An online tournament where boys vote on who the sexiest girl is in their high school have left parents worried. A high school in the town of Issaquah in Washington State have pitted their female classmates against each other in a "tournament of hotness."
"This kind of thing is sexualizing us girls like we're some sort of trophy," sophomore Devon Keller said to King5.com. The tournament has been ongoing for at least five years and it got its roots from a local radio show that ranks celebrities and models, reported King5.com.
District officials are doing their part to discourage students from being a part of the tournament but student Dave Mahoney said according to gadailynews.com, "People who might already have depression might take it further, and there's no way to know what's going on."
Many people in the district have issues with the tournament including district spokesperson Sarah Niegowski who said that the contest doesn't feel good to anyone. The tournament was shut down last year for a short while but it is up and running again.
"Almost every teenage girl has self-esteem issues," student Tristan Robinson said to King5.com. "And doing something like that is absolutely ridiculous."
"May Madness" is a tradition at Issaquah High School and last year police threatened the organizers of it with arrest because of comments that were made under other people's names which under Washington State law, is a crime. Now, those who are running the website have made it less accessible..
"These are pretty smart folks behind this - not doing it on campus," Niegowski said according gadailynews.com. "They know their first amendment rights. They're very quiet about who it is and the group behind it."
There is little that officials can do to shut down the tournament at this point since it is not being held on school property.
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