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Loved reading this, I have a very similar story. Same year, 1997, I made a Geocities site and had teacher report cards just like in this story. I put the site u
by gwilkes 11y ago
Loved reading this, I have a very similar story. Same year, 1997, I made a Geocities site and had teacher report cards just like in this story. I put the site up on the library computers home page and then it spread around the school immediately, kids were talking about in the hallways, teachers mentioned in class that they would find who did did it.
I also critiqued the school itself, some of the hypocrisies I saw and notably since it was a Catholic school they had a school rule against pornography even when you were at home. So of course I put up a very soft core nude photo as a sort of fuck you.
However, unlike this story I actually was expelled, but it's not very difficult to get expelled from a Catholic school, it was a regular occurrence at our school. Knowing this I kept it very anonymous and didn't tell anyone.
I got an email from the school saying they would sue me for libel unless I came and turned myself in. That made me pretty nervous and pretty soon after that a student who I knew emailed me saying he loved the site and wanted to help. I then told him who I was and it turns out it was actually a teacher impersonating a student.
My brother and I were both expelled, my brother didn't do anything but contribute a few of the teacher reviews, so it sucked pretty bad for him. For me too of course but I was kicked out halfway through my senior year so I was mostly done with high school anyway. Plus I had already applied to colleges so it the expulsion didn't show up on any transcript the colleges received.
My brother wasn't so lucky since he was only a sophomore when this happened, when it came time to apply for college he got accepted to none of the colleges he applied for. He appealed hard and finally got into one.
- azraomega 11y agoDid you ever find out how they targeted you at the first place?
- gwilkes 11y agoOh, I had an anonymous email account listed on the website so people could leave feedback or submit additional teacher reviews. So, they didn't know who I was but they could contact me. I fucked up by outing myself to the teacher impersonating a student, but with a legal threat I guess it could have turned out even worse if I didn't out myself. Huge drama at the time, my parents were pretty religious so they actually took the values of the school seriously and were so upset that they told me they wouldn't let me go to college. That was a pretty easy fight to win though as there is no way they could have stopped me.
- JackFr 11y agoI hate to say it, in this comment you come off as a little narcissistic, selfish and immature. What was it you gained by this prank? At what was the cost to those around you?
- gwilkes 11y agoIt was just for fun at first and also to air some real grievances about the school itself. It was supposed to be religious but it felt like the school was more about money, there were some other specific issues that felt like they were important at the time as well. I really didn't mean to hurt my brother or family, still feel bad about it. I don't think the teachers took it too hard as I heard that some agreed with what was said and I don't think I said anything too hurtful about any of them, just honest really. I'm certainly writing here in a somewhat detached manner as it does still bring up feelings and I could better explain with an entire blog post like the original story here. Maybe I'll do just that.
- studentrob 11y agosubscribe
- mcherm 11y agoI agree. That is exactly why radical organizers like Martin Luther King or Evan Wolfson or Ed Snowden should learn to sit down and shut up. It is narcissistic, selfish, and immature of them to insist on speaking about issues society would prefer they stayed silent on. And the cost to their supporters and friends and those around them is quite significant.
- austenallred 11y agoSimilar story here, I still remember Mapleton.tk. I loved that the whole school was talking about it. The killer feature was actually a forum where we could talk bad about teachers using pseudonyms. A lot of them deserved it too. Nothing made me happier than seeing how much everyone hated Mr. Peterson, the teacher somehow put in charge of the students who had skipped two years of math.
- mcfunley 11y agoSame here, I also did basically the same thing in 1997. I wasn't expelled but I was banned from my senior prom and served a lengthy in-school suspension stint. The administration threatened to write to the colleges I'd already been accepted to and try to get those offers withdrawn, but as far as I know that was just a threat.