Let’s Squash Some Palladium Rumors
The staff of Park Cities People has been busy reporting on what happened at the Palladium Ballroom on Thursday night. I just wanted to clear up a few misconceptions from the earlier post.
1. We’ve spoken to the freshman girl’s mother. She said her daughter was released from Children’s Medical Center on Saturday and returned to school on Monday. “Just know that she is healthy, and she is fine,” the mom said.
2. The three arrested seniors will be allowed to walk across the stage at Moody Coliseum on Friday night and receive their diplomas along with the rest of their classmates. “The students were cited for something that occurred off campus, which is an important distinction,” said HPISD spokeswoman Helen Williams. “If there had been alcohol use on campus, one of the consequences might have involved graduation ceremonies.”
3. The Secret Service is helping the Dallas Police Department investigate the fake IDs. The FBI is not.
We’ll have more in this week’s edition of Park Cities People.
Finally some news. Will read more tomorrow evening. Thx.
Glad to see that the HPISD has decided to take the road less travelled of late and taken heart to the plight of indocumentado barrachos. Now that they wear the badge of a Sanctuary District for drunken teens, The Bubble will not have to export our bad kiddos to far flung places like Harlingen or New Mexico for faux Marine Corps boarding schools. We can keep our problems right here!
Just curious, but did the selling of ID’s occur on campus? Isn’t that a crime?
HPISD Spokesperson Helen Williams,
Please tell me you are kidding. Walking across the stage to receive one’s diploma is an honor and a privilege; does the district sincerely believe that illegal, unhonorable behavior is award-worthy simply because it occurs off campus? I am honestly shocked by this; you could not send a worse message to the graduating class with this decision. Way back in 1968, my own brother wasn’t allowed to participate in his own commencement exercise due to a similiar offense and he was also a winner of an Arts & Languages prize. You can bet this made an impact on him, just like it would if these 3 guys had to sit at home and watch the proceedings on the HP TV channel. Would this ridiculous policy still hold if a student had been charged with rape off campus? Or assault? Or a drunk driving fatality? I really can’t believe HPISD is willing to do this…such a disappointment.
The postscript to this whole event is that it really was “no big deal”. Everything is back to normal with no real consequences. Hopefully the next time this happens there will be an equally happy ending.
What?!? The 3 guys have been arrested, posted bail and are currently under investigation by the Secret Service and DPD, yet HPISD won’t take a stand and make them miss graduation? Where’s your backbone HPISD?
I have a middle school son and daughter. I keep telling them there are precious consequences to thier choices and actions, some that I control and some that are controlled by others. Help me out here. Show that there are consequences to this behavior.
Everything we do teaches a lesson – some good, some bad. Unfortuntately with the school’s decision, they are teaching that the actions of these kids is acceptable.
Wow. No wonder it continues. This district continues to publicly pardon DUIs, arrests, and now this. For those of us who take our parenting jobs seriously, every time something like this happens it just makes it a little harder. For the students who continue to make good choices, its probably a little painful to watch the pardons. For those who make the bad choices, eventually you enter the real world and pay for your decisions. No one wants to see any child suffer. But as adults we are doing these children a huge disservice to sweep yet another incident under the rug. I really expect more from our district, but I’m not surprised. Oh, and if you think it all happened off campus consider the customer base for the fake ID scam. Shame on HPISD. Children fighting at the middle school get more severe punishment than these seniors will get.
@Huh?,
I believe just possessing the ID’s is a crime let alone selling it. Did every student that had one keep it at home or did they keep it in their possession?
LOST in HP
Flash back: Last Thursday afternoon the Man-in-Black, in the body of an SMU student, showed up at HPHS and handed out fake ID’s to really good, but slightly disillusioned, kids with a promise to get them off the island (high school property) and make the wildly popular if they would just follow him to the other side of Dallas (Palladium Ballroom).
Flash sideways: Once there, the freshman girl drank herself to a .40 before passing out face first in commode water and vomit. The “others” didn’t find her until she had already suffered permanent brain damage but she was alive so it was no big deal. In the mad dash to get back to the bubble the 3 boys took off the wrong way down Wycliff and met an eighteen wheeler head on. Two of the boys were killed but the driver lived, albeit as a paraplegic.
Flash forward: Every spring the girl with brain damage and the paraplegic boy are delivered to the high school in their wheelchairs to tell their stories (at least the boy tells his story because the girl can’t really talk with the brain damage and all) at the “Don’t Drink and Drive” and “Don’t Drink till You Pass Out in Commode Vomit Water” assembly. The students look away because that all happened a long time ago and they have video messages to send on the G17 iPhones. The Man-in-Black, now a senior at UT, smiles and hands out more fake eye scans as the students exit the assembly.
The Bubble Circle of Life.
@MK
plenty of other students were there and were engaging in the same illegal activity as these three boys (one of whom was caught because he, unlike the others, chose to help the freshman girl) but they weren’t caught. why should the lucky ones that didn’t get any consequences get to walk while the scapegoats don’t?? it isn’t for you to decide. I’m glad you aren’t the spokesperson (who by the way doesn’t make the decisions.)
they should get to walk. they were doing nothing worse than the other seniors there. you should get your facts straight. it wouldn’t be fair for them to miss out on this huge ceremony because of this when their friends who were drunk w/ fake IDs at the palladium too get to walk. and by the way, seniors have been getting pulled out of class all week about their fake IDs. it is a large fraction of the grade. you can’t just penalize these guys without penalizing the rest of the grade as well. stop being so closeminded and cruel. why do you care so much that they miss out on this opportunity? I think they deserve it even more than the people who didn’t get caught. at least one of them helped the girl and they all had to deal with the public humiliation and scrutiny of it all. lets just be nice! they aren’t any worse than any one else.
and @huh-there are drugs sold on campus (discreetly of course) too which in my opinion is worse and you have no way of knowing if he sold them on campus or off.
And of course, they are innocent until proven guilty..
Folks, HPISD can’t really take action based on things they read about here or see on TV. Don’t assume that the Dallas police go out of their way to inform school officials when they arrest a kid from the Park Cities; they don’t, by the way. HPISD officials learned of this incident when Rebecca Lopez from Channel 8 called them for comment.
@MK: Instances of rape and assault are addressed in the code of conduct and extracurricular code of conduct:
http://www.hpisd.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=jV7-aHjX15w%3d&tabid=15617
http://www.hpisd.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=oey00Kfc3k0%3d&tabid=15618
**hear
come on guys! this site needs grammar police
thanks Dan, I love that you guys on giving updates/info! Personally, I’m glad they can walk at graduation.
Before any of you continue to bash these young men, think about the things that you did when you were younger. Not ashamed of anything? The only difference is that these boys got caught. Personally I think it’s ridiculous that all of you love to sit behind your computer screens and tear these kids apart. If you really want to say anything or move forward with this issue, get off the message board and talk to the men themselves.
Ditto what Kmom said.
So I guess, using some of the above logic, that next time I get caught speeding, I should use the defense that everyone was doing it, so why am I being singled out just because I was caught?
Listen, I did many of the same things as a kid, but I always knew that it was wrong, and that if I got caught that there would be consequences. But then again, I had parents who held me accountable for my actions, and made many hard choices that made me “hate” them, but in the long run instilled values and a code of conduct in me that I hope to pass on to my children.
If I had gotten arrested every time I did something stupid at that age, I could have been a rap star.
I too agree with Kmom. Unfortunately, the district, in the application of punishment for code violations, does not wait until guilt has been established in other instances. Having said that, I have no problem with the District’s position.
To suggest that there are no real consequences, that this is, after all, “no big deal” (based on the fact that the district wont punish these young men), that children fighting in middle school will face a more severe penalty, etc., ignores the reality that these young men will be punished, in a manner far worse than being denied participation in a high school graduation ceremony, and at a significant financial cost. They will have at worst a misdemeanor conviction, and possibly a felony conviction, on their records that will stay with them forever.
Why is it a defense to say “others were breaking the law and didn’t get caught. Therefore, those who were breaking the law and got caught shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences”? Does this work in any other criminal matter? “I was speeding. Others speed and don’t get caught, so I shouldn’t receive a ticket.” “I stole multiple iphones and sold them on Craigslist. However, others have done the same thing and not gotten caught, therefore I should not be held accountable under the law”? “I was caught cheating on my final exam. I know there were others who cheated and didn’t get caught, so I should get full credit for my answers.”?
I just don’t understand that logic. When you knowingly break the rules/laws, you understand that you are taking a risk of getting caught and receiving the consequences, right? At the same time, you are hoping you don’t get caught and get away with it. It just doesn’t always fall in your favor.
@grump ~
Thankfully, people don’t get arrested every time they do something stupid. Apparently, you and I would both be in trouble there. They get arrested when they are caught breaking the law to the extent that it warrants arrest.
As I predicted, no lessons learned, the boys will likely not suffer any consequences by the time the lawyers finish, the girl is fine and back at school, the school district abandoned any sense of integrity, and the Park Cities sense of entitlement to break rules and laws continues.
The writer “seriously?” proves my point in eloquent ways I couldn’t even imagine. If this is what passes for ethics and morality, the next generation is in serious trouble.
LMAO!!!!!
Maybe the secret service will file charges Friday and rearrest the class.
@HP Dad
AMEN!!
I’m told that at UT, the HPHS grads have the best fake IDs.
I agree with you guys about the speeding ticket analogy. I guess it is just luck whether you get caught or not even if its not particularly fair. but I don’t think its okay that some of you want them to not be allowed to walk at graduation because your own kids or people you wouldn’t expect were drunk at that concert too and they get to walk. I don’t think you should take that away.
@N.F.
what point did I prove? I just don’t think this is fair no matter how we handle it. is it fair for a senior who decided not to help the girl to get to walk while the one who did doesn’t because he helped her and got caught b/c of that? of course it would be better if no one got drunk or had fake IDs or broke the law, but this IS high school and of course we are going to have issues like that. the problem is how many people are doing it. as a high school student, the initial shock of drinking/drugs/etc has worn off and its crazy how commonplace it is. Kids with 4.0s and up are smoking pot and drinking all the time. these aren’t just the stupid partiers. you’d be amazed. I bet you 80%+ of our school is involved in something illegal whether it be fake IDs, drinking, etc etc. it hasn’t really become a serious health/safety issue till now since most kids don’t drive after drinking (one good thing about us haha) but since someone almost died, everything is blowing up. I don’t really know what the argument is here. I don’t think they should get a huge punishment and I think that they should get to walk at graduation but that is because they have learned their lesson (she almost died! if that doesn’t put them in their place, I don’t know what will) and because the school/law hasn’t punished the other 75% of kids who drink and break the law in other ways, so why these 3? especially since what caught them was a good deed.
Was at school when the Warehouse Party occurred. Everyone there knew it was illegal and still went. They also knew there were going to be consequences if caught. There were and they took them like men and women. These boys were stand up guys for helping the drunk girl in need of help and that is commendable. What is not commendable is that they were underage drinking, using illegal fake ids, and are now whining about what a raw deal they have gotten. I would not be surprised if this whole thing turns around and these 3 boys (and probably their parents too with all the accountability our district is known for) will wear this incident around as a badge of courage. “Yes, I was the guy who was arrested, but why are you making such a big deal about that part when I saved that girl’s life. I mean really you could say that because I had such a good fake id to get in the bar and be there to help her that me breaking the law saved her life.” Just wait, it’ll happen.
I have no doubt that the 3 young men will be out all night after graduation with their classmates drinking and celebrating. If this occurs then no real lesson was learned. This decision will be up to these men. If they decide differently and go home instead of drinking and celebrating then I will have more respect for them as they would have seemed to learned from this unfortunate incident.
Wow I go out of town for one Friday and the world explodes. How is this a big deal? Everyone I knew in HS (and college) had a fake ID (the shop is probably still on Westheimer in Houston) and there was definitely some heavy drinking going on. Most of us turned out ok. Poop happens. And it will happen.
Sorry for partying.
Just reminded me of the guy in the big truck that killed a young girl at Purdue/Hillcrest a few years back. He got off quite a few times before the incident and then agreed to go without a vehicle for five years at Ole Miss.
I hope that everyone involved in this case learned their lesson before something tragic occurs.
I hope that the Secret Service uses a Jack Baur like character to scare the bee jesus out of the lacrosse kid who supplied the fake id’s to his schoolmates. Can you imagine how much money he made by selling these id’s for $100-$200 apiece. If their interogation does scare him back to the path of good decisions then this will turn out to be a good outcome. Even if he is not charged for a crime it will most certainly be very expensive for his family to get him out of this mess that he created.
Don’t know these boys or their families but can’t help but think of the tragedy at UVA when I hear all of the excuses why they should not be held accountable. That young man skated through several scrapes with the attitude of “boys will be boys”. Maybe if he had been held accountable by UVA (and his parents) for his earlier behavior, 2 families would not be living a nightmare.
ya I take back everything I said. I don’t know what happened or if these guys are good people or not. I don’t know what they’re punishment should be so nevermind about everything. i just hope they learned their lesson and that everything works out somehow!
Let’s just take them out back and shoot ’em all: the negligent, benefit-planning Pilates parents, the boys who held the funnel to her lips, the nonchalant girl, the school administrators . . . have I forgotten anyone? Facts be dam*ed.
If I ever need a firing squad, I know where to go.
@seriously?, When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
It’s like a law of nature. When there are no consequences for misbehavior, the misbehavior continues and gets worse.
Not to add fuel to the fire but there are plenty of things in this community people get away with because they have power which in this community is money.
I would hate to be the school district trying to make decisions knowing that they could get sued (or worse called out on this blog 🙂 ) for making a decision that parents were unhappy with.
I heard this morning that the Secret Sevice has the guy’s computer that made the fake IDs and the names and addresses of the fake IDs he made are still on it. Apparently, they are turning over the information and police officers are visiting the student’s homes to pick up the fake IDs and charge additional kids.
Apparently, some IDs cost as much as $400.
Only the best for HP kids!
@rosebud
You are absolutely right … you have made a great point!
Seriously? – Please tell me you’re not a product of the HP school system. If so, based on your grammar, spelling and syntax, I think the district may have a much bigger problem on its hands than just a few fake IDs.
For those parents of younger students reading these posts and the previous ones, please know that it IS possible to go through four years of high school at HP without drinking or carrying a fake ID. The 2010 class has numerous examples of Captains, Belles, Cheerleaders, Musicians, Student Council and Class Reps, Scholars, Athletes (including football players), and just plain Good Kids who managed to do so, had fun and thrived. Congrats to those seniors and their parents as they walk the stage tomorrow night!!
A 19 year old senior. Sad.
Agree with M. Sad, but why not stick around with all the money coming in from the side business until the Secret Service gets you.
@hpguru you’re full of shit. No fake id would cost more than $150. WOW, some of the comments here are ridiculous. I bet most of you passed around the peace pipe a few times back when you were young. The kids now are just like you all were. Life is made up of choices, we all do stupid things. Most of us grow out of that phase in time to be successful. There is no stopping it.
@M I was eighteen when I graduated, maybe he had to repeat when he was younger, so how is that in any way sad at all?
HPW–the probability is high that he was held back (in pre-K)so he could excel in sports. No surprises here when you have adults mingling with juveniles that are peers. I repeat–sad.
Matt–I think they made a movie once about a high schooler with a lucrative side business. I’ll give you a hint: the star uttered the infamous line “Who was I to say no?”
I’m still enjoying the “everyone else does it” and “you did it when you were a kid” excuses.
If a few of these parents would get some backbone and actually be PARENTS, a lot of this crap could be stopped immediately. You want to go out with your friends tonight? NO! You want to have a beer party here at our house this Friday? You want $200 to buy a fake ID? NO!
Sheesh – it’s not that hard parents. Grow a pair and grow up yourselves!
HPW & M, sports are not the only reason to be a 19 year old senior. Certainly the boy was held back, but a serious illness as a small child can cause that, and learning differences means that some kids are not reading when it is time for first grade. Many of these kids have delays in development, and emotionally are younger than their chronological age. Of my son’s 8 member toddler playgroup, 6 went ahead and played sports, and 3 repeated kindergarten in a primer program, and none of them play sports. All good kids today.
@Affluence Overshadows Consequences…..
You’re my hero. Sheer brilliance. The “aura of aloofness”, shared by many this district, as well as a couple of the PCP bloggers and their minions, is nauseating.
Money is power, but will definitely not buy you class!
I know for a fact that there are decent, hard-working and humble families here, yet it’s those who think because they write “Big Checks” to Mad for Plaid, or any other HPISD organization, that this gives them sense of entitlement to bash others.
All is not lost my friends, look at KMOM’S post about how all of those wonderful, well-behaved HP teens at her pool-party. That gives comfort to a parent of an MIS’er staring down 7 more years HPISD.