Cybersnarling over Glenbard-Fremd ruckus a good/bad sign

I'm having a tough time deciding which group to join on the Facebook Web site: "Daily Herald Boycott for fremd+ people for the truth" or the "Daily Herald writers are lying pieces …"

Better stop there.

The obscene title about our writers was the product of Glenbard North High School students who took umbrage with a Tuesday story detailing how some fans, following their team's football playoffs win, hopped a fence and taunted the fans of the just-vanquished Fremd High School team.

The Glenbard students complained, both on that Web site and in online reader responses, that: a. They were just doing a "victory lap," and the Fremd fans obstructed them, threw things at them. What those things were is hotly debated. b. Fremd started it, with their in-your-face pep rally video posted on YouTube, and perhaps most egregiously, by mocking the death of a popular Glenbard teacher.

So, on Wednesday, we published another story, letting some Glenbard students have their due. But, as we always attempt to do, we contacted the other side for comment. It was in this story, for instance, that a Fremd cheerleading teacher said she was elbowed, presumably by a Glenbard student, sufficiently so that she would have filed a police report had she gotten a better look at the student who hit her.

That started the boycott-the-Daily Herald movement.

The Web site accuses us of printing a "largely inaccurate article portraying GBN students as innocent, while Fremd students threw what they claimed was beer bottles and 2X4s."

I could go on and on and on with the amazing amount of vitriol we've received over this story.

But instead, let's try to focus on the bigger lesson.

I think it shows all that's good, but maybe more so what's wrong (danger: old fogey alert) with the instant messaging/chatroom/Web site/Facebook/YouTube world we live in.

On the good side, everyone seems to have a voice these days. Starting a dialogue -- with words, photos or video -- has never been easier. For dailyherald.com, frankly, it was a real boost; the Glenbard-Fremd stories have gotten thousands of hits, an unprecedented amount of reader response.

On the not-so-good side, this debate isn't especially civilized. I was discussing this with another old-fogey editor who pointed out that's the downside to the computer age -- everyone can sit in their room, bang out some inflammatory and often-obscene remarks for the whole world to see. Literally.

And, we agreed, people "talk" to others on their computers in a way they wouldn't dream of if they were face to face. That's when this stuff gets out of control. Heck, as I read through some of the comments, such as how the Daily Herald's goal is to "ruin" the reputation of Glenbard North, I wanted to fire back my own nasty memo, saying, "WHY WOULD YOU POSSIBLY THINK THAT, YOU IDIOT?"

But that wouldn't have been civilized.

Instead, I say let's remember that the majority of Glenbard North fans remained in the stands following their win over Fremd. Let's not forget there were no immediate sanctions against the school because the players kept their heads and didn't take part in the taunting or whatever it was. Let's salute Glenbard North Principal John Mensik for immediately apologizing to Fremd, offering to pay for any damaged or stolen equipment and acknowledging the school's "credibility took a little hit."

Let's remember, too, that, by all accounts, very few Fremd students mocked the death of a teacher. Most of them remained in the stands, too. And the YouTube video? It wasn't even targeted at Glenbard North.

And a new challenge awaits Glenbard North this weekend when it takes on Mt. Carmel in the state semifinals. Can its fans mind their p's and q's, win or lose?

The world, or at least a higher-than-normal portion of it than usual, will be watching.