Teens and Tweets:
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback
Says He's Sorry

While I would "prefer" my daughter or son make their critical comment directly to the Governer (write a letter, send an email or request a meeting ... I know, but hey show some sign of civility), if they saw fit to give him correction, I must say the Governor is correct. His Staff overreacted ... they KNOW noone is off limits and the School should have used that as a "teachable moment" and not a Scorn moment. Advise the Student to use more civilized means of communication. Request a meeting or send a letter to the Governer. Twitter is very informal and we all get sucked in with the quickness of our little 25 characters of Thought Sharing.

Freedom of speech is guaranteed under the Constitution's Bill of Rights. She is an adult so her hashtag is her choice. Is it appropriate for anyone under the age of 18? Probably not. She also did not say this to the Governor directly (although she has the right to voice her opinion to him directly if she chooses.) It was tweeted only to her friends, or so she thought. The governor needs to be reminded he is an employee of the Kansas taxpayers and if any one of them believe he's doing a crappy job, they have the right to tell him so. So would I support her? Absolutely. Would I tell the principal to mind his own business? Definitely. Would I contact the national media? In this case, maybe (especially since it was all ready a national story and her civil liberties were being threatened). Would I call the governor on the carpet and tell him to quite being such a cry-baby and take the criticism as it was intended? Most definitely. That being said, I would also remind her anything you put on Facebook or Twitter is out there for the whole world to see and the consequences can be embarrassing or worse, so use a little commonsense.

Whoa! Time is money. Think of all the tax payer money spent on smoothing the Governor's offices' ruffled feathers. And think of the results...instead of a small little tweet from a teenager, it's a national and international incident spewing forth from the AP wire. Now we all know he blows.....thanks, Governor's office!

And that's a separate incident from the principal demanding an action that goes against Constitutional Rights. He suffers from a worrisome lack of judgment and is drunk with petty authority. Strong-arming a student without her parents or lawyer present? That's the BIG problem.

If your teen sassed the governor in a tweet or on Facebook, and the country was in a dither about it, would you make her apologize? Why or why not? Would you revoke her Internet privileges? How long? A week? A month?

No, I wouldn't make her apologize because yes, Gov. Brownbeck -- the only governor in the United States to cut all arts funding -- does blow a lot. I would, however, tell her she could've been more elegant in her phrasing. Also, if she didn't say that to him in person, it's a lie, and heaven knows LYING IS WRONG. I would want her to understand how to be dry without misleading anyone.

Should a governor’s staff ever call the principal’s office? If so under what conditions? No. Especially not a governor's staff who cuts all arts funding. Did I mention that?

If the principal called your daughter an “embarrassment” to the school and the school district, would you rally your community to launch a “Fire the Principal” Facebook fan page? Storm into his office and remind him of this little thing protecting Americans called free speech? Praise your daughter for her political acumen and encourage her to run for office? I wouldn't rally my community. I would call the principal an embarrassment back and probably write a scathing letter to the editor of my local paper, but I wouldn't take it to the national media. It doesn't seem worth it -- there are so many more important causes to rally people around than a principal overreacting. Had he had access to speech or drama class, maybe he would've been better equipped to deal under pressure but OH YES, KANSAS HAS NO ARTS FUNDING.

Finally, do Brownback’s staff not have enough to do? See arts funding.

And, is #heblowsalot an age-appropriate hashtag for an 18-year-old? If an 18-year-old can serve in the military, I think an 18-year-old can say her governor blows. A lot.

I would definitely support my teen in voicing her opinion. While I might have preferred she do it more respectfully, it would be hard to argue that was the most effective way to draw attention to your ideas (I doubt anyone would care about this tweet if she had respectfully disagreed with his opinion).

I have no problem with an 18-year-old using #heblowsalot. For one, she's an adult. Secondly, Twitter is full of casual language, irreverence, and sarcasm.

The only time it's appropriate for the Governor's office to call the principal on a student is if that student made a threat or otherwise endangering someone. Voicing an opinion doesn't cut it.

#heblowsalot is a perfectly acceptable hashtag for anyone old enough to be on twitter. Particularly if he does, you know, blow a lot.