"I showed you my tit, tee-hee" ends MTV contract in soCal

MTV school deal flashes by almost as fast as Janet

Facing parents incensed by the Super Bowl stunt that popped pop singer Janet Jackson's tit during the sacrosanct wholesome family viewing hours, officials cancelled plans to let MTV film a reality show at Laguna Beach High School.

Laguna Beach USD board members had tentatively proposed the deal, for which the district was to receive a donation of up to $40,000 for college scholarships, plus royalties -- last week with no opposition.
But forty thousand dollars is an insignificant sum when speaking of college education and even small handfuls of students.

Two days after Super Sunday, the school board scheduled an emergency meeting to reconsider.

Scores of angry parents, students and alumni packed board chambers. Dozens more overflowed into the hallways outside.

"MTV is a business, and its ultimate motivation is to make money," Jeff Praisler, a recent graduate of the school, told the board. "The intellectual aspects of our community are threatened by MTV. It's garbage."

At issue was whether MTV camera crews would be allowed to trail a group of high school students during school hours for the reality program. The network is choosing six to eight student -- who would not be paid by MTV moneychangers -- to follow to the end of the school year, chronicling their lives on and off campus.

At the end of the meeting, district board members voted unamimously against the agreement.

Several parents said they had been uncomfortable about the proposal since learning about it last week in a letter from the Laguna Beach school principal, who described the program as a "positive opportunity."

For many, the Jackson incident was the deciding factor.

The president of the school's PTA said in interview that she had felt "blindsided" by the principal's announcement of MTV's pact with the school and questioned the wisdom of associating with a network well known for its promotion of a colorful variety of brainless filths aimed at young people.

In a prepared statement, MTV spokeswoman Janet Hill said, "MTV had been looking forward to intrusive filming at Laguna Beach High School. Network producers will meet tomorrow to discuss if we will continue our program without access to the campus whether the parents of students at Laguna Beach High School like it or not."

Opinions among the student body were average, some opposed, some in support, some indifferent.