Edgewood Teacher Resigns Over Bar "Field Trip"

[Marine Mike]

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A Butler County teacher has resigned after she admitted to taking a group of four female students to a gay bar in Dayton. Lori Epperson worked for Butler Tech and taught Marketing at Edgewood High School.

She took the girls, who are all seniors, to Club Mask in Dayton. Club Mask is 18 and over alternative lifestyle club featuring drag shows, where men dress up as woman and perform. Three of the girls are 18, one is 17. Parents who spoke with Local 12 are outraged over the incident.

Stevie Moon-Mom, "She's a teacher, they're her students. They're not her friends. She's there to teach them, not to take them to clubs and party. That's ridiculous."

Jeremy Moon-Edgewood Parent, "There's a level of professionalism that needs to be kept between the students and the teachers and she crossed that line, I think. I don't think that she may be wrong, I definitely think she is wrong."

Epperson apparently received permission from the parents of the girls to take them to the club. But officials want to know why the 17 year old was allowed in and how the girls got alcohol, which they allegedly drank.

Butler Tech may take legal action against club for serving alcohol to minors. Dayton police have also been notified.

Edgewood has zero tolerance policy for athletes and extracurricular activities when it comes to alcohol consumption so the four girls were not allowed to attend a cheerleading competition in Florida after details of the trip came to light.

Talk about a good idea for a field trip!

[assydingo]

I'd go for the lulz.

[jkwest]

silly teachers...

at least she didn't try sleeping with them...that coulda happened..

[Uniquely]

From an insider's propsective... I'm going to take an educated guess and say that the teachers and the students were all gay. It is very difficult for young gay people to meet peers, and often "the gay bar" is the only place in town to not only meet peers... but to be comfortable and safe in being "yourself."

I think the teacher's heart was definitely in the right place in trying to show the young people that they are not alone and there is a whole community of people who will accept them. She even got the parent's permission before hand.

It is however unfortunate that alcohol came into the picture. She should have done a better job of supervising the young people; even though she may not have directly provided the alcohol.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

From an insider's propsective... I'm going to take an educated guess and say that the teachers and the students were all gay. It is very difficult for young gay people to meet peers, and often "the gay bar" is the only place in town to not only meet peers... but to be comfortable and safe in being "yourself."

I think the teacher's heart was definitely in the right place in trying to show the young people that they are not alone and there is a whole community of people who will accept them. She even got the parent's permission before hand.

It is however unfortunate that alcohol came into the picture. She should have done a better job of supervising the young people; even though she may not have directly provided the alcohol.

...allegedly. Still, the 17 year-old should never have gone in and obviously they should've been supervised better in keeping them from alcohol (again, allegedly).

[fighthefutureofhd]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

From an insider's propsective... I'm going to take an educated guess and say that the teachers and the students were all gay. It is very difficult for young gay people to meet peers, and often "the gay bar" is the only place in town to not only meet peers... but to be comfortable and safe in being "yourself."

I think the teacher's heart was definitely in the right place in trying to show the young people that they are not alone and there is a whole community of people who will accept them. She even got the parent's permission before hand.

It is however unfortunate that alcohol came into the picture. She should have done a better job of supervising the young people; even though she may not have directly provided the alcohol.

she shouldn't have taken them in the first place. with permission or not. the teacher has no right or reason to take these students to a gay bar. i'm with the school and the parents. i'd be outraged if it were my kids. i can't even believe the bar lets those kids in. oh well. i'm glad the school is doing something about this.

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by fighthefutureofhd

she shouldn't have taken them in the first place. with permission or not. the teacher has no right or reason to take these students to a gay bar. i'm with the school and the parents. i'd be outraged if it were my kids. i can't even believe the bar lets those kids in. oh well. i'm glad the school is doing something about this.

From the story:

She took the girls, who are all seniors, to Club Mask in Dayton. Club Mask is 18 and over alternative lifestyle club featuring drag shows, where men dress up as woman and perform. Three of the girls are 18, one is 17.

18 and over bar. Most of the kids were over 18. They should be allowed in. If the kids had permission from the parents, I can see it not being a big deal. It's still an iffy separation between being a teacher and being a mentor. I personally wouldn't allow my wife (who's a teacher) to put herself in that kind of situation- I would fear for her job and career.

[Uniquely]

Originally Posted by fighthefutureofhd

she shouldn't have taken them in the first place. with permission or not. the teacher has no right or reason to take these students to a gay bar. i'm with the school and the parents. i'd be outraged if it were my kids. i can't even believe the bar lets those kids in. oh well. i'm glad the school is doing something about this.

I think that it is safe to assume that since she took a group AND asked parent's permission beforehand, that her intentions were not nefarious at all.

I can definitely emphathize with her desire to help those kids. The fact of the matter is that if kids bully another kid about race, or religion or other things... the schools will pay attention; but kids can often times bully other kids about orientation or even just "perceived" orientation all they want without fear of repurcussion from school officials. Hundreds of young gay kids commit suicide every single year because of the bullying they receive and the feeling of isolation that bullying causes them. Just three days ago CNN aired a story about an 11 yr old boy who hung himself because he could no longer take the bullying about his PERCEIVED orientation. His mother had complained to school officials about it repeatedly.... and it never stopped. Sadly... that is NOT an isolated incident.

Not many cities have gay community centers for the youth.... and the gay bar is often the only place where young people can go and truly see with their own eyes that they are not alone. That knowledge won't stop the bullying that they endure..... but it can end the feeling of isolation and desperation that can lead to suicide, drug and alcohol problems, and a host of other problems.

I applaud the efforts of the teacher. It is sad that it didn't turn out better.