Student Settles With School After Internet Prank

A student who lost a chance at a National Merit Scholarship because of an Internet prank has reached a settlement with the Bellevue School District.

The district has agreed to pay Paul Kim $2,000; seek to have him reinstated as a National Merit finalist, and apologize for punishing him.

“This establishes for students and high school administrators that freedom of speech does apply to the Internet,” Kim, now a freshman at Columbia University, told The Seattle Times on Thursday.

In March, while Kim was still a senior at Newport High School in Bellevue, a Seattle suburb, he created on his home computer a spoof of his school and posted it on the Internet so others could look at it.

Kim’s parody also included links to other Internet material with sexually explicit content.

Principal Karin Cathey responded by revoking the school’s recommendation for a National Merit scholarship and for college admissions.