Some defend official who said girls 'ruin everything'

SODDY-DAISY, Tenn. (AP) — Some people are defending a Tennessee high school official who posted a video explaining his ban on athletic shorts, saying "blame the girls, because they pretty much ruin everything."

The athletic director and assistant principal of Soddy-Daisy High School, Jared Hensley, posted the video Wednesday, telling students that wearing the shorts will earn them detention, even if they're below the knee. Boys who claim the policy is unfair should get used to it, he added.

"Ask Adam, look at Eve ... you can really go back to the beginning of time," he says in the Youtube video titled A Helping of Hensley. "It'll be like that the rest of your life."

Hamilton County Superintendent Bryan Johnson says Hensley is now on administrative leave pending an investigation.

And the Knoxville News Sentinel reports that amid the backlash, the hashtag #TeamHensley is spreading, with some calling the comment a joke taken out of context.

An English teacher at the school, Link Sparks, added the hashtag to his Facebook profile, and wrote that if Hensley "sarcastically joked about girls not following the SDHS dress code, I'm sure that what he said needed to be said."

Senior class vice president Paige Dunny called Hensley "one of the most caring members of the Soddy-Daisy High School faculty," but she also said his comment was distasteful and shouldn't have been said in the first place.

The hashtag #TeamNoExcuses also grew Thursday, with users saying Hensley should be held accountable.

A rally planned Friday to support Hensley was canceled due to rain and flash flooding that closed the school since Wednesday.

___

Information from: Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com