It's a typical scene – a high school athletic event bustling with parents and students eager to watch their favorite team compete. But it is difficult to imagine the event can embroil an entire community in a massive nightmare and a puzzling legal battle, with just the click of a camera.
This nightmare emerged when unscrupulous photographers took nonaction pictures of unsuspecting Orange County high school water polo players as they adjusted or changed their suits. These photographers then placed these photos on gay porn sites and placed the pictures next to graphic, sexually explicit content. Since these incidents have occurred in almost a dozen high schools around the county, it is time for administrators to take serious action to prevent these photographers from further degrading athletic sports at our high schools.
The only apparent way to achieve this goal would require schools to restrict accessibility to their athletic events. To keep athletes safe from the corrupt lenses of disreputable photographers, schools should allow admittance only to students with student IDs, parents, or local, well-known media sources.
Unfortunately, these photographers tread on the edge of the First Amendment right of freedom of expression to justify their unacceptable actions. Even though a Grey area exists between the rights of the photographers and the rights of the athlete, it is clear that these photos may potentially harm these young athletes. Not only would these incidents scar athletes emotionally, the photos would also broadcast players to dangerous pedophiles. If these incidents continue, parents may seriously question the safety of their children's participation in athletic events, which could result in disastrous effects for the future of high school sports.
Furthermore, this topic emphasizes the power of pedophiles to use the Internet as a safe haven for their practices. The pervasion of pedophilic activity has reached a saturation point in our society. Although many say there is a Grey area in these cases, legislators must strive to make the issue more black and white. Until then, society must not sit idly and allow unscrupulous photographers to endanger high school children for their own perverted purposes. It is time for these photographers to stop hiding behind their right to "express their creativity" by posting photos that were clearly taken out of context.
Kelli Pleskot is a senior at Esperanza High School.
