Racist tweets and punishment

Gloucester High baseball player Ryan Smith's father wrote a letter to the editor to introduce his son's written apology, which is as follows:

This is the same kid who tweeted:

 

Wanna bet?

 

Not here. The kid made the apology to the school board and his father sent part of it as a letter to the editor. In the part the father included, the student did not mention Ward.

Here is the entirety of the father's letter to the editor, which contained the kid's apology and mentioned Ward only tangentially:

It was published in the Gloucester Times.

 

Since I don't know the kid or his family, I will not question his sincerity. Lots of people have said/written/done things they later regretted, up to and including murder. So if he wants to behave differently next time, he's young enough to have plenty of opportunities.

On a bigger note, I really question what good Facebook and Twitter are accomplishing. I suppose they can, at times, be helpful in breaking news. But, more often, it's just a platform for someone to stick his foot in his mouth and have the whole world see it. If this kid says the same thing at home or wherever, very few people notice.

It's one reason I don't do Twitter and am strongly considering abandoning Facebook, as well.

 

I don't like the punishment. Unless there's a social media policy in place, it lacks fairness. Do they monitor the Twitter pages of every athlete in every sport? Is there a clear line between what's suspendable and what's not? What if they Tweeted "Bleep" the Caps, or some other curse or vulgarity that might be equally offensive but not "racist"? Something sexist perhaps?

Where's the line and is there equal enforcement? This seems reactionary and arbitrary.

Not that anyone should tweet epithets or act this way...but...if there's no precedent, and if other kids have tweeted vulgarities in the past and not been suspended...

 

There's never a precedent....until one is set. Stare decisis is a beach of shifting sand.

 

If it happened on school grounds, with school issued equipment, on the bus, at the bus stop or on a school sponsored trip, it is the business of the school in regards to general education. If none of those boxes can be checked, then it is a family issue or a police issue.

If you are in a club or on a team, then you are representing the school and can be kicked of off the club or team for what you do on your own time, beat playing for a team and having a seat in math class are two separate entities.

The schools have to draw the line somewhere. They cannot hover over students 24/7.

 

"I am by no means racist ... "

Really? Think you can just write that down and get past it?

 

There was recently a case in Fort Wayne, Ind., in which a judge overturned volleyball player suspensions because there wasn't a clear enough student policy outlawing their transgression - posting suggestive photos of themselves on social media.

 

Isn't being a teenage hockey fan punishment enough?

 

Unless these tweets were done in school during school hours or on school equipment, there is no fucking way the school should have any jurisdiction here and any punishment should be fought tooth and nail.

What kids do on their own time is their fucking business not the business of some nanny state loving pinhead school administrator