Listening to the ABC news on Denver’s Channel-7 I learned
that the Englewood School District had not notified students parents of one of
its elementary schools that several children had lice. The assistant
superintendent said her sources said it wasn’t necessary and they didn’t want
to ostracize any affected children or their parents. Parents interviewed on the
newscast were incensed that they were not given notice that their children
could be infected.
Now after a week since the discovery of the pesky bugs the
district sent a letter home explaining the problem. If the district thought it
not advisable to notify parents last week why now after the reporter began
questioning school officials?
The very next report on the newscast was about a student at
Colorado State University that was found dead Sunday morning in his dorm room.
The reporter went on to tell his name, that he was from Texas, and had track
marks on his arm and black heroin in his pants.
Okay, so one school won’t tell parents that some unnamed kids
have lice, and their children could be infected, while another school tells
that a named student is a heroin addict and died of an overdose.
I wonder about the Channel-7 reporter and newscaster as well
as the news director choosing not to name kids with lice, but willing to share
the sad death of a college student. Not very balanced when it all occurred on
live TV in less than a minute.
Along that line I’ve wondered for several years about
newspaper and television policies that won’t identify the name of a sexual
assault victim while hurrying to tell the name of the probable assaulter. I
understand wanting to protect the identity of a rape victim, but until proved
why is the probable perpetrator not given the same degree of anonymity?
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