High School Student Expelled For Tweeting Profanity; Principal Admits School Tracks All Tweets

from the hello-free-speech-rights dept

Mon, Mar 26th 2012 2:27pm — Mike Masnick

Tinker v. Des Moines is considered a key lawsuit in defining the free speech rights of students. While there have been a few cases that limited the ruling, it's still seen as the key case in establishing that students have First Amendment rights and that schools can't just arbitrarily shut them down.

I'm reminded of all this after hearing that a student, Austin Carroll at Garrett High School in Garrett, Indiana, was expelled from the school for a silly tweet that used the word "fuck" repeatedly. Supposedly he tweeted something along the lines of "Fuck is one of the fucking words you can fucking put anywhere in a fucking sentence and still fucking makes sense." A little juvenile, but he's in high school. He insists that he tweeted this from home, but the school insisted that it was done at school. But the details suggest the tweet came at 2:30am when he was definitely not at school.

What's coming out, however, is that the school was apparently spying on how students use Twitter:

The principal at Garrett High School claims their system tracks all the tweets on Twitter when a student logs in, meaning even if he did tweet it from home their system could have recognized it when he logged in again at school.

I'm not entirely sure what they mean here by it "could have recognized it when he logged in again at school," but it seems clear that the school was aggressively monitoring social networking activity, and chose to expel the kid because of his decision to express himself. It sounds like Austin isn't fighting the expulsion, but simply found an alternative school to complete his last few months and get his diploma, but that's pretty ridiculous. I don't see how the school has a legitimate argument for expulsion here as it appears to violate his basic First Amendment rights. Even beyond that, though, it's really pretty shameful what the school is teaching its students. Spying on students and punishing them for expressing themselves gives exactly the wrong kind of message to students.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: austin caroll, cursing, free speech, garrett high school, schools
Companies: twitter

149 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

:Lobo Santo (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:33pm

Browbeaten
The sooner the plods learn they have no rights the better!!

/troll
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:34pm

Expelled? Even if he *did* tweet that at school I can't imagine any rational justification for expelling someone over one instance of profanity.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:34pm

Well that's just fucking absurd.

>Gets expelled from Techdirt
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:37pm

Students say worse verbally in school on a daily basis. Going to expel them all? I guess that would cut down on the number of those pesky students they had to deal with and free up the principles time so he can get back to his own twitter account.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:42pm

Fuck that fucking school and the fucks who made the fucking rule about saying "fuck". It's fucking obvious that it fucking violates his First fucking Amendment Rights to free fucking speech.

Now excuse me while I grab a fucking bar of soap and wash my fucking mouth..er typing fingers.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:43pm

Correct me if I am wong but haven't similar cases gone to the SCOTUS and the decision came down that when accessing a private network (such as a secured network at a school) that users should have no expectation of privacy?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:43pm

>You can't tweet "fuck" in school, you fucking fatass!

>Why the fuck not?

>Dude, you just tweeted "fuck" again!

>It doesn't hurt anybody. Watch. Fuck-fucketty-fuck-fuck-fuck! And if the teacher, principal, and guidance counselor don't like it, they can all suck my balls!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
khory, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:45pm

Why is the school concerned with his Twitter activities at all? Even if he was on campus? Also who do the get his account?

Does he access Twitter on a school computer? Its probably not a good idea to allow access to social networking sites on those computers. Maybe the schools IT policy needs some help..
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Correct Speller, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:46pm

Correct
@annonynous. Principal is spelled principal, not principle. Might also consider the student was using school equipment to make the inappropriate remarks. Would your employer want you doing that with their hardware? I don't think we've checked all the facts.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Daniel DeLyon, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:49pm

fucking fuck
I never met a fucking school administrator with half a fucking clue about fucking technology, so i wouldn't take his fucking assertion that the the fucking tweet came from the fucking school as anything other than fucking CYA cluelessness.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MrWilson, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:50pm

Re:
If being a total corporate shill and absolute waste of space troll doesn't get you expelled from Techdirt, saying fuck probably won't get you expelled either.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A Guy (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:58pm

Fuck, now my fucking tax dollars are probably fucking going to this fucking kid instead of fucking doing something fucking useful.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 2:59pm

Good thing that Fuck is a word that you never hear or see in school. Quoting Holden Caulfield:

That's the whole trouble. You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write "Fuck you" right under your nose. Try it sometime. I think, even, if I ever die, and they stick me in a cemetery, and I have a tombstone and all, it'll say "Holden Caulfield" on it, and then what year I was born and what year I died, and then right under that it'll say "Fuck you." I'm positive, in fact.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dementia (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:07pm

Re: Correct
Really, seems like the article is leading us to believe he made the remarks at 2:30 AM. What kid do you know who goes to school at 2:30 in the morning just to log on and tweet?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
:Lobo Santo (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:09pm

Re: Re: Correct
How does one even get into the school at 2:30AM? They keep those schools all locked up nowadays.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MrWilson, 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:09pm

Re: Correct
He posted the comment on his twitter account from his home computer and then logged into the same twitter account at school and their monitoring system scanned the whole twitter account. So he didn't use school equipment to make the inappropriate remarks.

I agree. I don't think you've checked all the facts, like going to the linked article and either reading or watching the video of the interview...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MrWilson, 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:13pm

Re:
If you're going to punish teenagers for saying fuck, you might as well punish them for hitting puberty. It's just as natural to swear as a teen as it is to develop secondary sex characteristics. If you're really strict, they just use substitute's for swear words like frick or frak or freak.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
fb39ca4, 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:14pm

That is fucking stupid. The kid posted the fucking tweet at 2:30 fucking A.M. He should fucking sue the fucking school and it will get fucked over in fucking court so badly for a fucking violation o the fucking first amendment.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:16pm

Re:
Reading before commenting would be good. He did not use the schools network in ANY fashion, unless he was at school at 2 AM. He may have used a school-issued computer, but it's still ridiculous.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Rikuo (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:17pm

Re:
Is that Catcher in the Rye you're quoting? Nice one!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
fb39ca4, 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:19pm

Buttfuck is one of the buttfucking words you can butfucking put anywhere in a buttfucking sentence and still buttfucking makes sense.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
:Lobo Santo (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:21pm

Re: Re:
Or the fact that in English any noun with an 's' after it can be a reference to breasts...

Grenades, knockers, bazooms, chesticles... the list goes on.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Watchit (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:25pm

Wow, usually if you get caught cussing at school the worse you get is a slap of the wrist. Sounds more like the school was trying to make an example of him.

Kind of silly when I think back to my high school years and remember half my teachers and all of the subs cussed themselves!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Torg (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:32pm

Re:
But if they block Twitter, how are they supposed to know when their students use profanity? Ensuring that their students stick to G-rated words is far more important than having them pay attention in class.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TtfnJohn (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:32pm

Re:
I hate to say it but rational justification isn't part of the control freak aspect of some school admins.

Then again, perhaps the guy that was expelled has just learned a lesson a lot of people have learned to their horror at work. Never be logged into the work/school network and be on a social networking site and using it at the same time. You're just asking for trouble.

As far as this instance is concerned I can't think of a rational reason to expel this kid for using profanity at all. Most of the juvenile sentence sounds cleaner that what you can often hear on the school yard or in the halls.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TtfnJohn (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:34pm

Re: Re: Re: Correct
He has all the keys and alarm codes to the school and the fuckin' server room.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Rapnel (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:34pm

Fuckin'a
Now this is my type of article. Fuck.

Schools are to teach. If you want to fucking parent then have your own god damn children. These are not your children for fuck's sake.

Child fucking tweets fuck and you think you can jump in a directly harm a child's future? Fucking tools.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:35pm

Re: Re:
What is the big deal? He was just promoting the Free Universal Construction Kit, and how it can be used ANYWHERE....

or did I miss something?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
crade (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:37pm

It's probably part of the re-education campaign the MAFIAA has been pushing to "fix" kids morals. Schools actively devaluing the first amendment right is probably a top priority! ;)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Torg (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:38pm

Re:
My school reserved the right to fine us several hundred dollars per profanity, but most of the teachers understood how fucking stupid that was. All that policy taught us is that either the principal or the school board has a huge stick up its ass, and we got some early training in shutting up when the boss walks by.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MrWilson, 26 Mar 2012 @ 3:51pm

Re: Re: Re:
Or the fact that intonation and emphasis can make any common phrase sexually suggestive.

"I wanna mow your lawn..."

"I wanna file your taxes..."

"I wanna subvert your democracy..."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:00pm

Union Oligarchy
This is what you get when you put unionized commies in charge of common sense issues. Commies hate free speech � see China.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
A Guy (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:03pm

Re:
Just to clarify, the kid should win and the school officials should be fired. They are the ones wasting tax dollars.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:05pm

It's Indiana. Fuck didn't exist as a commonly used word in 1950.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
simple simon, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:06pm

My Question...
Why the fuck is this fuckin' kid up at 2:30 in the morning on a school night?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
meddle (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:20pm

Re: My Question...
Apparently, he was fucking breaking into the fucking school and fucking tweeting.

Fuckin' kid.

Seriously, fucking expelled for fucking tweeting "fuck"? What do they fucking do if you fucking smoke pot in the fucking bathroom? Fucking shoot you at dawn?

FUCK!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Fucker, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:25pm

Re: My Question...
I also don't fucking know why the fuck that fuck was fucking tweeting on a fucking fucked up school night.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:38pm

Are you kidding me they've became that sensitive in 15 years since I was in school.
Christ I told the super of my school district to fuck off and I had to do a Saturday in detention. "It's not okay to talk to people like that but I was a kid"
Well that's one messed up school for sure :/ I doubt it will stick.
The schools don't need to be snooping around in kids twitters and facebooks that's their parents jobs. For all the school knows the whole family could talk like a bunch of sailors.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Nemesh, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:41pm

Re: Correct
The fucking tweet was fucking tweeted at fucking TWO THIRTY AM! How the fuck is the fucking student supposed to be fucking tweeting at school at that fucking hour?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
John Nemesh, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:43pm

Re: Union Oligarchy
Why the fuck are you calling them "commies"? We fucking havent had an issue with "commies" since we won the fucking Cold War! Get a fucking clue! And for fuck's sake, quit watching the fucking idiots on Fox News!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Rikuo (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:46pm

Re: Re:
Fine you? Where does a school get the authority to fine you anything? Especially hundreds for a profanity? What happens if you don't pay?
Gotta call BS on this one, unless ya got proof...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:54pm

Re: Re: Union Oligarchy
Commies control speech, that's what commies do.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
redrum, 26 Mar 2012 @ 4:59pm

Fuck is versatile, it can be every word in a sentence
Fuck the fucking fucker.. Makes perfect sense.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:04pm

Lesson to be learned, even if First Amendment is on your side and you get back into your school:

What you do in the public space can come back to haunt you in many ways you ordinarily would not expect. Freedom of expression oftentimes comes at a price.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:04pm

Re: Re: Union Oligarchy
Monitoring ALL tweets at all TIMES and expelling based on something said NOT on school grounds IS what commies do, Mr. Commie defender...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Torg (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:12pm

Re: Re: Re:
Here ya go.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Watchit (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:20pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
wow, what a great cash cow for the school, $500 per profanity? My school would have made millions!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:33pm

Re: Re: Re: Union Oligarchy
Y'know, that's a mighty pink avatar you got there.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Zane Stuart (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:34pm

Fuck in and out of school
It's the principal and school board's fault. The teachers should teach creative ways of writing - or tweeting. "Give me ten sentences explaining/describing an exceptional emotion or thing without using the word 'fuck'". I think that would be a great course. How to write clever tweets without cussing or cursing. Yeah, I know, it's already patented...

First Amendment Rights is just one (very important) issue. Why does the school have access to what students do and say away from school? It's the parents responsibility and the school should be doing only what they're intended for. I understand there are rules and standards while students are at school or a school function but otherwise this school and principal stepped WAY over the boundaries. Unless I missed some new law, policing kids after school hours isn't part of of a school's job.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:50pm

I think
That the kid should sue for everything those responciple own, including their pensions.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Aerilus, 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:56pm

you know I have given up hope of ever feeling like my tax money is put to a good use.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Richard Maus, 26 Mar 2012 @ 5:59pm

Fucking language
That's absofuckinlutely ridiculous. They can't do that.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 6:10pm

its a tweet, a public statement, you CANNOT SPY on a tweet..

Masnick when you tweet and someone reads your tweet, are they spying on you ?

or dont I have a right to read you tweets if I work for a school, or am someone you dont like ?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
DCL, 26 Mar 2012 @ 6:14pm

The tweet was educational!
He was just applying an example of how useful the word is. See the excellent educational video below on its versatility:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rX7-R54-Q8
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 6:16pm

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK... "Come the FUCK in,,, or FUCK the FUCK OFF"
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jacob Cooper (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 6:16pm

First, I'm not convinced it's spying when these are comments made in a publicly accessible forum.

Second, they may have a legitimate reason for monitoring accounts they are aware of. Their handbook prohibits posting pictures of students and faculty without obtaining permission first.

Third, their handbook doesn't mention language regarding student conduct, other than that used in a threatening manner. I think they overstepped their authority in this case.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 6:55pm

Re:
Handbooks handed out by fucking morons who can't work in the private sector don't fucking trump the first amendment of the fucking Constitution.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Atkray (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 7:06pm

Re: Re: Re: Correct
It used to be climb the outside wall on the gym then open the access door on the roof and drop down inside, but they may have patched that security flaw since I was in high school.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Don't Toews Me Bro, 26 Mar 2012 @ 7:09pm

seems the school has a page for reporting Bullies.
http://www.reportabully.com/rab_form_sub_handler3.php

I suggest you all should go and report Principal Matt Smith as the bully that he is.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 7:12pm

Re:
"First, I'm not convinced it's spying when these are comments made in a publicly accessible forum."

I'll agree. But they have little reason to be watching it, either.

"Second, they may have a legitimate reason for monitoring accounts they are aware of. Their handbook prohibits posting pictures of students and faculty without obtaining permission first."

They can't legitimately prohibit that. Assuming it's a public school, the students do have First Amendment rights - especially for actions done outside of school.

"Third, their handbook doesn't mention language regarding student conduct, other than that used in a threatening manner."

That's about the only case where an expulsion would be warranted for out-of-school internet use. If the student posted that he was going to shoot up the school, then student safety would demand that he not be allowed IN the school. But typed profanity? Is that really such a threat to the school that the student cannot ever be allowed to attend the school again?

There's really two issues here. One is that the school is punishing him for out of school activities, the second is that they are expelling him for mere profanity. I'm not even sure which is worse.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Rekrul, 26 Mar 2012 @ 7:18pm

Re: I think
"responciple"? Looks like you have a reason to sue your teachers...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 7:35pm

Re: Correct Speller?
Annonynous? ANNONYNOUS? Check yourself before you wreck yourself, "Correct Speller".
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 7:42pm

Re: Re:
Or getting a proper education.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
That One Guy (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 8:07pm

Re: Re: Re: Union Oligarchy
Yes, it also happens to be what all other repressive systems of government/control do, stifling that pesky 'free speech' thing.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
G Thompson (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 8:52pm

Re:
See right there...
That's why Techdirt is verbotim in Germany! :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Watchit (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 9:04pm

FUCK!
Quick lets make this the most FUCK filled fucking page on fucking Techdirt!

;3
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Watchit (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 9:05pm

Re: FUCK!
right now I'm counting 126 Fucks, including this one. Good fucking job!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Greevar (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 9:21pm

Re: Re:
Verboten.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Torg (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 9:25pm

Re: Re: FUCK!
Chrome's page search function is giving me 127, and with this post's subject line that brings us up to 128. Whatever the previous record was, it was fucked (129) a long time ago.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
TheBigH (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 10:19pm

Re: Re: Re:
When you consider the copyright maximalist position of the German government, an amalgam of the words "verbatim" and "verboten" seems somehow appropriate.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 26 Mar 2012 @ 10:46pm

Spying on students and punishing them for expressing themselves isn't the wrong kind of message to be sending to the students, it's the wrong kind of message to be sending to the school.

There is literally no telling how many schools have policies that mandate close oversight/spying on students on and off campus. This could be standard policy for many schools for all we know.

We already have students being spied on by having webcams activated in their homes when the students assumed the webcams were really turned off which I'm sure generated just hours of footage for some of the sick-fuck admins to pleasure themselves over in their free time. But also sent the message that cases like this certainly aren't isolated.

Not that we'll ever actually get an audit/reform of the school system, its major failings only gives more power to the educational institutions who have to pick up the pieces afterwards.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
G Thompson (profile), 26 Mar 2012 @ 11:16pm

Re: Re: Re:
Gesundheit
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Red Bard, 26 Mar 2012 @ 11:17pm

Re: Correct
Did u not even read the article?
It says it was tweeted at 2:30 AM. Obviously meaning he wasn't at school!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:36am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I'd love to see the ToS/EULA for that which would stand up in court...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:37am

Re: Re: Re: Union Oligarchy
So do fascists. Who would think that Fox News is a "commie lib'rul marxist" outfit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Niall (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:38am

Re: Re: Re: Union Oligarchy
"Commies" also breath, eat, sleep and walk around. Talk about a pathetic straw man...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 5:32am

Re:
The privacy part is creepy, it's the expelling for saying fuck outside of school that is a violation of the kid's civil rights.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 6:45am

Re:
You should probably actually read articles before you comment on them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 7:14am

Re:
Can we get a "This guy didn't read the article" button?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
blue chow, 27 Mar 2012 @ 7:26am

People wonder why our expensive educational system is failing. Administrators are expending time, destroying democracy and wasting tax dollars on spying on children.

Two types of fetishists are attracted to the school room -- pedophiles and martinets. Neither should be tolerated near children, or in government.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous, 27 Mar 2012 @ 7:48am

Its sad that a school or any company can think about hushing the people of this world. I was once told to sign a paper saying that I would not talk badly about the company I work for. The rights of people are being taken away every day. Big brother won't go away anytime soon
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 8:17am

Re: Re:
He DID use the school's network to ACCESS his Twitter account or cant you READ?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 8:18am

Re: Re:
I did read it, he said FUCK at home on Twitter but accessed his Twitter account from SCHOOL. Or did YOU not read the article?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 8:23am

Re: Re:
I read the article see my previous comments to all the other FUCKTARDS. He wrote FUCK at home but clearly he accessed his Twitter account FROM SCHOOL which exposed his moronic comment to the school's monitoring software. This is Darwinism in action. The kid will learn an important lesson.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 8:43am

The kid didn't post it from school so the school has no right to expel him its as simple as that and even if he did post it from school the school should just block social sites on their computers. And as far as a fine goes how are you going to say a public school should be able to charge you even more money when you already pay for them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Torg (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 8:54am

Re: Re: Re:
And accessing an account that contains profanity in its past posts is worth expulsion, in your mind? What lesson is that teaching? To never, ever use bad words? I'd like to think schools have more important things to teach kids.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
tqk (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 9:05am

Re:
Why is the school concerned with his Twitter activities at all? Even if he was on campus?

This is what I was wondering too. Considering the abysmal state of IT in typical school systems, they're spending money on systems that monitor every student's twitterings? How is that at all justified by anyone?!?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
MT, 27 Mar 2012 @ 9:13am

Re: Correct
That is irrelevant. If an employee represents his employer with an inappropriate remark, that is one thing. If the employee does it on his own personal account without connections to his job, that should not have any bearing on his employment. The student did not claim to represent the school with his remarks and therefore it should have nothing to do with his schooling. Not to mention that it's impossible he was "using school equipment" at 2:30 AM.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 9:22am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Union Oligarchy
Not the 100M killed by commies Stalin & Mao or the poor starving N. Koreans. Why do you defend the killing/silencing commie bastards?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dale, 27 Mar 2012 @ 9:22am

Seriously? Blame this on commies? Right-wing Christians is more like it. Both want to destroy free speech but it's the right-wing Christians who want to ban certain phonetics in the erroneous notion that it will actually ban sex or discussions of sex.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Timothy Rue, 27 Mar 2012 @ 9:44am

turn this around
how about spying on the school personnel?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 9:51am

Re: Re:
They probably spent $20,000 on this system, and then raised taxes claiming they wouldn't otherwise have the money to keep having extracurriculars like band. Oh, and presumably they have the prinicpal using school time to read every twitter of every student. Naturally that means they need an extra vice-principal, because how could the principal possibly do principal work AND monitor the students' online activity?

On the other hand, this school apparently gives laptops to all its students - maybe they have so much money they don't know what to do with it.

Also, how exactly does this "monitoring" system work? If it's waiting for the user to log in because it uses the login session to request the information, that's probably illegal. They may have the right to look at traffic going through their network... but they certainly do not have the right to use that information to do whatever they want. I could legally have a keylogger installed on my computer, but if someone then uses my computer to check their email, that doesn't mean I can legally spy on their email until they change that password.

Oh, and by the way: Expelling him doesn't stop him from tweeting profanity. They've just lost ALL leverage they have against him. Are they next going to expell his Twitter followers if they dare to access his messages?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Almost Anonymous (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 10:26am

Re: Re: Re:
My interpretation is that you are both correct to a point:

It sounds like he did the actual tweet itself at home, probably on his own computer. Then at a later point at school, he logged onto his twitter account at which point the school, which is obviously data-mining network traffic, discovered the profanity-laden tweet and thought this would be a great time to out themselves for snooping on all http traffic. I strongly suspect if he had been using https he would have had no problems.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Almost Anonymous (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 10:27am

Re: Re: Re:
Lesson being: encrypt all traffic.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Torg (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 11:25am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Union Oligarchy
Those killed by Stalin or starving in North Korea don't monitor tweets, though.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
nun ya, 27 Mar 2012 @ 11:32am

nun ya
thats messed up smh
[ link to this | view in thread ]
gregory lent, 27 Mar 2012 @ 11:58am

name the school, name the principal
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Block access to the sites you don't want students, 27 Mar 2012 @ 12:01pm

Seems like if you're at school you have no need to use social networking so just block the sites. If a kid can work his way around the blocks put him in advanced tech class and help the little fucker get smarter.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
CPBuff22, 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:28pm

That is ridiculous. The school has no right to do such a thing and if I was that childs parent I would be raising holly hell.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
There is no name here, 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:29pm

When I was in HS they only monitored my activity on their computers. I would occasionally sneak into a chat room during computer class and slip a cuss word or two out. However, I was never suspended or expelled only told not to do it again.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Bob123, 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:31pm

Dear comment system:
Anonymous =\= coward. What difference is there between Anonymous and, say, Bob123? Hmm?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dylan, 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:31pm

Fuck that noise. I can't understand why the school thinks it even has the right to expel a student for that? Even if he did do it at school? Even if he said it with his fucking mouth?

What's the deal? Getting EXPELLED for saying 'Fuck'???!

This fucking country..... holy shit...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
sarah, 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:49pm

He tweeted it at 230 AM from his own computer at his house. When he logged onto twitter at school using the mac the students have, the software the school has went through all of his tweets and found it.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Dunwich, 27 Mar 2012 @ 2:53pm

That's a Ricky Gervais quote, not even the kid just being a wank an trying to put as many f words in a sentence

Also, I don't get why the school doesn't just block social networking sites, the fact that they don't just says that they're looking for reasons to get the kids in trouble
[ link to this | view in thread ]
aldestrawk (profile), 27 Mar 2012 @ 3:39pm

Re: Re: Re:
I believe one needs to read the accounts from both articles referenced in this Techdirt post. Also, understand that the school officials may not comprehend how their laptops are set-up and represent any access incorrectly. A critical point is that school's officials said that the twitter posting showed the school's IP address. My educated guess is that the student did tweet from home using the school laptop given to him. Furthermore, the laptop is set-up to use a server at the school as a proxy. Thus, any internet access went through the school as an intermediate step. The school could be monitoring this internet activity via it's proxy or it could log transactions on the laptop which are then reported to the school when the laptop is directly connected to the school's network. If so, and the school did not explain to students about the proxy or that their internet activity, even at home, was being monitored, then the school is in the wrong, violated the student's 1st amendment rights and violated his privacy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Oulamathias, 27 Mar 2012 @ 3:53pm

Re: fucking fuck
I like to be astudent in new york by taking a course dats how to operate some of divises like how to design the ids how make atm too,os dats why people new york city ot where how wil i get the easy way?.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 4:05pm

Re: Re:
Frell that dren!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 27 Mar 2012 @ 4:12pm

Tweetfucked
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Psuedonymous Coward, 28 Mar 2012 @ 12:15am

Re:
That phrase is used tongue in cheek here. It's a throwback to the news site Slashdot. This has been better explained elsewhere on this site.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 28 Mar 2012 @ 12:21am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I'm not sure which is worse, the tin-pot dictator who runs that school district you linked to, or the rah-rah attitude of everyone in the comments in the article.

It is related to TFA here; NEVER underestimate the amount of power that will be sufficient to go to someone's head.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
First Amendment, 28 Mar 2012 @ 6:52am

Freedom of Speech
For the record, this kid's tweet was done after school, in his own home & on his own PC. Tell me how that is a punishable offense?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Johnny B., 28 Mar 2012 @ 8:57am

Garrett High Fiasco
Read this on Facebook:

Currently circulating around the Garrett-Keyser-Butler school district:

"The entire student body at Garrett High School is organizing a protest to support Austin Carroll's constitutional right to free speech. We are planning to have ALL students in the school tweet the EXACT SAME MESSAGE at 6pm this Friday night (3/30) from their homes. Either the school will have to expel all of us, or defend why they expelled only Austin, while ignoring the "crimes" of the rest of the student body..."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gomer (profile), 28 Mar 2012 @ 2:16pm

A little harsh, but...
As I understand it, he accessed his site with school property. While I don't agree that the punishment matches the "crime", I'm sure there is some stipulation that when he was assigned the laptop, it was for school use only.

How is this different from where you work? I know my company's HR will swoop down in a heartbeat and will discipline anyone using company assets to access non-business sites. And guess what, they don't block those sites, because they believe in accountability and responsibility.

Like I said, I think the punishment is extreme in this case, but what a great lesson to learn so young in life. When given expectations, there are consequences for your actions if you don't abide by those expectations.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Torg (profile), 28 Mar 2012 @ 4:57pm

Re: A little harsh, but...
"How is this different from where you work?"

You aren't legally required to work at your current place of employment and the company you work for doesn't claim to exist for your benefit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Glenn, 28 Mar 2012 @ 6:02pm

Even worse...
Now that I know the tweet was about the word "fuck" and not actually using the work "fuck" in a supposedly profane way, it makes the school administrators look even more moronic than before.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2012 @ 8:47am

Only in america
seriously, get out of the USA while they still let you leave.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
polyhead, 29 Mar 2012 @ 9:04am

Call them
Phone 260.357.4114
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2012 @ 9:12am

hope he learned his lesson
The lesson is that anyone with power over you will exercise that power to cause you harm if you do something they don't like. And the only defense against abuse of power by "authority" is anonymity.

"Spying on students and punishing them for expressing themselves gives exactly the wrong kind of message to students."

Actually I think it is the exact message they want to send. "We have power, we can hurt you and use any arbitrary justification, and you can't do anything to us."
[ link to this | view in thread ]
kateschop (profile), 29 Mar 2012 @ 9:24am

Re: Garrett High Fiasco
the Austin Caroll's tweet make me laughing so much :)) support for they don't expel him , in this world of war have a sense of humor is precious. (sorry for my english , i'm so french)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2012 @ 9:51am

Re:
using twitter in the first place implies no expectation of privacy.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Incorrect in part, 29 Mar 2012 @ 10:13am

Re: Correct
Actually, if the student was using school equipment at 2:30 in the morning, I'd think the school has more important issues at hand than monitoring a Twitter account for cussing.

That said, yes, they have access to the entire account when a student tweets...unless they're doing it from their phone, in which case, helloooo, Big Brother.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Well, actually..., 29 Mar 2012 @ 10:15am

Re: Re: Correct
Highly unlikely, not impossible.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Rob R, 29 Mar 2012 @ 10:42am

Statement
"could have recognized it when he logged in again at school,"

I believe whoever said this doesn't know the system all that well but well enough to know it spies on twitter accounts. It seems to me that if he logs on at school, they look at everything he tweets, when he goes home, it probably doesn't look but maybe it does I'm not sure, but when he goes to school and logs back in, "it could have" looked at past tweets it had not looked at yet, and then taken action
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2012 @ 10:48am

I remember getting busted in high school for surfing the net during a class. When I first set eyes on rating scale they use on the "referral form" for documenting the incident, I couldn't believe what I was seeing-- "Technology Misuse" (7) was rated as severe as Arson (4) and Theft (3) combined. I didn't get expelled though, I think I got detention for all of one day.

This is probably worthy of being protested to the local school board at the minimum, and if they won't hear you, the threat of a lawsuit might change their minds.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
vukovar (profile), 29 Mar 2012 @ 11:06am

I think you're all missing the real issue....
He wrote a complete coherent sentence on twitter and if I'm not mistaken, even the sentence structure was correct.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2012 @ 12:02pm

I do believe this article beats out Beavis and Butthead..
For the amount of times the word "Fuck" is used....is this a world record?

I didn't RTFA.

Was the Twitter account his or the schools?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2012 @ 12:31pm

Re: I do believe this article beats out Beavis and Butthead..
You, sir, are a nugget. Maybe you should read the fucking article? It would have answered your question in less time than it took you to ask it.

TL;DR
uh, huh huh huh huh, huh huh, uh, read the article.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
zenvelo (profile), 29 Mar 2012 @ 1:42pm

Re: SCOTUS
Yes, the Supreme Court has limited school's ability to punish free speech outside of the classroom. But most school boards, schools, and principals don't care, and will violate the standard until directly told by a court that they are in error.

It's called "modeling behavior", which is why our free speech rights get trampled all the time.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
zenvelo (profile), 29 Mar 2012 @ 1:45pm

school email list
well, I tried to write a polite note to the principal to tell him he is wrong and owes the student an apology. But they seem to have shut down the Faculty/Staff directory...
[ link to this | view in thread ]
aldestrawk (profile), 29 Mar 2012 @ 2:07pm

Re: school email list
The principal of Garret High School
Matt Smith
Principal
msmith@gkb.k12.in.us

probably better to contact the district superintendent at this point.

Dennis Stockdale, Superintendent of Schools, dstockdale@gkbschools.org
[ link to this | view in thread ]
aldestrawk (profile), 29 Mar 2012 @ 2:21pm

Re: school email list
also Twitter account for the Superintendent, not that he uses it very much.
Dennis Stockdale
@MrDStockdale
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Cabal, 29 Mar 2012 @ 2:39pm

Re: Correct
Check your assumptions. The article indicated the tweet occurred at 2:30AM, outside of normal school hours. As for the "using social media at work," it very much depends where you work and go to school. Many companies encourage thier employees to engage on social media, especially when it's in relation to thier work.

And seriously... can't we once and for all drop the ad homonym attacks? ;-)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
More Coward Than Anonymous, 29 Mar 2012 @ 2:54pm

Re:
The school just follows all the tweets of any accounts that are logged into at school. So if you check your Twitter account while at school, the school keeps track of the students user name and their twitter tag. They then follow you and likely have a "naughty" filter that raises an alert. The kid was in his/her own home @2:30am doing this on a public forum. The real interesting thing would be to see post grads poking fun at their Alma mater. The school would still be following the tweets ... hopefully enough of them are going to Law School :)
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 29 Mar 2012 @ 2:55pm

How in the fuck would the school know what his fucking twitter account is unless he fucking told them and if so why in the fuck would you fucking tell them.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
JT Gatto, 29 Mar 2012 @ 5:37pm

End Public Education
I hope he knows what a blessing it is to get kicked out of the zombie-creating institution known as public education.

Fuck me, and especially the superintendents, who collect executive-level salaries as we suck the money out of the ignorant parents and productive people of society.

Education is self-driven and schooling is a profitable public-private partnership.

The great teachers were volunteers who took it upon themselves to deliver wisdom to the young.

The young would attend their lectures because they genuinely wanted to learn from the masters.

When the school threatens the student/parents with fines and criminal charges for not attending please know that that institution is no longer a school but a slave-master.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gresham, 29 Mar 2012 @ 8:55pm

Response to: khory on Mar 26th, 2012 @ 2:45pm
At my school, Facebook is blocked, but the administration uses twitter to send out important news and information to both teachers and students, so it isn't blocked. With this being said, if they are going to fucking let you on to fucking twitter at fucking school, then they should fucking let you say whatever the fuck you want (had to do it. lol). Also, how could he have been at school at 2:30 am?? And with him being a senior, he's probably 18 by now, which guarantees him all constitutional rights. I think he should not only fight the expulsion, but take it to the Supreme Court for violation of constitutional rights. Hell, I've had a teacher tell me to shut the fuck up. He's still working there. This whole situation, especially the protest that was put down by police- again, violating the First Amendment- is just a bunch of fucking bullshit.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Gresham, 29 Mar 2012 @ 9:14pm

Response to: Don't Toews Me Bro on Mar 26th, 2012 @ 7:09pm
I just did. When it asked for my name, I put you're a fucking dumbass.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jake, 29 Mar 2012 @ 10:30pm

Send the school an email!
This violates students rights! Please let the school know how you feel about student rights! Email the staff here: http://www.gkb.k12.in.us/HIGH%20SCHOOL/Staff/staff.html
msmith@gkb.k12.in.us
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Jake, 29 Mar 2012 @ 10:32pm

Re: Re: school email list
I sent them an email! Everyone else should too!
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Mr Moose, 30 Mar 2012 @ 8:05am

linux
I blame the student for not wiping the school's installed OS or not booting a linux LiveCD
[ link to this | view in thread ]
Anonymous Coward, 3 Jun 2012 @ 2:33pm

this is retarded
are they even allowed to read your tweets?
[ link to this | view in thread ]
BITCH I AM KING OF ALL TROLLS YOU CANT STOP ME I A, 29 Aug 2012 @ 4:57pm

game creater
ha ha i am so evil you cant stop ME I AM UNSTOPABLE HAHA
[ link to this | view in thread ]
prtest u no spamming, 29 Aug 2012 @ 6:10pm

hay i am king of all trolls and anoymous coward stop it with the rude behavor this website is not for playing its for writing not using bad words like hell no or bitch or fatass or dont use any bad world like retarded if this cotines i will create a bloc
i will create a block log and start blocking users if this cotines
[ link to this | view in thread ]
BITCH I AM KING OF ALL TROLLS YOU CANT STOP ME I A, 29 Aug 2012 @ 7:09pm

hay pretest i can do whatever i want to do here thers is no block log list so give it up well you have the chance
HAHA WHAT A BABY HAHA I AM SO EVIL
[ link to this | view in thread ]
hay i am a hike, 30 Aug 2012 @ 1:21pm

please you are not king of all trolls so run away
this is your next warning ATOP TROLLING AND SPAMMING AND FINEING AND EXPENDDING LINKS TO MAKE OTHERS THINK YOU DIDI SOMETHING WORNG
[ link to this | view in thread ]
hay i am a hike, 30 Aug 2012 @ 1:31pm

THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING
STOP THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING AGAIN AND YOU WILL BE BAN FROM HERE
[ link to this | view in thread ]
hay i am a hike, 30 Aug 2012 @ 1:35pm

FINAL WARNING
THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING AGAIN AND YOU WILL BE BAN I WILL NOT SAY IT AGAIN THIS IS THE LAST TIME AGAIN AND YOU WILL BE BAN FROM HERE
[ link to this | view in thread ]
ok, 30 Aug 2012 @ 1:37pm

Re: FINAL WARNING
look please you please just find a way to ban him please hurry up
[ link to this | view in thread ]
You forget, 16 Aug 2013 @ 12:55pm

Re: Re: Correct
A student is not an employee of the school district, regardless of the way administrators try to paint it that way.

It's the exact opposite way around, your students are your bosses until your school board tells you to do something that conflicts with a student's wishes.
[ link to this | view in thread ]