Barstool Sports is an American blog that publishes sports journalism and pop culture content. It has evolved to where nearly every college has one, and even further that it is very common in high schools too.
And while these accounts often use the insignia of the schools they represent, they also claim to be not affiliated with the schools in any way. They largely are intended to keep the school community informed on campus sports culture (mostly football) and make jokes.
Recently, concerns broke out over the LP account (again, not affiliated with Lake Park High School) posting vulgar and overtly disrespectful content directed at Batavia students using altered and compromised images.
This prompted Mr. Peter Schauer, Lake Park’s athletic director, to respond in email to students and parents, apologizing to the opposing school and reiterating that Lake Park does not support the activities of the anonymous students running the account.
In those letters, Mr. Schauer urged Lancers to “have respect for other people as well as being gracious in victory and humble in defeat” as stated in the Code of Conduct.
After the post and its backlash, the account posted an Instagram story iterating how the account “aims to effectively engage the student body” and for parents to understand the “lighthearted nature” of the account.
However, many did not agree with that statement, feeling the account caused harm and badly represented the Lake Park student body.
West Campus Principal Dr. Alexia Ellett also worked closely with Mr. Schauer in handling the situation.
Dr. Ellett said even though the account preaches to be not affiliated with Lake Park, that does not dismiss the fact that it still poorly reflects on the Lake Park community and student body as the account has our school’s name in its title.
“People are not fully aware that when they see Lake Park [on the account], it’s incorrectly associated with the school,” Dr. Ellett said.
The consequences evolved from “what our kids posted about the Batavia team that upset the family of that child, the coaches, and the administration,” Dr. Ellett said. Such conduct ultimately leads to the school devoting resources and time to respond and investigate in large because of the actions of a few students.
Even if the intentions were “light-hearted” as the account stated, Dr. Ellett said, “The line is crossed when you can have 20 posts that are funny and harmless and then you have one that’s really hurtful and destructive.” Such a discrepancy in the posts puts a greater focus on the controversial ones and labels the entire account as questionable, in return reflecting poorly on the school.
As a school with an expectation of respect and a code of conduct, this event should not define Lake Park as a whole, Dr. Ellett said. “However, if it continued to happen I think it would impact the character of our school more because that means what we are doing is not getting a full handle on the situation.”
