Walking my daughter to elementary school this morning, I was stopped by another parent--it was more talk about the silliness of the media coverage surrounding the hazing.

Of course, as a journalist who has covered women's issues, I get why this story is irresistible to the media. It's got all the right ingredients: the callowness of rich soccer moms, the decadence of the youth, plus the utter cluelessness of the parents and administrators. What's not to love?

Quite a lot if you're a parent living in town, seeing the rampant misreporting and sensationalism of the media.

Exhibit A: Local blogger writes about how "it seems middle schoolers are also dipping in to the high school’s decade-long tradition of hazing." The proof? An email to parents from the middle school principal that read in part:

It has come to our attention that an email is being or has been sent to a number of Middle School students about wearing a specific color or type of clothing at a certain time. Please know that this kind of message does not originate from, nor is condoned by, the Middle School. Students can and will wear whatever they like, as long as it follows the dress code.

My daughter is in the middle school. So I know exactly what the students' email said. One night, my daughter got a forwarded text, saying:

Let's wear black tomorrow. Let's get the teachers wondering. Forward this on.

A couple minutes later, she got another text, saying, Don't do it.

None of her friends wore black to the school the next day. In fact, very few kids in the school did.

And that is evidence of hazing reaching down?

By the way, the rest of the email from the Middle School principal, Michael Cahill, let parents know he was on top of the situation and would have zero tolerance if actual hazing and bullying occurred. But he never said it occurred! Because it clearly hasn't. Stumble It!