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Teen’s joking tweet on Topeka trip creates a capital fracas
By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS
The Kansas City Star
By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS The Kansas City Star
Updated: 2011-11-26T19:41:44Z
Emma Sullivan
KCTV5 News | High school student's tweet lands her in hot water with Kansas governor See what pepole are tweeting about Emma Sullivan's words and Gov. Brownback's response
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Emma Sullivan’s trip to Topeka with other high school students to learn about government taught her a few unexpected lessons:
• Gov. Sam Brownback’s office monitors social media for postings containing the governor’s name.
• Some folks exhibit little sense of humor or appreciation of free expression.
• And sometimes a few “joking” words can land a student in the principal’s office, drafting a letter of apology.
All that resulted from a tweet the Shawnee Mission East High School senior wrote Monday during Brownback’s greeting to young people who were brought in for a closer look at the political process.
“Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot,” Sullivan thumbed from the back of the crowd.
She actually made no such comments. “Joking around,” Sullivan says of the incident.
Brownback’s director of communication wasn’t amused when the tweet was spotted during the routine daily monitoring of comments on Twitter and Facebook mentioning the governor’s name.
“That wasn’t respectful,” responded Sherriene Jones-Sontag. “In order to really have a constructive dialogue, there has to be mutual respect.”
Brownback’s brief speech to the students encouraged them to “be active in their government, community and public service,” Jones-Sontag says.
The tweet was the only one brought to her attention that day, she says, and it was passed along to the Youth in Government program, which organized the students’ visit to the capital.
“It was important for the organization to be aware of the comments their students were making.” Jones-Sontag says. “It’s also important for students to recognize the power of social media, how lasting it is. It is on the Internet.”
Sullivan says things developed quickly: She landed in the principal’s office for a scolding that lasted nearly an hour. She says she was told the “not so nice” comments had embarrassed her school and the district and that “damage control” with the governor’s office was the next step.
So Shawnee Mission East is forcing her to write an apology to the governor’s office, with the principal even giving her talking points to hit.
East principal Karl R. Krawitz declined to comment on the matter Wednesday, calling it a disciplinary action: “It is a school issue, a private issue, not a public matter.”
“I don’t regret sending the tweet,” says the unrepentant Sullivan. “It was harmless. It’s not like I was really fired up about anything he said.”
The action out of the conservative governor’s office isn’t winning Brownback any new support from her or her friends.
“We all are liberal, and we are opposed to a lot of his views,” she says. “I’m just an 18-year-old girl who knows what I believe, and I know what he believes, and we disagree. That is not going to change.”
She’s not opposing the sending of the apology, however. No sense in encouraging the high school to staple something from the incident onto her transcripts, to be sent soon to the University of Arkansas, where she hopes to study psychology next year.
The whole episode left Sullivan’s 19-year-old sister, Olivia Sullivan, who is a political science major at Wichita State University, flabbergasted.
“I think it is embarrassing to the governor and to the administration of the school and the school district to waste time and taxpayer money on something so petty. And it’s discouraging to children when they are told they can’t speak their mind.”
It was Emma Sullivan’s fourth year in Youth in Government, which allows high school students to come up with a mock bill and see it through the political process, including debating for or against the merits of it.
This year, says Sullivan, what she learned was: “Twitter has more impact than I thought.”
Which was Sontag-Jones’ point, too, wasn’t it?
“But I’m sure the governor gets a lot of hate mail on Twitter and Facebook, so I don’t know why his office would pick on an 18-year-old high school girl just horsing around with her friends. I was shocked. I’m still shocked.”
By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS
The Kansas City Star
By MARÁ ROSE WILLIAMS The Kansas City Star
Updated: 2011-11-26T19:41:44Z
Emma Sullivan
KCTV5 News | High school student's tweet lands her in hot water with Kansas governor See what pepole are tweeting about Emma Sullivan's words and Gov. Brownback's response
More News
Emma Sullivan’s trip to Topeka with other high school students to learn about government taught her a few unexpected lessons:
• Gov. Sam Brownback’s office monitors social media for postings containing the governor’s name.
• Some folks exhibit little sense of humor or appreciation of free expression.
• And sometimes a few “joking” words can land a student in the principal’s office, drafting a letter of apology.
All that resulted from a tweet the Shawnee Mission East High School senior wrote Monday during Brownback’s greeting to young people who were brought in for a closer look at the political process.
“Just made mean comments at gov. brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot,” Sullivan thumbed from the back of the crowd.
She actually made no such comments. “Joking around,” Sullivan says of the incident.
Brownback’s director of communication wasn’t amused when the tweet was spotted during the routine daily monitoring of comments on Twitter and Facebook mentioning the governor’s name.
“That wasn’t respectful,” responded Sherriene Jones-Sontag. “In order to really have a constructive dialogue, there has to be mutual respect.”
Brownback’s brief speech to the students encouraged them to “be active in their government, community and public service,” Jones-Sontag says.
The tweet was the only one brought to her attention that day, she says, and it was passed along to the Youth in Government program, which organized the students’ visit to the capital.
“It was important for the organization to be aware of the comments their students were making.” Jones-Sontag says. “It’s also important for students to recognize the power of social media, how lasting it is. It is on the Internet.”
Sullivan says things developed quickly: She landed in the principal’s office for a scolding that lasted nearly an hour. She says she was told the “not so nice” comments had embarrassed her school and the district and that “damage control” with the governor’s office was the next step.
So Shawnee Mission East is forcing her to write an apology to the governor’s office, with the principal even giving her talking points to hit.
East principal Karl R. Krawitz declined to comment on the matter Wednesday, calling it a disciplinary action: “It is a school issue, a private issue, not a public matter.”
“I don’t regret sending the tweet,” says the unrepentant Sullivan. “It was harmless. It’s not like I was really fired up about anything he said.”
The action out of the conservative governor’s office isn’t winning Brownback any new support from her or her friends.
“We all are liberal, and we are opposed to a lot of his views,” she says. “I’m just an 18-year-old girl who knows what I believe, and I know what he believes, and we disagree. That is not going to change.”
She’s not opposing the sending of the apology, however. No sense in encouraging the high school to staple something from the incident onto her transcripts, to be sent soon to the University of Arkansas, where she hopes to study psychology next year.
The whole episode left Sullivan’s 19-year-old sister, Olivia Sullivan, who is a political science major at Wichita State University, flabbergasted.
“I think it is embarrassing to the governor and to the administration of the school and the school district to waste time and taxpayer money on something so petty. And it’s discouraging to children when they are told they can’t speak their mind.”
It was Emma Sullivan’s fourth year in Youth in Government, which allows high school students to come up with a mock bill and see it through the political process, including debating for or against the merits of it.
This year, says Sullivan, what she learned was: “Twitter has more impact than I thought.”
Which was Sontag-Jones’ point, too, wasn’t it?
“But I’m sure the governor gets a lot of hate mail on Twitter and Facebook, so I don’t know why his office would pick on an 18-year-old high school girl just horsing around with her friends. I was shocked. I’m still shocked.”
Not looking good, governor.
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