There is a horrific story out of Alabama where Christian Adamek, 15, committed suicide. Unfortunately, teen suicides are not uncommon but this suicide occurred after Adamek was arrested for running naked across the Sparkman High School football field and was told that he faced expulsion and be registered as a sexual offender. That is clearly too much for a 15-year-old kid, particularly after a common prank like streaking.
The day before Christian’s suicide, Sparkman High Principal Michael Campbell spoke to the media to emphasize that Christian would be handled as a criminal suspect: “There’s the legal complications. Public lewdness and court consequences outside of school with the legal system, as well as the school consequences that the school system has set up.” In Alabama, indecent exposure is linked to the state’s sex offender laws. In addition to Campbell’s public statements, Sparkman High administrators reportedly recommended that Christian face a hearing in the Madison County court system for possible formal charges. In addition, they moved to discipline him. In this interview, the principal says that the situation is far more serious than “they” realize and says that it is not simply a matter of a prank. The media coverage pushed the story that the teen would be going into the juvenile criminal justice system and could be labeled a sex offender.
It is hard to judge from the stories what emotional issues Christian may have been facing. However, the threats of criminal charges, and a sex offender listing, are ridiculous for a high school prank. We have seen a trend (here and here and here and here) of school officials criminalizing a wide range of conduct that was once treated matters for a sit down with parents and nothing more. It also reflects the seemingly exponential expansion of sex offender lists, which are increasingly put teenagers on a listing with lifelong burdens and stigma.
Once again, we do not know all of the influences on this tragic suicide. However, I fail to understand why such matters are immediately viewed as criminal matters for the principal and school officials.
Christian leaves behind his mother, Angela, and a sister and a brother.
Source: Daily Mail
John Benson is the author of this article on Soccer games.
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The administrator likely violated FERPA statutes by sharing information about the status of this young man’s case with the media. It is precisely for reasons like this that we have strict educational privacy laws; a simple indiscretion can be turned into an embarrassing public humiliation. The administrator should be disciplined and possibly prosecuted due to the grave consequences of his indiscretion.
Teen age sex offenders are committing suicide on regular frightening basis all across America! Go to Amazon-take look at the sample pages of this book ‘AN AMERICAN HORROR LOVE STORY”
or here is link with a better sample page: http://www.scribd.com/doc/163597510/An-American-Horror-Love-Story
shocking true story of 2 teens lovers who became sex offenders- tried to commit suicide together –FAILED= were saved-rescued by guardian angels.
What do you expect from Alabama?
I don’t think that makes it any different what so ever! This is a 15 yr old kid who ran across a field naked. Nobody was hurt by his actions until it was blown entirely out of proportion. Him collecting money to do it just shows he had an entrepreneurial spirit.
Would it make a difference to know that this was a paid prank? Several other teens pooled their money together and paid Christian to streak. It wasn’t a spur of the moment thing. And others warned him of the trouble it could cause him.
Tragic story! Just seeing the human body is not violating! Society is consistantly placing emphasis on rediculous b.s.! A 15 year old is supposed to do stupid things, thats what stories are made of. Poor parents, it is the unimaginable and my prayers are with them. Whatever happened to schools dealing with the kids and their parents? Really, the law needed to be brought into this? In our completely jacked up society, maybe the “law” can be of more use stopping violent crimes! People are rediculous and now we have another statistic who must have been so scared thinking his life was over anyway! Geez, lets prioritize already!
The number of people who are “overly” self righteous is enormous. We must do better at stopping these people at gaining positions of authority. We are the most uptight sexual society in the world and it is having a profound effect on our culture. Take prostitution. It is evidenced by other prohibitions, that they increase the value or price of the product or service. Hence we have artificially inflated the value of sex, with women being the primary beneficiaries, but young men also in the homosexual community. During my divorce in the late 1980s, I started surveying divorced men and this was the dominate theme portrayed by them. Commonly called, gold diggers, women use sex, dating and their sexuality to acquire wages, gifts, food, labor, and other monetary benefits and we men, being the over amorous idiots we are, drool over the more attractive specimens, even though there is a 60% chance that if married, their wife, 80% of the time will file for divorce within the first 10 years of a marriage. The divorce rates are near 60% and women file for divorce 80% of the time. There obviously is a difference between lust and true love. Women often times steal the entire content of the jointly held property within the home, bank accounts etc. as the man doesn’t know the filing for divorce is even coming, much less that he is going to come home some day and either have a restraining order against him or the contents of the jointly held home removed. Where are the overly self righteous when we really need them to provide justice. This is not something, we as a society like to talk about, but as young men, those with less wealth, surely experience and observe the lust for money and the hierocracy within our society. Right and wrong is quite subjective and their are few who are not complicit, including myself, to many of the social problems facing our society.
Nudity in front of minors deserves punishment? How uptight has our society become? The jump from a teen streaking to teens having sex bc of viewing a streker – don’t understand that conclusion.
There are more and more cases I have been hearing about of teens serving HARSH PRISON SENTENCES and SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY for life bc of peer relationships. We put kids together and then expect them to comprehend their lives will be ruined for behaviors. The Sex Offender Laws are good laws in general but when applied to teens the spirit of law is lost. We need to amend these laws. Being labeled an offender placed on registry should NEVER have been an option for this poor boy. A life was lost BECAUSE OF ZEALOTS. he may have has problems but clearly this was WHY killed himself. A BOY SCOUT TOO! A great kid. Saddened beyond words
The school administrators who were openly discussing this case and plotting to not only punish him in the school but to have him tried in court should be charged with involuntary manslaughter or something similar. Whatever the charge they should be held accountable for this kid’s death.
This is from the Code of Federal Regulations
9-27.760
Limitation on Identifying Uncharged Third-Parties Publicly
In all public filings and proceedings, federal prosecutors should remain sensitive to the privacy and reputation interests of uncharged third-parties. In the context of public plea and sentencing proceedings, this means that, in the absence of some significant justification, it is not appropriate to identify (either by name or unnecessarily-specific description), or cause a defendant to identify, a third-party wrongdoer unless that party has been officially charged with the misconduct at issue.
Since the student wasn’t charged with a crime, the principle could have given a speech without saying the students name. The article said that the student was only a “criminal suspect”.
Ouch!!! teen angst in a u-tube clip.
Three peeing outside convictions will get you a registry conviction as well….in some states….
How about the law should be changed to for sexual gratification…. To categorically place these things in wha is a life long sentence…. Is cruel…. And maybe an 8th Amend issue….
Rightwingloon is obviously not smart enough to get it. Adamek’s suicide is very much like the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi. Humiliation and embarrassment can be emotionally catastrophic.
From the sound of it, Campbell was deliberately trying to make this a public spectacle, not mete out punishment quietly with a suspension. Campbell deserves a long prison sentence, but like Dharun Ravi he’ll probably get a slap on the wrist despite being responsible for Adamek’s suicide.
kay sieverding : “I still think that you should recognize that freshman in the same high school could be very intimidated by a display of sexual maturity. Even some of the juniors and seniors might be embarrassed. Plus most of the spectators would be high school kids, some of them on their first dates. If you just laugh off the nudity, what happens when the 14 year old girls get in cars with the 16 year old boys? — the conversation would probably be more sexual than what it was when I was dating at that age.”
OH DEAR GOD! I think you probably need to take your Prozac.
Pete,
So the name of a dick head was replaced for a more common term? 🙂
i thought the name sounded familiar, if memory serves my sister in law taught there.
as an air force brat moving around for half of my school age days, the last half was spent in the confines of the montgomery co. al education system.
robert e lee high school and their cross town rival jefferson davis high school. of course the black kids went to george washington carver high school.
the hole place is like one big redneck stereotype.
i’ve always said the best way to see montgomery is in your rearview mirror.
on a side note there is an elementary school there that now goes by the name Head Elementary. at one time it was R L Head Elementary. i guess someone finally pointed out that they had a school named after dick head.
david, Amen. I was taught by my old man this very basic principle. “Life is a series of adjustments. Those able to make those adjustments lead happy lives.” I have added to that. Those who embrace those adjustments lead happy and successful lives. And Amen again, success is not money. It is doing what you love. The hardest adjustment period is adolescence. And, you have few skills to cope, only having been alive 15 years or so. Finally, life is indeed unfair. It’s a crap shoot on the socioeconomic, family dynamic, genes inherited, etc. But, you play the hand you’re dealt. Keep grinding it out, David. Just keep moving forward. Life is beautiful.
Bad Idea. 2 felonies,
Arson and deadly terrorist explosive weapon of mass destruction
JakeMehoff 1, October 11, 2013 at 8:03 pm
When I was in high school we got even with teachers and principals like this in various ways. The poop in the bag routine would get their attention and justice was served. So kids, listen up. Brown paper shopping bag. Fill it about a third of the way up or less with dog poop. Or human poop. Spray a small amt of lighter fluid on it. Nine p.m. while teacher is watching TV in his living room, place bag on his door step, light bag, ring bell, observe from safe distance as he comes out and stomps out the fire. Poop on his pants, on his porch and steps. Then there is his mailbox. Tie about six cherry bombs together and use a time fuse. Place in his mailbox on the wall by the front door, light and run. The medium is the message.