It will take time for Hidden Oaks Middle School to live down racist photo | Opinion

Under different circumstances, earning a mention on "Saturday Night Live" might seem like a dream for adolescent pranksters.

That's probably not true for the six students accused of posing for a racist photo outside Hidden Oaks Middle School in Palm City. The kids churned up a firestorm on social media recently when the photo appeared, showing them with letters held up to spell a racial slur typically directed at Black people.

SNL's Weekend Update gave a brief summary of what had happened, with Colin Jost, the segment's co-host, describing the incident as a "shocking instance of Florida students being able to spell."

The line got a good laugh from the studio audience, and undoubtedly many people watching the nationally televised broadcast chortled as well.

They were laughing at the expense not only of those students involved in the prank, but also their parents, other family members, classmates, and Martin County residents in general.

Being typecast as a haven for uneducated bigots is not the kind of national media attention the community needs.

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Remember, we're less than a year removed from a time when a group of Palm City area youth were making national headlines in a much more positive way. They were part of the first baseball team from the Treasure Coast to qualify for the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

The team's efforts served as a rallying point, as local residents young and old gathered to watch their games and revel in the references to their hometown.

Contrast that with where we are in the wake of all the publicity about the racist photo. If you Google "Hidden Oaks Middle School," the first news story you see in your search results is likely to be about the incident.

Martin County school and law enforcement officials responded quickly.

The sheriff's office wrapped up an investigation that concluded no laws were broken. Unfortunately, what is legal in our society doesn't always correspond to what is right.

The Martin County School District conducted its own inquiry into the matter, vowing the students involved would face "appropriate disciplinary consequences."

We don't — and apparently might never — know what form that discipline will take. District officials are citing privacy laws to keep confidential not only the students' identities, but also the punishments they will receive.

This is both an abuse of power and a wasted opportunity.

While state law says "students and their parents shall have the right of privacy with respect to such records and reports," it doesn't explicitly prohibit school districts from describing disciplinary actions taken in cases like this one.

The school district should be more transparent about how it's handling the situation, but it's using a convenient excuse to avoid doing so.

Truth be told, this newspaper could publicly identify the students involved if we were so inclined. It doesn't take a tremendous amount of detective work to find out the names of people who have made the dubious decision to post compromising photos of themselves on the internet.

Their family members, friends, and acquaintances already know who they are. The students involved are going to get a good shaming, without the media's help.

The students issued a letter in which they apologized for their actions, noting "we know we need to educate ourselves about racial issues and how words can hurt people."

Even so, learning what punishments the students faced from the school district could help facilitate a broader community conversation about what is the appropriate course of action to take in circumstances such as these.

According to the district's code of conduct, using racial slurs is a "level 2" offense, which ranks fairly low in terms of severity. Punishments for those types of infractions can include community service, alternate placement, or out-of-school suspensions for up to five days.

Would people feel better knowing the students were required to perform community service work that included cleaning up East Stuart, or performing other tasks that might bring them into closer contact with Black people?

I know I would. It's not about fulfilling some need for poetic justice. Those students could benefit from being placed into situations where they had opportunities to learn more about the people they were mocking.

Prejudice is often born out of misunderstandings people have about different races, religions, and cultures. And prejudice often dies where understanding grows.

It would make sense for all of the Treasure Coast's school districts to review their disciplinary policies and make changes where necessary.

For example, it might be a good idea to require students involved in racially charged offenses to undergo sensitivity training.

We are only a couple of weeks removed from a situation in which a white teenager drove 200 miles to gun down people in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York. As is frequently the case, there were warning signs before the shooting to suggest the teen might have an inclination toward violence.

Which doesn't necessarily mean the kids posing for the Hidden Oaks photo are destined to follow similar paths.

Kids sometimes say and do stupid things. It doesn't mean they're all going to become violent sociopaths.

The Hidden Oaks incident should, however, serve as a red flag. There should be action taken to help the students involved understand why their actions were hurtful and unproductive, and perhaps point them in the direction of a more enlightened future.

Meanwhile, other students and staff at Hidden Oaks and people elsewhere in Martin County will have to live down a reputation they did nothing to deserve.

No one should be laughing about that.

This column reflects the opinion of Blake Fontenay. Contact him via email at blake.fontenay@tcpalm.com or at 772-232-5424.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Don't take racist incident at Palm City school too lightly | Opinion