BEYOND THE RIVALRY: DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY. PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.

A Petition Calling for Stronger Protections Against Sexual Cyberbullying and Harassment in Tennessee Schools

This past week, my 17-year-old daughter became the target of something no child should ever have to experience. Under the guise of a high school football rivalry, her personal photographs were taken without her permission, manipulated into sexually degrading content, and maliciously circulated on social media. Our family was also dragged into the humiliation and intimidation.

This was not a joke. This was not harmless teenage behavior. This was not school spirit. This was sexual cyberbullying, harassment, and humiliation directed at a minor.

As a mother, watching my daughter endure something so cruel has been heartbreaking. But what has been equally disturbing is the struggle to obtain answers, meaningful intervention, and accountability from those entrusted with protecting our children.

No athletic accomplishment, school reputation, popularity, or social standing should ever outweigh a child’s safety, dignity, and well-being.

This Is Bigger Than One Child, One School, or One Rivalry.

My daughter is not the first child to experience sexual humiliation through social media, and unless meaningful changes are made, she will not be the last.

In today’s digital world, a teenager’s photograph can be stolen, manipulated, and circulated to hundreds or thousands of people within minutes. The post may eventually disappear, but the humiliation, emotional trauma, and fear can remain long afterward.

According to Pew Research Center, approximately 46% of U.S. teenagers reported experiencing at least one form of cyberbullying in a 2022 survey. Online harassment is not an isolated problem. It is a serious issue affecting young people across our country.

When sexual humiliation becomes entertainment, when harassment is excused as a rivalry, and when victims and their families struggle to be heard, we are sending our children a dangerous message: that protecting reputations matters more than protecting victims.

That must change.

We Are Calling on Tennessee Lawmakers, Education Officials, School Districts, and Athletic Organizations to Act.

We are demanding stronger, consistent, and enforceable protections for students across Tennessee, including:

A clear, statewide standard of accountability. Require every Tennessee school district to adopt and enforce comprehensive policies explicitly addressing cyberbullying, sexual harassment, digital sexual exploitation, manipulated intimate imagery, and online intimidation involving students.
Meaningful consequences for those responsible. Establish clear disciplinary procedures, fair investigations, and appropriate consequences for substantiated misconduct, regardless of a student’s athletic status, popularity, or school affiliation.
Protection that extends beyond school grounds. Ensure schools have clear procedures for addressing off-campus and online harassment when it creates a hostile educational environment, threatens student safety, or substantially disrupts a student’s school experience, consistent with applicable law.
Mandatory education and prevention. Require age-appropriate education for students, coaches, school personnel, and athletic programs addressing digital citizenship, consent, sexual cyberbullying, bystander responsibility, and the lasting consequences of online harassment.
Immediate support and protection for victims. Establish accessible reporting procedures, timely responses, protection against retaliation, and access to counseling and mental health resources for affected students.
Transparency and institutional accountability. Require documented responses to complaints, appropriate communication with families, and meaningful oversight when reports of serious harassment are mishandled or ignored.
These protections should not depend on which school a child attends, which team they play for, who their parents are, or how important an upcoming game may be.

I Am Not Speaking Out for Revenge. I Am Speaking Out for Change.

I never imagined I would be a mother publicly discussing my daughter’s humiliation and pain. But remaining silent while other children remain vulnerable is not something I am willing to accept.

I do not want another mother sitting across from her daughter, struggling to explain why someone would do something so degrading to her.

I do not want another teenage girl questioning her worth because someone turned her into a cruel joke.

I do not want another family desperately searching for answers while their child suffers.

And I certainly do not want another child believing that speaking up will make no difference.

Our children deserve more than sympathy after the damage is done. They deserve protection before it happens, intervention when it occurs, and accountability afterward.

SIGN THIS PETITION. DEMAND CHANGE. PROTECT OUR CHILDREN.

By signing this petition, you are joining our call for Tennessee lawmakers, the Tennessee Department of Education, local school districts, and school athletic organizations to strengthen student protections and establish consistent standards for addressing sexual cyberbullying and harassment.

Your signature is more than a name. It is a demand that children’s safety come before school reputations, athletic success, rivalries, and silence.

We ask you to SIGN this petition, SHARE it with your community, and SPEAK UP for every child who has been humiliated, intimidated, or silenced through online harassment.

My daughter cannot undo what happened to her. But perhaps her experience can become the reason another child never has to endure it.

Because the next victim could be your child.

And protecting children should never be controversial. Doing the right thing should never depend on whose child is involved.

BEYOND THE RIVALRY. BEYOND THE SILENCE. IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE.