PHS Student Journalists on 'Fantasy League'

Students at Piedmont High School think the so-called "Fantasy Slut League" run by some male varsity athletes was degrading — but not nearly as bad as media reports and a letter to parents from PHS Principal Rich Kitchens made it sound, according to an article in this week's issue of the school newspaper, The Piedmont Highlander. 

The fantasy league — modeled on fantasy football leagues, but featuring female students — attracted international attention after Piedmont Patch and other media learned of Kitchens' letter to parents of all PHS students last month. In that letter, Kitchens wrote, "It has been reported that students on some of our Varsity Teams have set up a "Fantasy Slut League" in which our female students (unbeknownst to most of them) are drafted as part of the league. Male students earn points for documented engagement in sexual activities with female students."

Members of the Highlander's editorial board reported that they interviewed Kitchens, 25 sophomore, junor and senior girls, and eight junior and senior boys, including five who participated in the FSL. The students who were interviewed were not identified by name.

"Although most girls said they thought the league was degrading, wrong and mistreating, they said the letter exaggerated certain aspects of the league," according to the Highlander article. 

The article said most of the girls interviewed said casual sex is uncommon at PHS and that "hooking up" did not necessarily mean sexual intercourse. The majority of girls interviewed also said that "guys do not give girls alcohol with the intent of hooking up with them."

The Highlander quotes one male athlete who participated in the FSL as saying, "There weren’t a whole lot of victims because nobody did anything out of line in terms of going out and hooking up with someone just because they wanted points. All that we did was document information.”

Another male participant said, "I want the student body to know that there are boys who feel sorry for what happened, but we’re learning from it. Sometimes it takes mistakes to learn how to be better.”

Male athletes told the Highlander that "hook-ups" were reported verbally and posted on a Facebook group wall as documentation.

Highlander editorial board members said they interviewed Kitchens about specific points in his letter.

Kitchens told them he gathered information on the FSL by interviewing male athletes, some of them multiple times.

"Kitchens said while some students were forthcoming, others lied and deceived," according to the Highlander article.

The student journalists said they also asked Kitchens why he wrote to parents before addressing the student body on the issue.

“When I got this information, I felt compelled to share it,” the Highlander quotes Kitchens as saying. “It’s on the parents. It’s not for me to tell you how to act outside of school. It’s up to your parents, your family.”

You may read the complete article on The Piedmont Highlander's website.

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