority.
“The students responsible for this social media post will be held accountable through the most appropriate consequences,” says the Arrowhead Facebook post.
“With them saying they took action, I feel like administration only took action because it got so much attention,” says senior Taylor Koch.
According to the Arrowhead Facebook post, “School administrators and teachers do all we can to produce critically thinking, kind, compassionate, respectful, hard-working problem-solvers who will become leaders in our communities.”
Also according to the Arrowhead Facebook post, “Public school staff take on the responsibility for our society to teach and model caring and respectful behavior. We emphasize treating others with dignity and respect at all times. We emphasize treating others the way we want to be treated. We emphasize being kind.”
