'Jews vs. Nazis' beer pong photo raises controversy at Princeton H.S.

A controversy was brewing Thursday at Princeton High School, after students played a "Jews vs. Nazis" drinking game and documented the experience on social media.

The students recorded the game, which they called "Holocaust Pong" or "Alcoholocaust," on the messaging app Snapchat, where it was seen by other students.

Jamaica Ponder, a 17-year-old sophomore who runs a personal blog, captured a screenshot of the students pouring beer into plastic cups on a ping-pong table. One set of cups was arranged in the form a swastika, and the other formed a Star of David.

The photo shows at least six people and more than 30 cans of beer scattered across the table.

Ponder, in posting the photo on her blog Wednesday, called the game "appalling."

"I am unsure as to what's worse: the static silence from my peers, or the fact that this happened in the first place," she wrote. "They must be trapped in the delusional mindset that making a drinking game based off of the Holocaust is cool. Or funny. Or anything besides insane."

Ponder's post quickly gained traction, being shared more than 1,000 times on Facebook by Thursday night and drawing the attention of local media and the school district.

Steve Cochrane, Princeton school superintendent, said in a statement that community members and parents were speaking out about the photo and that he was addressing the issue with the students involved.

"I am deeply upset that some of our students chose to engage in a drinking game with clearly anti-Semitic overtones," Cochrane said, "and to broadcast their behavior over social media."

Cochrane added that underage drinking is not a new issue.

"Nor is the misuse of social media; nor are actions of bias or bigotry," Cochrane said. "They are not new problems, but they do not have to be ongoing ones."

Debate also ensued in the comments section of Ponder's blog. Some readers condemned the game, while others criticized Ponder for publicizing a "stupid little joke" on a semiprivate social-media site.

Ponder did not respond to requests for comment Thursday night.

Cochrane could not immediately be reached, and school board member Pat Sullivan said he was not at liberty to discuss the matter.

Other school officials could not immediately be reached Thursday night.

@TommyRowan