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Twerk around and find out. Kaylee Timonet found out. She is a senior at Walker High School in Walker, Louisiana, and had a scholarship endorsement withdrawn and was removed from her position as student government association president. Why?
Because someone filmed her dancing at an after-party homecoming event and broadcast it on social media.
Louisiana principal Jason St. Pierre removed a girl as student body president and denied her access to scholarships because…
he didn’t like the way she danced at an off-campus party, saying she “wasn’t living in the Lord’s way.”https://t.co/cKr4dFr2vV
— Joshua Benton (@jbenton) October 6, 2023
Kaylee was recorded dancing in what some might consider lewd taste, and the video was shared on social media.
The DJ of the event filmed the kids dancing and put it on social media. Did DJ Savage have permission to do so? They are minors.
The video, which has since been deleted, reportedly showed the teen dancing behind a friend who was “twerking” at the after-hours bash, where Timonet’s mother was in attendance.
The DJ who played the party — and filmed and posted the video — told the outlet the dancing was harmless.
“How those kids were dancing was not bad. I have seen much worse,” DJ Savage said. “It was genuinely kids having fun.” – New York Post
The video has since been deleted. And the story that is being reported is that someone sent it to the high school administrators. More questions. Why would someone send a video to the high school administrators? Maybe someone had it out for Kaylee and her family? Who knows.
It doesn’t matter how the administrators found out, but when they called Kaylee into their offices alone, that is when there was a problem. Right? Or am I wrong? Then again, schools think they have rights to the student before the parents.
The powers that be told Kaylee that her dancing behavior had now cost her the scholarship she had qualified for, and they removed her from her favorite extracurricular activity: student government.
Prior to the video being released, Timonet was the student government association’s president. That role has since been stripped. She remains the Beta Club president. The teen tutors kids and was just awarded outstanding volunteer in the Baton Rouge area. – UWK – Unfiltered With Kiran
Perhaps this should have been an opportunity for Kaylee to stand up for herself and not entirely fall apart. In the article and video, she keeps telling us how she immediately broke down crying and continued to cry all day over the incident.
It makes me wonder about some things. Then again, we are talking about the South, where most kids are taught to respect their elders, so it can be a little devastating when you get dressed down by one of them.
But there’s more.
According to Kaylee, the principal, Jason St. Pierre, told her he was concerned about her afterlife because she wasn’t following God’s ideals after making her watch the video.
Timonet was called into the school’s front office on Tuesday morning and reduced to tears as principal Jason St. Pierre made her watch the video, the distraught teen told Unfiltered.
“They basically told me I should be ashamed of myself and that they were concerned about my afterlife if I wasn’t following basically God’s ideals, which made me cry even more,” she said. – New York Post
So I watched the video where it showed Kaylee “twerking.” While it wasn’t the most wholesome thing to exhibit, it certainly didn’t warrant taking her scholarship possibilities away or removing her from student government. The “twerking” in question lasted less than 3 seconds, maybe? And it didn’t look like Kaylee was doing the twerking, but she was behind another girl who was twerking, egging her on.
But whatever. Have you seen some high school cheer and dance team performances lately?
And being called a ‘hood ornament’ for the school? Well, now, that is silliness. Kaylee’s mother, Rachel, says the school punished her daughter because they said she was the “hood ornament” of the school. What the actual twerk? Meaning, Kaylee represents the school in all her activities. I think maybe different words could have been used. Hood ornament. My goodness.
While the incident happened at a private party, off campus, and Kaylee was obviously not representing the school, it shows you that you must be very careful about what you do nowadays.
Did the 3-second video of Kaylee’s Footloose Dirty Dancing justify pulling her scholarship possibilities? I think not. But let this be a lesson: you are always on Candid Camera. And moms, teach your daughters self-confidence and self-respect.
Feature Image: Folk Dancing/RawPixel/CC0 1.0 Universal
Double-checked that this is a public school. If this went down the way it is presented, Kaylee has an airtight case against them, and the principal. She should win a very good judgement on this one.
This is not a fuzzy thing about the First Amendment, like a coach having a voluntary prayer session on the field – it is a government official making detrimental decisions about a student based explicitly on his religious beliefs. Absolutely a violation of civil rights.
Oh, the DJ recording. I have, in the past as a parochial school board member, seen several of those contracts. A standard provision is permission to record the event for their own business purposes. Almost certainly those clauses are still in any contract for their services.
Cameron says: 1. Is this a private school? No.
2. Did this happen on school grounds? No.
I’m sure there are a few lawyers absolutely salivating at a chance to represent this kid.
Yup, as the others pointed out, Walker High is a public school. Just because the students are minors doesn’t mean they give up all of their constitutional rights. The courts have been very clear over the last few decades, not a school event means the school has no say about legal activity. There should be a very large settlement with a very public apology from the district, and an opening for a new high school principal.
Liz says: Twerk around and find out. Love this title! LOL
Just a thought:
Has anyone been privy to information in the past regarding some national “scandal” of one type of another, where you knew the facts, then read the news and it was completely different? Murray Gell-mann referenced this phenomenon years ago, and it has only gotten worse.
That said, if the article is accurate, I agree with everyone above.
It is highly likely there is context missing, however.
Why I put everything as “If this…”
However, the consequences outlined here are more than likely correct – and, unless they were for a FAR more egregious offense, they are wildly overblown.
If I had been subjected to proportionately heavy-handed treatment for the mistakes that I made even as a senior in high school – well, I wouldn’t be writing this. Awfully hard to do social media when you’re sitting in the median of an intersection trying to cadge enough change to get a day old sandwich at the Quik Stop.
GWB says: it shows you that you must be very careful about what you do nowadays
Here’s the thing. This used to always be the case. You had a thing called a reputation, and it hindered or helped your working with the folks around you. Ladies were careful not to be seen as a slut because it impacted how men saw them. Men were careful to be seen as gentlemen because it could impact employment and marriage prospects.
One of the biggest problems with our culture today is the total lack of societal mores about being moral or upright.
While I agree with the folks above about the current Progressive standard of freedom from religion, this is one of those things that used to not be controversial – until the progressive hedonists came along.
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