{"id":94979,"date":"2019-03-25T19:10:49","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T01:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/district-no-intentional-foul-in-balloon-game-it-was-a-bad-call\/"},"modified":"2019-03-25T19:10:49","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T01:10:49","slug":"district-no-intentional-foul-in-balloon-game-it-was-a-bad-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/district-no-intentional-foul-in-balloon-game-it-was-a-bad-call\/","title":{"rendered":"District: No intentional foul in balloon game; it was a bad call"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"This
This screen shot from a pep assembly at Durango High School on March 15 shows student athletes playing a \u201cballoon pop\u201d game. Male students sat on chairs or laid on floors while female students sat on inflated balloons on the boys\u2019 laps or chests and tried to pop them.<\/span>Courtesy of Snapchat<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

An investigation into a balloon game played earlier this month at a Durango High School pep rally found no ill intent.<\/p>\n

Durango School District 9-R<\/a> released a written statement Friday to The Durango Herald saying administrators found \u201cno ill intentions existed, but rather an error in judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have taken appropriate actions to ensure that our pep rally activities are more in line with our vision,\u201d Julie Popp, district spokeswoman, wrote in the statement.<\/p>\n

During the March 15 Unified\/Spring Sports Assembly, male students held inflated balloons on their laps and chests while female students either sat or laid on top of their male counterparts and bounced up and down in attempt to pop the balloons. Hundreds of students attended the pep rally.<\/p>\n

A student shared a video of the game on Snapchat, a social media platform that allows videos to be posted by location. The same day, the principal of the high school sent an apology to parents<\/a>, saying an investigation would be completed.<\/p>\n

The investigation into the event found students volunteered to participate and reported that \u201cthey did not feel uncomfortable while participating,\u201d Popp said.<\/p>\n

In the future, district administration plans to work with the high school community to ensure that activities during pep rallies meet the district\u2019s educational mission, she said.<\/p>\n

The district declined to comment about whether students or staff faced disciplinary action.<\/p>\n

Shortly after the pep rally, parents, students and other members of the community raised concerns about the game, saying it was inappropriate for a school activity because it had sexual undertones.<\/p>\n

Sexual Assault Services Organization Executive Director Maura Doherty Demko previously said she was disappointed to learn the game was played.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings that appear benign are those pieces that open the ground for more severe harassment \u2013 eventually assault, because it\u2019s played off as a joke,\u201d Demko said after the game.<\/p>\n

The balloon relay was a mistake, and it is understood that a similar event will never be held again, Durango High School students Saylor Stottlemyer and Kaylan Wait wrote in an article submitted to the Herald<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the piece, titled \u201cNormalized \u2018Rape Culture\u2019 at DHS? We think not,\u201d the students said the game shouldn\u2019t be viewed as a representation of how Durango High School conducts itself or the morals it promotes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, the balloon game was inappropriate, and there was a better way to introduce spring athletes,\u201d the students wrote. \u201cHowever, please do not believe that our school \u2018normalizes rape culture.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In an email to the Herald<\/em>, Stottlemyer said the situation was exaggerated and the entire community didn\u2019t need to be involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have been dealt with between the creators of the event and the concerned students,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The successes of the assembly were overshadowed by the balloon relay, she said.<\/p>\n

During the gathering, high school staff played a basketball game against the students with disabilities as part of the Spread the Word to End the Word<\/a> campaign. The campaign is aimed at ending the use of the words \u201cretard\u201d and \u201cretarded.\u201d<\/p>\n

The assembly also recognized Madeline \u201cMaddie Jo\u201d Robbins, a competitive mountain biker who was recently named a Colorado Sportswoman of the Year.<\/p>\n

mshinn@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018We think not\u2019 editorial (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

district says pep rallies should help meet educational mission<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":94980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[592,155,2095,3947],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-94979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-durango-high-school","tag-education","tag-games","tag-sex"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94979\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94979"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=94979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}