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Normally, high school kids are worried about getting good grades and finding cheap cars for sale. Maybe they’re discussing weekend plans or thinking about who to ask out. This being 2020, however, students are having to also contend with their classmates not wearing masks, not social distancing, and potentially contracting COVID-19.
One teen who attends North Paulding High School in Georgia, Hannah Watters, 15, took a picture in her school’s crowded hallway. The image shows students shoulder-to-shoulder, with very few of them wearing masks. For all anyone can tell, the image could be from last year, given the lack of social distancing. However, the image quickly went viral on social media, exemplifying why public schools shouldn’t be open in the middle of a pandemic.
After Hannah shared the image online, the school moved to suspend her. The images, taken on Monday and Tuesday, were uploaded earlier in the week. The school swiftly suspended her for “violating the student code of conduct”. However, Hannah maintains that she was simply trying to shed light on what was happening inside the school.
Her suspension incensed a number of people online, who demanded the school reverse the decision. North Paulding High School backpedaled on their decisions quickly, according to Hannah’s mother, Lynne Watters.
“The principal just said that they were very sorry for any negative attention that this has brought upon her, and that in the future they would like for her to come to the administration with any safety concerns she has,” wrote Watters in a text. “The principal confirmed that she will have no disciplinary action on her record, and she can return to school on Monday.”
In an intercom address to the students of the high school, principal Gabe Harmona warned, “Anything that’s going on social media that’s negative or alike without permission, photography, that’s video or anything, there will be consequences.”
Hannah wasn’t the only student who got in trouble for sharing images of the high school’s crowded halls. Another student, who has not been publicly named, took the same actions and was also suspended. Whether he has been reinstated like Hannah is unclear at the time of this writing.
Hannah has since promised she’ll work with the administration over any safety issues she notices. However, some say it is distressing that the school so quickly punished a whistleblower. The images from the school are emblematic of many parents’ reservations about schools resuming in-person classes.
