Senior quotes on drugs, alcohol, cheating make it into HS yearbook

Pooja Lodhia Image
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Offensive words found in high school yearbook
Offensive words found in high school yearbookOffensive words found in high school yearbook, Pooja Lodhia reports.

HUMBLE, Texas -- A high school yearbook is raising concerns for drug, alcohol and race references.

Atascocita High School seniors submitted their own quotes for the book.

"I think that people have a right to say whatever they want to say," explained Editor-in-Chief Kyle Armour.

In the senior quotes section, there are cheating references like, "People say cheaters never win but I just graduated."

There's plenty of talk about drinking. This quote says, "I am 21 on the weekends."

You'll even find drug mentions, like, "Excuse my bluntness, but that's just how I roll."

Other quotes about sex and race were too offensive for print or TV.

Steven Seal's yearbook picture has an arrow pointing at it, with a quote calling him ugly. His mother is now looking at legal action against the school.

"I did not blame that child that had wrote it," said Darlene Savoie Seal. "I blamed the school for not editing."

Armour says he submitted the quotes to administrators back in november.

"I was surprised. I was thinking of course they had already seen the book. They had access to it. They had access to the pre-publishing before we turn anything in," Armour said. "People are saying the book is for the students and by the students."

"This is something that is going to reoccur throughout his life. Just like people on my Facebook added pictures of me in the yearbook from sixth grade, that's 30 years ago or more," Savoie Seal said.

Humble ISD has released this statement:

The Atascocita High School yearbook failed to meet the editing standards expected by Humble ISD. The yearbooks should have been more thoroughly vetted prior to publication. The issue has been addressed with staff. It will not happen again.

Seniors were permitted to put a tag line under their photo and some students chose tag lines inappropriate for a school setting. Once this was discovered, the school temporarily halted yearbook distribution and attempted to cover the offensive material. However, as there already were several hundred yearbooks in circulation, the decision ultimately was made to move forward with distributing them as published.

Copyright © 2024 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.