Water fight inside school leads to graduation ban for 7 students, Indiana officials say
Seven students who had a water fight inside their school will not be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies, Indiana school administrators said.
The fight reportedly involved water balloons and water guns Wednesday at Clarksville High School. A school official said it “jeopardized the safety of our students and staff and created a substantial disruption to the educational environment.”
The graduation ceremony at the Louisville-area school is planned for Friday night.
Water activities were scheduled for a senior picnic outside the school, and students were not allowed to participate in them inside, according to a school official.
The seniors will still graduate from the school but will not be allowed to attend the commencement. Family members of some of the seniors voiced their displeasure about the school’s decision Thursday.
“This isn’t something that lasts for a day or two weeks or anything — this is a lifetime of hurting,” parent Andre Jones told the News and Tribune. “It’s tragic that you all would make a decision like this.”
Sydney Stewart, a sister of one of the seniors, said she was unable to walk at her own graduation last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She said all she wanted “was to see my baby brother walk across that stage.”
“But that was stolen from Sammy, by one bad choice, one that no one would even blink an eye over, yet because the staff at this school worry more about what they look like to other people, and more about their pride, he doesn’t get the chance to experience what it feels like, how successful it feels like, walking across that stage that you waited to walk across for 12 whole years,” she wrote on Facebook.
Another parent, Clayton Hattabaugh, said of the students: “These are good kids not doing nothing wrong, and they’re getting punished for minor stuff,” according to the News and Tribune.
The school said the decision was not taken lightly and the well-being of its students is its top priority.
“We will always strive to provide the safest and most secure educational environment for our students at all times,” a statement from the school read.