By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Superintendent of Schools Stephen C. Cochrane this week expressed his disappointment with Princeton High School students who participated in a Nazi vs. Jews beer pong game.
“As an individual and as the superintendent of the Princeton Public Schools, I am deeply upset that some of our students chose to engage in a drinking game with clearly anti-Semitic overtones and to broadcast their behavior over social media,” he said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “We are talking to those students and their families.”
His comments came after local online site Planet Princeton broke the story earlier in the day about the underage drinking game. Princeton Police initially said they were investigating to determine if the incident happened in Princeton, later saying there was not an active investigation.
According to the Internet site Drinkinggamezone, this version of beer pong involves the “Jews” team arranging their cups in the shape of a star of David, while the “Nazis” team arranges theirs in a Nazi symbol. One of the rules of the game says that when the game starts, the “Nazis” players get to “blitzkrieg” or shoot “until they miss.”
“We are also focused on the lessons this incident has for all of us. Underage drinking is not a new problem; nor is the misuse of social media; nor are actions of bias or bigotry,” Mr. Cochrane said. They are not new problems, but they do not have to be ongoing ones. As a community we all have a role in teaching our children to make good decisions, to be legally responsible, and to be respectful members of a diverse society.”
