High School Girl vs Kansas Governor

My article from an old Media & Tech blog (December 4th 2011)

Emma Sullivan

This story is as much a sign of our changing landscape for communications, as it is a testament to the human willingness to forgive-and-forget.

On a visit to the Kansas state capitol, high school senior Emma Sullivan tweeted the following, as the Los Angeles Times reported in High school tweeter gives Sam Brownback a political headache:

Just made mean comments at gov brownback and told him he sucked, in person #heblowsalot.

Ever alert online, the staff of Governor Sam Brownback saw the tweet, and called her school quickly and basically had her ‘called to the carpet’ by her principal. The principal apparently ordered her to write a letter of apology to the governor. Which she flatly refused, on the grounds of freedom of speech.

All this, when she actually never made such a comment to Gov. Brownback. At least not in person. But, you know, Twitter is very much a reality for us when it comes to communications.

Interestingly, in a follow up Teen tweeter 1, Kansas governor 0, the Los Angeles Times said, the governor himself apologized for his staff’s overreaction. Which he posted on Facebook. He added that no apology from Sullivan was necessary, even upholding one of most sacred rights for Americans. Freedom of speech.

Professional athletes are reprimanded for certain tweets. Sports team owners have been fined severely for certain tweets as well.

But, thankfully, wiser minds and calmer hands quickly resolved this Girl vs. Governor standoff. Hooray to Brownback for his kind handling of this.

Hooray, too, to Sullivan not only for taking a stand, which may seem quite easy for a lot of teenagers, but also for admitting that she ought to be careful about what she says.

So, like I said, wiser minds and calmer hands prevailed. In these very sensitive political times, we can all appreciate that!

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD