Not their party: Private behavior is no business of school district

Bachelorette parties aren't Bible studies. They are occasions for friends to get together to drink, laugh and have fun without regard to the usual social inhibitions.

Though a bachelorette party celebrates a friend's passage from single to married life, it is also a night out with adults that sometimes features a male stripper wearing a loin cloth or nothing much at all.

Recently, a Brownsville Area High School teacher who attended a bachelorette party was suspended without pay for a month after photos of her with a stripper were posted on the Internet and forwarded to the Brownsville superintendent. The photos were put on a social networking site without her permission. (The teacher has not been identified by the school district.)

By all accounts, the teacher is popular and effective. Many students signed petitions to have her reinstated. The Brownsville superintendent punished the teacher because of a fear that students would see the photos and have their morals corrupted while cruising the Internet.

This is a silly and patronizing response to a situation that doesn't require an intervention. A personal embarrassment has been made worse by the school district's immature response. Where is the crime to warrant a teacher's suspension? This is outrageous prudishness. The Brownsville Area School District should be embarrassed.