25 School Suspensions Caused by Social Media

Intro Slide

While we all enjoy our constitutional right to free speech, the truth is our voices are still restricted (and monitored) in certain situations. A generalization best defined by today’s public education sector. Schools and universities have started enforcing guidelines penalizing students for speaking against the system, encouraging them to embrace the one platform where they can share their raw emotions with the entire world: social media.

However, recent incidents have shown school officials are now keeping a close eye on the virtual paper trails left by students and issuing suspensions or, worse, expulsions for their remarks. So before you go cursing out your Pre-calc professor on Twitter, think fast and take notice of these 25 Controversial Social Media Posts That Led To Student Suspensions.

"You know you go to..."

25. "You know you go to..."

Social network/Date: MySpace (Feb. 16, 2006)

Some joker named Brian and a second assailant were suspended for setting off a number of bulletins referencing Littleton High School students and staff. One post read, "You know you go to LHS when ... the girls at your school are not hot... the ones that are wear two pounds of makeup, which makes them fake,' according to senior Auburn Kisselman. The latter was suspended for responding to the comment. Absurd.

Five Suspended For Food Threats

24. Five Suspended For Food Threats

Social network/Date: Twitter (March 23, 2012)

Stafford High School officials were pissed about 150 students coming in late for classes, forcing the principal to warn them that their breakfast would be confiscated if late. Super tight, one student tweeted: "I'm going to go into Stafford with 5 McDonald's bags filled with dog shit & when they ask for them I'll just let 'em have it." What would have been a great prank was thrwarted by the staff which had already been monitoring Twitter activity, and suspended five students, stating the tweets were posted on campus from a cell phone.

The Sub's A Bitch

23. The Sub's A Bitch

Social network/Date: Twitter (Dec. 14, 2011)

An unnamed student proceeded to call his stand-in instructor a “bitch” on his Twitter account, a comment that was soon delivered to the Beaver Area High School’s vice principal, who suspended the teen for one day. If that's the penalty for calling a sub a bitch, expect many others to follow in the same footsteps.

Drunk Tweeting & Driving

22. Drunk Tweeting & Driving

Social network/Date: Twitter (July 28, 2011)

Not drinking and driving was easier said than done for one 20-year-old. A student from Fukuoka University was suspended for three months aftrer he tweeted while riding a bicycle while under the influence. The anonymous tweeter wrote: "That’s the first time I’ve driven drunk in a while. My heart was pounding.” Campus officials caught wind of the student's inebriation and proceeded to lay down a punishment. Mind you, they had no clue he was riding a bike.

F-Bombs

21. F-Bombs

Social network/Date: Twitter (March 23, 2012)

Austin Carroll thought he was a badass for dropping a series of f-bombs on his Twitter page while hanging at a local mall. “fucking is one of those fucking words you can fucking put anywhere in a fucking sentence and it still fucking makes sense,” tweeted the Garrett High School student. The school found little humor in his verbal outburst and suspended him three months before he was to graduate. An investigation discovered the tweets were made from a school computer.

What A Drag

20. What A Drag

Social network/Date: Facebook (March 8, 2006)

Michael Guinn figured the pics he posted on Facebook dressed in drag would only be shared among his Facebook friends. It didn't take long before someone showed the images to John Brown University admins, who went as far as to to kick Guinn off campus for violating campus conduct codes. He was apparently given several warnings about his behavior.

"Anyone know any good viruses..."

19. "Anyone know any good viruses..."

Social network/Date: Facebook (Oct. 11, 2011)

Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC) pupil Marc Bechtol wasn’t so thrilled about signing up with the institution’s debit card service in order to access his grant money. After giving away his personal info during the sign-up process, he started receiving spam from numerous credit card services. Bechtol took to his FB page with his own solution to the issue: “So, did CVCC sell our names to banks, or did Higher One? I think we should register CVCC’s address with every porn site known to man. Anyone know any good viruses to send them?” It didn’t take long before the college sent him a letter announching two-semester suspension from campus.

Student/Teacher Beef

18. Student/Teacher Beef

Social network/Date: Facebook (Feb. 22, 2010)

If you ask Justin Bird (or his mom), one of the teachers at Oak Forest High School student was out to get him. Instead of taking it up with the school board, he took to Facebook and created a fan page titled "Anyone who has had a bad experience or plain dislikes [teacher’s name].” Even though it was only up for five days and gained 50 fans, school officials suspended him for five days and claimed they would remove the punishment if he completed anger-management courses.

The Grinch Who Got 11 Suspended

17. The Grinch Who Got 11 Suspended

Social network/Date: Facebook (Feb. 12, 2007)

After Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School placed a district ban on all electronics, a gang of 11 created an Facebook group labeling their principal the “grinch of school spirit.” A spokesperson for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board informed CB Radio the comments posted on the page were “extremely vulgar and very profane.” The gang was handed suspensions ranging from three to eight days.

When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong...On Facebook

16. When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong...On Facebook

Social network/Date: Facebook (March 3, 2010)

Cyber beefs among teenagers is not uncommon. Unfortunately, Megan Wisemore fell victim to her own gangster ways once she posted a few nasty messages about another student on her page. "Wow, Hoe Alert! Your a skank and I hate you with a (expletive) passion," Wisemore wrote. Not only did the girl Wisemore referred to see the message, she jumped her, and both were supsended from school, with Wisemore's offense being her viral remarks. What goes around...

The Black RoboCop

15. The Black RoboCop

Social network/Date: MySpace (June 8, 2006)

Charlotte student Dimitri Arethas wasn’t a fan of his black high school vice principal, so he played himself by posting an image of Robocop with his VP’s head spliced in and a racial slur tagged below. One student snitched and told school administrators, leading to Arethas temporary removal from school. Arethas responded to the controversy in an email stating, “Maybe what I did was wrong, morally, but I had every right to express myself. I just chose to do it as a picture, instead of rambling down the hallways yelling, ‘Man! This school sucks.’” Point taken.

Karma Strikes

14. Karma Strikes?

Social network/Date: Dec. 30, 2011

Allie Scott traded verbal jabs with her anonymous frenemy for a bit before things got to the point where she suspected her bff of keying her car. From there, Allie posted a few Facebook messages calling out the plaintiff. One read: "oh so you keyed my car? well your karmas gonna be a wholeee lot worse that that." Unfortunately, karma struck the wrong person, as Allie was both suspended from school and charged with stalking by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. A little excessive, don’t you think?

Diamond in the Rough

13. Diamond in the Rough

Social network/Date: Twitter (June 21, 2010)

Get familiar with Diamond Cruikshank. The Mt. San Antonio College student had some issues with her professor and took to Twitter to voice her frustrations. She tweeted, “someone with a fake grin and big ego … thinks I had an attitude… don’t push me, cuz then you start playing with fire and oil.” Cruikshank’s professor proceeded to slam the student with libel and slander claims. The college banned her until further notice. Looks like Diamond burned herself.

"The Worst Teacher..."

12. "The Worst Teacher..."

Social network/Date: (November 2007)

"Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I've ever met." That was the name of the Facebook page Katherine Evans created criticizing her former educator. The school claimed Evans had been "cyberbulling" Ms. Phelps and enforced a three-day suspension. The teen took legal action against the school, with U.S. Magistrate Barry Garber ruled in favor of Evans stating she was protected constitutionally under the First Amendment. Justice served?

Physical Threat Against Teacher

11. Physical Threat Against Teacher

Social network/Date: Facebook (Dec. 1, 2011)

We've all daydreamed about putting whopping the ass of a teacher we disliked. One student entertained the thought by posting an FB update saying, “How would you like it if I beat up [teacher’s name]?” The post solicited responses from 11 students. All 12 would be suspended moving forward, with the ringleader tagged for threatening the teacher.

Racist Christmas Rant

10. Racist Christmas Rant

Social network/Date: Facebook (Nov. 3, 2011)

Natasha Burge took to her FB profile to bash foreigners who felt offended about singing the national anthem by posting: “please feel free to go back to your own fucking country.” You can guess what the school board thought of her POV. Burge had the nerve to respond by saying, “It’s ridiculous. I get suspended over something I believe in — we should be allowed to say, ‘Merry Christmas’.

The Fat Douchebag

9. The Fat Douchebag

Social network/Date: Facebook (Jan. 31, 2011)

Donny Tobolski had the balls to call his honors biology teacher a "fat ass who should stop eating fast food, and is a douche bag" on Facebook. Cyber-bullying? According to the Juan Unified School District: Yes. As expected, Donny was suspended. His mom came to his defense, saying the “nonthreatening remark” would hurt her son’s credibility. Yeah, that'll do it.

20 Suspended For Viewing Anti-Semitic Post

8. 20 Suspended For Viewing Anti-Semitic Post

Social network/Date: MySpace (March 3, 2006)

A student over at TeWinkle Middle School in California was threatened with expulsion and given a suspension for posting anti-Semantic comments against a classmate on MySpace. The unnamed assailant created a social group named “I hate [girl’s name],” which was followed by a derogatory slur. Twenty of his classmates were then suspended for viewing the post as well. No word on whether the group actually posted remarks or simply viewed the post.

HitlersBack

7. #HitlersBack

Social network/Date: Twitter (April 5, 2012)

Two teens served a three-day suspension for tweeting threats and making obscene comments about the teaching staff at Forestview high school. The following remark was aimed at the school's principle: “I’d rather be in a concentration camp then in Forestview high school. we’re under Hitler #2! #HitlersBack."

NCAA Athlete Gets Racial

6. NCAA Athlete Gets Racial

Social network/Date: Twitter (Dec. 12, 2011)

Lehigh Mountain Hawks wide receiver Ryan Spadola should have focused on the next round instead of mouthing off about his opponents via Twitter. The All American was suspended from his upcoming game for retweeting a message from his high school teammate which included the word "nigga". Officials couldn't tell if Spadola's former teammate was black or if the term had been used in a derogatory way. Either way, Spandola took the heat.

"I Need Pussy"

5. "I Need Pussy"

Social network/Date: Twitter (Jan. 20 2012)

It's pretty pathetic when you're informing the world of your inability to get laid. Enter high school football star Yuri Wright, who did just that and went AWOL in the process. The vulgar tweets led to his explusion from Don Bosco Prep High School. Coach Greg Toal informed ESPNNewYork.com why Wright had been expelled: “He was expelled from the school for the things he had written on Twitter. It was pretty simple really, what he wrote were some graphic sex things. This is a Catholic school, things like that cannot happen. It was totally inappropriate.”

The Pedophile

4. The Pedophile

Social network/Date: Facebook (March 4, 2011)

Three teens took their sense of humor a little too far after creating a Facebook page calling their teacher a pedophile. The page featured the instructor's last name and face, naming him as a member of a the North American Man/Boy Love Association—an organization supporting sex between men and boys. Once Taylor High School issued 90-day suspensions to the trio, their parents filed a federal lawsuit against the Three Rivers School District. Good luck winning that case.

Incoherent Update

3. Incoherent Update

Social network/Date: Facebook (Nov. 7, 2011)

Michelle Edwards took offensive to her teacher’s “incoherent” remark in regards to a report she wrote, writing a post on FB suggesting someone let off a round in her educator's grill. “I say we shoot our English teacher in the face. But then again we might not be able to carry that out since we’re so incoherent,” Edwards wrote. The straight “A” student served 13 days of suspension and was under review for possible expulsion.

Imprisoned For Racist Tweets

2. Imprisoned For Racist Tweets

Social network/Date: Twitter (March 27, 2012)

Swansea University student Liam Stacey drank himself into a stupor and sent out several heinous tweets targeting soccer player Fabrice Muamba, who collapsed on the field and was sent to an intensive care unit at a London hospital. How brutal were the tweets? Let's see: ”LOL, [expletive deleted] Muamba he’s dead !!! #haha." British commentator Stan Collymore, along with several other Twitterers passed the tweet onto the police. The Po-Po scooped Stacey and brought him in, with the judge imposing an immediate jail term. Oh yeah, the college also suspended him for his actions.

Osama Wanted For Math Teacher Hit

1. Osama Wanted For Math Teacher Hit

Social network/Date: May 18, 2011

Middle schooler Shayne Dell'isola thought it wise to go on Facebook and wish that Osama bin Laden would kill her math teacher. Not the wisest remark to make on a social media network. Needless to say, Dell’isola was reprimanded with a five-day suspension, leaving her embarrassed and scared to return to school.