WASHINGTON - A Virginia high school student who called a school official's home to ask why a snowfall hadn't closed schools is creating an online storm.
The 17-year-old student called the listed home phone number for the chief operating officer of schools in Fairfax County, Virginia.
His question - why weren't schools being closed after an estimated eight centimetres of snow?
The student left his name and number.
But his call was returned by the school official's wife, who left an angry taped message referring to "snotty-nosed little brats."
Her final advice: "Get over it, kid, and go to school!"
Now, a recording of the nasty message is all the rage on YouTube and other Internet sites after the student posted it on Facebook.
The school official, Dean Tistadt, says the incident has been "horrible" for his wife.
"How dare you call us at home! If you have a problem with going to school, you do not call somebody's house and complain about it," Candy Tistadt snapped in her message.
The student, Devraj (Dave) Kori, who attends Lake Braddock Secondary School, did not immediately respond to an e-mail Wednesday.
But he told The Washington Post that he thought he had a right to ask a public official for more information about a decision that affected him and other students. He also said his generation viewed privacy differently.
Fairfax County schools spokesman Paul Regnier told the newspaper that Kori's action showed a gap in civility.
"It's really an issue of kids learning what is acceptable and not acceptable. Any call to a public servant's house is harassment," Regnier said.
Kori told the newspaper he was called into the principal's office to discuss the situation, though he was not punished.
The 17-year-old student called the listed home phone number for the chief operating officer of schools in Fairfax County, Virginia.
His question - why weren't schools being closed after an estimated eight centimetres of snow?
The student left his name and number.
But his call was returned by the school official's wife, who left an angry taped message referring to "snotty-nosed little brats."
Her final advice: "Get over it, kid, and go to school!"
Now, a recording of the nasty message is all the rage on YouTube and other Internet sites after the student posted it on Facebook.
The school official, Dean Tistadt, says the incident has been "horrible" for his wife.
"How dare you call us at home! If you have a problem with going to school, you do not call somebody's house and complain about it," Candy Tistadt snapped in her message.
The student, Devraj (Dave) Kori, who attends Lake Braddock Secondary School, did not immediately respond to an e-mail Wednesday.
But he told The Washington Post that he thought he had a right to ask a public official for more information about a decision that affected him and other students. He also said his generation viewed privacy differently.
Fairfax County schools spokesman Paul Regnier told the newspaper that Kori's action showed a gap in civility.
"It's really an issue of kids learning what is acceptable and not acceptable. Any call to a public servant's house is harassment," Regnier said.
Kori told the newspaper he was called into the principal's office to discuss the situation, though he was not punished.
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