Officials and Students React to White Plains "Smut List"

The White Plains school district has become aware of a Facebook page that targets about 10 of the district’s high school students, labeling them as promiscuous. The page, titled “Smut List,” depicts a female in a White Plains Tigers T-shirt that reads “Smut List” as its profile picture, and lists the girls' first and last names.

The school district has contacted the White Plains Police Department and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office regarding the matter. School administrators have also contacted Facebook asking them to take the page, which has 13 friends, down.

According to Facebook, the page was created by someone named "Smut," who is a female. Its first posting was 2 p.m. Tuesday. Several school districts in the region are also dealing with the smut list phenomenon. Click  and for more on that story.

“I am saddened by this all-too-commonplace maligning of fellow students online,” said Superintendent Dr. Christopher Clouet.

WPHS sophomore Stephanie Henry, 15, said that WPHS girls were also listed on the “Westchester Smut List,” which she found out about through Blackberry BBM and Facebook on Wednesday. That list, which named about 99 girls from various Westchester school districts, has been taken down. Several students say they have also seen a third page, "White Plains Smuts," which was circulating as early as last year.

“It [the Westchester Smut list] kept getting longer for White Plains, like 50 people,” said Henry. “I was curious and you have to 'like' it in order to see it. I was shocked. People are so cruel. I went to a cyberbulling thing [forum] that day at Pace University, then I saw that. It’s horrible, people kill themselves over stuff like that.”

Rumors were flying around Facebook that a city girl committed suicide after reading the one of the lists, citing that “This is getting out of hand;” however, White Plains Commissioner of Public Safety David Chong said that the rumor is absolutely false.

“This [White Plains "Smut List" page] is under police investigation,” said Chong. “We’ll see and confirm with the DA [district attorney’s office] and see if there are any actual charges that can be brought. If we discover anything we think is criminal, we would certainly bring criminal charges.”

WPHS student Sonia Gonzalez, 15, said that male students find the page hilarious, and that most female students think “it is ridiculous because, they know [the statements on the smut pages are] not true.”

Gonzalez and Henry say that their male peers often “say really reckless stuff” to their female peers, and that the situation has gotten increasingly worse since last year. Girls are also joining in on abusing fellow females. Instances of bullying have been reported and publicized recently across the nation, causing districts, including White Plains, to implement initiatives to address bullying in their schools.   

“Girls don’t get along nowadays, and they try to bash each other,” said Gonzalez. “They get jealous, when they like the same guy or something like that.”

The White Plains Smut List states that one girl is a “home wrecker,” and “cheats on her boyfriend.” Henry thinks some of her peers are influenced by images they see in the media with women constantly sparring with each other, usually over men, and men sexually objectifying women.

 “Everywhere you see on TV there are guys always trying to get something from women,” said Henry. “It definitely has an affect [on students].”

Many say that bullying has always existed, but has had a visible surge with the advent of the Internet, social networking and cell phones, which give children and teens immediate access to large groups of people. What used to be a nasty note about someone written on one bathroom wall, is now messaged to an entire school population within minutes.

“As our culture changes in response to evolving technologies we all need to be grounded in strong values,” said Clouet. “Being respectful of others, a sense of privacy, and a notion of community are all important values that need to be taught at home and in school. Those values need to guide our actions. This is the expectation I have of our students.”

Clouet said the school district holds a variety of programs, and assemblies to educate students and staff on the dangers of bullying in addition to behavioral support protocols, specifically a program known as PBIS [Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports].

“As a school district, White Plains is adamantly opposed to cyberbullying of any kind,” said Evelyn McCormack, a spokesperson for the district.

Click here for information on Facebook's joint initiative with The White House to end cyberbullying.

If your child was affect by this and you would like to make a statement, even if anonymously, please contact dina.sciortino@patch.com

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