Greenwich Students: Two Distinct 'Smut Lists' Exist

The  administration on Friday warned of "consequences" to anyone involved in the Facebook and cell phone postings of a this week that identified female students from high school around Westchester County and Greenwich.

Meanwhile, students decried the action with some saying there actually were two lists — one generated from Westchester County, the other from a sophomore Greenwich High School student who targeted popular fellow classmates, with whom she did not get along.

Several students also said that there were a total of four altercations at the school earlier this week following the lists going viral on the Internet, not the two as reported by school officials.

School officials were unavailable for comment on those allegations Friday afternoon.

Earlier in the day, Greenwich Superintendent Dr. Sidney Freund told Patch, "It is reprehensible, an incredible disrespect to women ... This is cyberbullying ... It won't be tolerated."

In an e-mail to GHS parents, Greenwich High School Headmaster Christopher Winters said, "At GHS, we have met with all the students directly affected by the most recent list. We are counseling them on how to handle such derogatory attacks on their character and, at the same time, making sure that they know the implications of further spreading the list. Additionally, all students are being informed of the potential consequences of disrupting the educational process through virtual attacks on other students.”

Several students during their off-campus lunch break told Greenwich Patch that Winters addressed the issue via school-wide announcement Friday morning. One senior, who would not give his name, said Winters also warned against using school computers to create any form of cyberbullying and harassment.

Another student said of the lists, “The first was all sophomores and then there was an inner list that was just (Greenwich) high school names.”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate. I feel bad for the people who are on it,” senior Andrew Dillinger said. “I don’t think it has changed daily life in the school but I can’t speak for the people on the list.”

It all began on Tuesday when a list ranked the “smuttiest” high school girls from Greenwich as well as from Harrison, Port Chester, Scarsdale, Rye, New Rochelle and Yonkers was posted on Facebook and Blackberry Messenger. The list included complete names and brief descriptions of the girls' alleged transgressions.

One senior student said he received the list on his cell phone and that he recognized some names.  

“I think it’s really, really, really bad,” said sophomore Juliet Langley. Her friend Allison Litt said a friend whose name was on the list coped because “she made it into more of a joke” than being serious. Langley added, “A girl made up the list with a lot of girls who were really popular – basically a list of people she didn’t get along with.”

Freund said the school administration is handling the matter internally without the help of Greenwich Police. “I am not sure if anything criminal has occurred," he said.

Freund also said that part of the educational development of students is to learn from their mistakes but “there must be a realization of the impact and consequences for themselves” of their actions.

In his e-mail to parents, Headmaster Winters said: “From what we understand, this practice of creating lists of people based on rumored attributes gained popularity on college campuses some months ago and has now filtered down to high school students. We consider such lists to be a form of cyber bullying. Any student who uses Greenwich Public School computers or other equipment to create or disseminate such material will be subject to school consequences. Additionally, if the existence of these virtual slanders disrupts the educational process, we will impose school consequences on the responsible students.”

 spokesman Lt. Kraig Gray said the department’s only involvement is the continued assignment of a school resource officer at the Hillside Road campus. “There’s a lot of bad behavior that’s not necessarily criminal,” Gray said.