Free Speech, Students and Tweets

A high school student in Kansas was ordered to write letters of apology by her school after she made derogatory remarks in a tweet to her 60 followers about Kansas Governor Brownback and her disagreement over his cuts to funding for the arts. A member of the governor’s staff, whose job it is to monitor appearances of the governor’s name in social media, reported the student to her school and this led to the school’s action. After some public outcry and the student refusing to give in, the Governor has now apologized for the actions of his staff. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. There is no way that schools are going to want to, or should, become involved in what students do or say publicly online, but it is something that you as a parent need to be aware of. There are also some lessons to be learned here for parents and schools. Teens are using social media to engage politically. Social media also seems to be a more effective way to reach politicians than traditional means. Politicians, companies, brands, and even teachers need to take note that they need to treat teens like adults even if they don’t always behave like them because they do know how to use the media very effectively to gain attention.