As part of its series “WASTED: Young and Using,” WUSA9 News aired Feb. 2 a segment that includes video of a student’s Dec. 10 house party, in which the police cited about 35 students. Students seen in the footage have their faces blurred.
Montgomery County police allowed WUSA9 cameras and reporter Andrea McCarren to follow them during calls to underage drinking parties. Below is video of the report:
In a follow-up segment Feb. 3, McCarren interviewed principal Alan Goodwin about his decision to punish students whom he knew were cited at the party by taking away certain extracurricular privileges. The segment is below:
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Cameron Frank • Feb 21, 2012 at 12:27 pm
@Tom: Thank you for finding this article, because it sums up, in my mind, why this news report should not have happened.
Sincerely, A Girl • Feb 21, 2012 at 8:48 am
Reminder, drinking under age is illegal, key words there illegal, so it is no longer a want to arrest, it’s protocol and a need.
Sincerely, A Girl • Feb 15, 2012 at 11:18 am
Also, is it worth it to let these people ruin there lives and help them? Should we just not react and let them ruin there lives? How can we help? AB so what do you wanna do just let ti happen. Not worth it anyway right? Jeez what a statement and 06 apperantly hes changing and trying to do the right thing now.
Tom • Feb 15, 2012 at 9:33 am
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/wusa-reporter-balks-after-backlash-over-teen-drinking-stories/2012/02/14/gIQAmE3tER_story.html
Sincerely, A Girl • Feb 15, 2012 at 8:59 am
Well thats because your a good kid who undrestands the consequences of their actions, they are more or so naieve. Also point of order if your want your opinion to be taken seriously, you need to calm down and realize that this sort of thing happens to schools everywhere, and that the news reports this to notify parents and other adults in harge the danger of these things. You know that parents are just as muh to blame for this happening as the kids. If parents knew this kind of things was going on they could talk to their kids. Lets face it many parents didnt even know this was going on till they watch the news. Kids are very secretive unfortunately, and not many kids were cited by the principal in the story. Sonner or later these kids need to face consequences too. And the news may be the only way to do it, unfortunatley. When kids and there parents are broadcasted, its uncensored and real, the media is bring awarness to a community, nothing more nothing less. Also this isnt just dumb anymore, its unsafe. Trust me when you lose someone to a drunk drving accident, stuff gets real. People need to understand theres something better than this. The seemingly only way to do that is to face consequences 🙁 Its sad but true. And if we dont react, it shows a message to kids that they dont need to be held accountable for there actions. Kids took matters into there own hands by going to that party in the first plae. This is a known consequenes of there actions. If we tkae this so lineantly, people will never learn. And it really doesnt bash the kids, and hey it could be worse. The kids arent named out for the public, you make an assumption and educated guess. Your guessing guys, it may not be true. Also at the least they are showing Whitman in a positivel light by showing how the prinipal is taking action. Also Tom, so its better that kids dont get pulled over by the police and parents and party hard. Oh yes totally, this is completely accetable. You cant be this linient. Also its a notification to parents out there who didnt know about this. Or as this ounty likes to view things, iggnorane is complete and total bliss right?
Cameron Frank • Feb 14, 2012 at 2:32 pm
@Sincerely, a Girl: First off, your points are quite valid. Looking back, at first I did think I overreacted quite a bit, but it is on 9 NEWS… well, that shows to me that Whitman, the police, nor the news is ready to let this “scandal” die down. Why? I just don’t know. I’m sure the kids have lost enough reputation at school BEFORE Whitman agreed to let the news report on this, so this seems pointless and dumb, in my mind.
PS: Exactly. The fact that Whitman is reacting so seriously raises the possiblity (in my mind) that they might not know how to deal with their students acting in a dumb fashion. Putting it on the news won’t help them, and if you can prove otherwise, great, because I can’t.
PS2: I’d react seriously do both getting chewed out and losing reputation at school, but I know most adolesents do not to the former.
PS3: This is the calmest I have ever been relating to this topic, because I think it might have died down. Very happy about that, but I hope Whitman can learn from this.
Sincerely, A Girl • Feb 14, 2012 at 11:16 am
Wow we really are so entitled. In this country we have a tendency to blame others and not ourselves, we see it everyday. Not only that we don’t even want to take responsibilty for our actions.
Sincerely, A Girl • Feb 14, 2012 at 11:14 am
Ok point of order, first off Cammy, while your ranting is throughly enjoyable, don’t you think you’re overreacting too? It is fairly harmless. The reports main job is to show parents and kids how to protect themselves from incidents like this. Also the gravity of the situation is this, kids underage and drinking is illegal, health damaging, and should be delt with. First off this is just a consequence being dumb and drinking, people need to face the facts that should this have been any other school other than Whitman, people wouldn’t have been as upset. Also drinking like this should not be tolerated, you can get an addiction, you can damgae your liver and more. All this should be good enough reason to not drink. Also though kids at this age don’t have enough will power to drink only in recreation. It’s a shame but true. If kids don’t expierience the real life consequences of there actions, then the don’t realize the gravity of the situation. Also think of it this way, it’s harsh but true. Which do you take seriously, getting chewed out by your parents and teachers for being drunk and doing community service, OR losing your reputation in school? The unfortunate thing is that kids still have the arrogance and care more of reputation then safety and adults.
Cameron Frank • Feb 13, 2012 at 12:04 pm
Funny, back when the scandal went out, no one agreed with me or thought that it would get on the news. Now, my disgust for Whitman overreacting holds a little more weight. I knew that this would get on the news, and I knew Whitman would (for the most part) “use” the kids responsable. *sigh* Oh, well. It should die down soon, (I hope.)
@Josh Trauberman: Yeah. Still no excuse for Whitman overreacting, though.
Tom • Feb 12, 2012 at 10:45 pm
“Just a personal opinion, but the Mongomery County Police Departments, WUSA9, and the Walt Whitman High School administration ,are not even close to saving lives, in fact, they are making it worse, anyone with a little bit of logic can see that when the police come to a party it becomes 100x more unsafe.”
Then why don’t the kids just stick around so they won’t make it an unsafe situation?
Josh Trauberman • Feb 10, 2012 at 10:16 am
Drinking is bad for you!!
Jamie Marca • Feb 9, 2012 at 12:14 pm
=((((
Phillip Riz • Feb 8, 2012 at 9:02 pm
w000t, class of 2014!!
K • Feb 8, 2012 at 10:25 am
that reporter is such a loser
Crest • Feb 7, 2012 at 2:03 pm
People who defend this saying that it teaches the kids a lesson are completely wrong. It’s not the media’s job to teach them a lesson, that’s what the citation is for. This is just using kids for ratings, and for Andrea to call it anything else was a lie
AB • Feb 7, 2012 at 11:24 am
Just a personal opinion, but the Mongomery County Police Departments, WUSA9, and the Walt Whitman High School administration ,are not even close to saving lives, in fact, they are making it worse, anyone with a little bit of logic can see that when the police come to a party it becomes 100x more unsafe. As a direct result of the police coming to a party, people run in to the woods and active sometimes even main roads at night and some even decide to drive away even if they have been drinking, this obviously creats an extremely dangerous enviornment. To those who think parents who turn a blind eye to underage drinking are doing the wrong thing, please reconsider, undrage consumpsion of alcohol is never going to stop, these parents the risk alot to make a safe enviornment. Underage expirimentation is key to giving young adults the expirience they need to be responcible drinkers, especially because underage drinking is socially accepted when it comes to college. This all goes without saying that this a officailly been completely blown out of proportion.
Class of '06 • Feb 6, 2012 at 11:54 pm
So the same Dr. Goodwin who in ’06 allowed a student who showed up to a dance with alcohol poisoning to still attend prom and graduation is now suddenly all about Zero Tolerance?? The class of ’06 had a student show up to the winter dance with alcohol poisoning, her mom complained and complained and Dr. Goodwin gave in to “peer pressure” and allowed that student to attend Prom and Graduation…
Cameron Frank • Feb 6, 2012 at 3:11 pm
@dude: Apparently.
@anon: Agreed.
@Connor Turke: Exactly. I already ranted about how I thought the school was overreacting, and deep down, I was afraid that it would go public on the freakin’ news. IT DID. AND NOW I’M MAD. I understand that drinking is an issue. But, personally, I thought that Whittman would handle this in a way that would not bash the kids who (I’m bringing this phrase in again) are apparently “destroying Whittman’s reputation. Whittman, stop. This scandal has gone on for long enough, the kids have been punished, and now it’s time to MOVE ON!!!
Connor Turke • Feb 6, 2012 at 10:09 am
“you know how many other crimes in the county right now that we COULD be dealing with… but instead were here”
dude • Feb 6, 2012 at 10:00 am
Whitman kids drink?
Tom • Feb 3, 2012 at 5:48 pm
This is classic. The attitude of the parents is astounding. Blaming the police and asking why the kid didn’t run! Your typical rich, spoiled, and entitled parent. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
anon • Feb 3, 2012 at 10:19 am
How many close-ups of police badges and flashing lights do they need to show? Also, it’s been almost 2 months… must have been a slow news day.