Student Suspended For Insulting His School In Tweet

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Raise your hand if you knew you could be suspended for the rest of the year for insulting your school on Twitter. :eek:

The senior class president at Heights High School has been suspended for the rest of the school year and barred from most graduation activities for posting a tweet that school officials say insulted athletes at the school.
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More appropriately, using twitter to "incite a disturbance."

The reality is, few of us know anything about the culture in Wichita, so we can't comment on whether or not his comments could incite a disturbance or not.
 
lol, overreaction

I do wonder if some of the replies he made to other students replying to his original tweet had something to do with the very harsh punishment. The text of those was not in the article.
 
Schools have gone above and beyond over reaching in their authority and the things they monitor. Let parents be parents, and parents BE PARENTS.
 
People laughed at the guys who were predicting this kind of crap not even five years ago.
 
kirbyrj said:
More appropriately, using twitter to "incite a disturbance."

The reality is, few of us know anything about the culture in Wichita, so we can't comment on whether or not his comments could incite a disturbance or not.
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That requires intent. And since this isn't a court of law then I'd say this kids 1st amendment rights have been violated. If he is critical of his school, then that fall under the auspices of political speech, since the public school is a government operated entity. But simply saying "Heights U" doesn't cross the line of offensive speech and even if it did, the school has zero right to make it actionable.
 
Kuraudo said:
People laughed at the guys who were predicting this kind of crap not even five years ago.
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Oh, I was one of those guys. We knew were this was going. The silencing of speech in this way is chilling and it's happening at an ever increasing rate.
 
Methadras said:
That requires intent. And since this isn't a court of law then I'd say this kids 1st amendment rights have been violated. If he is critical of his school, then that fall under the auspices of political speech, since the public school is a government operated entity. But simply saying "Heights U" doesn't cross the line of offensive speech and even if it did, the school has zero right to make it actionable.
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My point is that we don't understand the significance of Heights U, etc. because we don't live there. His tweet was the talk of the school and caused issues at the school. In my mind, no different than the yelling "fire" in a movie theater argument. You're held accountable for words even if you have the right to say them.
 
kirbyrj said:
My point is that we don't understand the significance of Heights U, etc. because we don't live there. His tweet was the talk of the school and caused issues at the school. In my mind, no different than the yelling "fire" in a movie theater argument. You're held accountable for words even if you have the right to say them.
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I think the problem is the people who could not see his point of view. Those who became angry because someone disagreed with them. Now people can not speak their minds because people might become angry. When did it become ok to threaten anyone who disagrees with you... Disagree with the majority go to jail for voicing your view.
 
what a bunch of pussies, what happen to taking him out back for a "little talk"?
 
I live in Wichita. The reference he is making to the WSU Football team is the issue. They don't exist anymore. The sore spot is probably the WSU Football team died in a plane crash dozens of years ago. Had he made a reference to any other team that just isn't that good, it probably would have been okay. But the fact that he referenced what he did, some people are offended by it.
 
Methadras said:
That requires intent. And since this isn't a court of law then I'd say this kids 1st amendment rights have been violated. If he is critical of his school, then that fall under the auspices of political speech, since the public school is a government operated entity. But simply saying "Heights U" doesn't cross the line of offensive speech and even if it did, the school has zero right to make it actionable.
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Whether he has 1st amendment depends on where and when the tweet was made... That said the school reaction is pure bullshit.
 
Oh boohoo, a school gets insulted while there are kids are getting bullied to the point of suicide and no one gives a shit. It seems like when the many are insulting the odd-one-out out it's all ok, but with the odd-one-out (not even, actually, the guy who tweeted is a class president) speaks out suddenly it's not ok and the school takes notice.
 
...it wasn’t meant to offend a single person or group of people...
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Actually it was, now this isn't to say the punishment is proper, simply pointing out that he's as full of shit as his mother who stated:

His main goal was to increase school spirit.
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ROFL!!!

Sorry I really want to feel sorry for the kid, but between him and his mother they are making it very hard to do. lol!
 
kirbyrj said:
My point is that we don't understand the significance of Heights U, etc. because we don't live there. His tweet was the talk of the school and caused issues at the school. In my mind, no different than the yelling "fire" in a movie theater argument. You're held accountable for words even if you have the right to say them.
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you made a nice grand canyon leap comparing a tweet to yelling FIRE in a movie theater
the difference is an immediate threat to personal safety
reading an opinioned statement in cyberspace = I have as much time as I want to react
hearing someone yell FIRE in an enclosed space = I have to react asap or I could be hurt

/sticks&stones
 
FiveFig said:
you made a nice grand canyon leap comparing a tweet to yelling FIRE in a movie theater
the difference is an immediate threat to personal safety
reading an opinioned statement in cyberspace = I have as much time as I want to react
hearing someone yell FIRE in an enclosed space = I have to react asap or I could be hurt

/sticks&stones
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Alright, a little bit of overstatement, but the point still stands that you don't know the culture of the school to know whether or not his statement could cause a disturbance, and people are responsible for their words even if they have the right to say them.
 
I don't know whats more funny, this story or my two failed suicides.

So was he posting during the school day? 6:26am - 6:39am
What a bunch of pussies, where's the threat to fit the punishment?
 
kirbyrj said:
My point is that we don't understand the significance of Heights U, etc. because we don't live there. His tweet was the talk of the school and caused issues at the school. In my mind, no different than the yelling "fire" in a movie theater argument. You're held accountable for words even if you have the right to say them.
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There is a difference between saying Heights U vs. actually yelling fire in a crowded theater. First, he didn't yell fire, nor was he in a theater. If this is in your mind as you say, then your perception of reality is skewed and screwed. Being held accountable for ones words are one thing, but what he said didn't nor doesn't rise to the level of criminal intent. There is no law that says that you have a right not to be butthurt about something anyone says.
 
Can someone tell me why people in high school all look like they're in their mid-twenties nowadays.
 
HisSvt76 said:
Schools have gone above and beyond over reaching in their authority and the things they monitor. Let parents be parents, and parents BE PARENTS.
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Sounds like our government... hey now... wait a minute!
 
Methadras said:
There is a difference between saying Heights U vs. actually yelling fire in a crowded theater. First, he didn't yell fire, nor was he in a theater. If this is in your mind as you say, then your perception of reality is skewed and screwed. Being held accountable for ones words are one thing, but what he said didn't nor doesn't rise to the level of criminal intent. There is no law that says that you have a right not to be butthurt about something anyone says.
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You're ascribing an innocent intent to something that you have no idea whether or not was innocent. I've said from the beginning that the Heights U comment would likely not have any significance to anyone outside Wichita. The fact that he was suspended like he was, especially in a litigious society, tells me that the context likely warranted such actions. This doesn't strike me as just being "butthurt."
 
Why are people so outraged by this? I bet these same people are mad about schools not teaching "real life lessons." Well, once he's out of high school or college, he will think twice about insulting his employer on social media won't he?
 
This doesn't surprise me. School officials have it hard, they are always being attacked for not doing enough to protect students from things like bullying. But his comment was not bullying, it was a general comment about the state of his schools athletic teams and THAT is a ridiculous stance for the school to take. But this way they get to say "we're tough on people bullying and causing drama / controversy in our schools" with the end effect being the exact opposite of the desired response.

Seriously, there are major problems out there. THIS is the most important thing you school officials can do to help? This is the best you can do? If so a better response would have been to do nothing at all.
 
School officials said they created a disruption both online and at the school, where several students argued about the comments and Teague’s right to post them
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There used to be a time when inciting a discussion was considered part of LEARNING. I guess school isn't for that anymore?
 
PuppeteerNessus said:
I live in Wichita. The reference he is making to the WSU Football team is the issue. They don't exist anymore. The sore spot is probably the WSU Football team died in a plane crash dozens of years ago. Had he made a reference to any other team that just isn't that good, it probably would have been okay. But the fact that he referenced what he did, some people are offended by it.
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Still isn't justified on any level. This will be a lawsuit and the kid will win (as he should).
 
It'd be worth it IMO. I'd take a suspension if it meant I could slander my school and increase awareness of how crap it was for a few hours.
 
azuza001 said:
Seriously, there are major problems out there. THIS is the most important thing you school officials can do to help? This is the best you can do? If so a better response would have been to do nothing at all.
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They should have asked him to apologize for those who felt offended at most. Even if they did and he refused he is done in how many days? Just shocks me how people get offended about a little statement...It is against the rules to say your own team sucks now? Half of the sports writers on any given Sunday would likely have to spend time in the penalty box.

People need to learn that people have the right to think differently then they do. One should be able to listen to someone who disagrees with them and choose to ignore their opinion or debate them verbally. If they can't agree, agree to disagree and move on.
 
Although I don't think their punishment is appropriate (if this is truly a first offense) his actions were a little douchey ... as to first amendment, if he posted while on campus he doesn't have any rights (if he was underage when he did it) ... if he was an adult, instead of a minor, or he did it off campus he might have that defense, but only if he could prove that his posting didn't actually violate a school policy

The courts have usually given schools a fair amount of leeway on constitutional rights ... the first, fourth, and fifth rarely apply on school grounds and minors aren't usually afforded the full protections of those amendments until they become adults (age of 18) ;)
 
This thread and half the people commenting in it is a truly sad statement about where our society is heading. We are actually having a "debate" over whether or not freedom of speech should or should not be allowed, trying to decide if this person's comment is "adequately offensive" to the "public" in order to have a government institution punish him.
 
kirbyrj said:
My point is that we don't understand the significance of Heights U, etc. because we don't live there. His tweet was the talk of the school and caused issues at the school. In my mind, no different than the yelling "fire" in a movie theater argument. You're held accountable for words even if you have the right to say them.
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You are an idiot if you want to compare causing ACTUAL panic versus butt-hurt feelings.
 
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