Posted on 01/23/2008 6:51:55 AM PST by wintertime
Snow days, kids and school officials have always been a delicate mix.
But a phone call to a Fairfax County public school administrator's home last week about a snow day -- or lack of one -- has taken on a life of its own.
(snip)
It started with Thursday's snowfall, estimated at about three inches near Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke. On his lunch break, Lake Braddock senior Devraj "Dave" S. Kori, 17, used a listed home phone number to call Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer for the county system, to ask why he had not closed the schools. Kori left his name and phone number and got a message later in the day from Tistadt's wife.
"How dare you call us at home! If you have a problem with going to school, you do not call somebody's house and complain about it," Candy Tistadt's minute-long message began. At one point, she uttered the phrase "snotty-nosed little brats," and near the end, she said, "Get over it, kid, and go to school!"
Not so long ago, that might have been the end of it -- a few choice words by an agitated administrator (or spouse). But with the frenetic pace of students' online networking, it's harder for grown-ups to have the last word. Kori's call and Tistadt's response sparked online debate among area students about whether the student's actions constituted harassment and whether the response was warranted.
Kori took Tistadt's message, left on his cellphone, and posted an audio link on a Facebook page he had created after he got home from school called "Let them know what you think about schools not being cancelled." The Web page listed Dean Tistadt's work and home numbers.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
The world rewards attention whores.
I'm not excusing the stupidity of the superintendent's wife, but this kid is clearly just an idiot looking for an opportunity to draw attention to himself.
Liability, liability, liability. Imagine a crashed elementary school bus. Or a high schooler, under mandatory attendance laws, skidding on ice and running his car into a tree.
What do you expect is going to happen when you post an irate message on someone’s voicemail.
It is interesting to think what the leader’s wife thinks of the school’s students.
He was a public figure and got a call....public figures are open to contact by the public.
Now, should he have called him at home? I would not have, and it was a bit tacky. But, she really went over the line.
It could have been dealt with by having the principal talk to the student.
Around here, it is the neighborhood streets which are last to be cleared. Our area is pretty quick to cancel school because the southern portion of our county is rural.
This used to aggravate me, until I learned that they've got district employees out driving around at 4:00am checking out road conditions and reporting back. They go to a bit more trouble than just listening to what the weatherman says, and are practically guaranteed to irritate half of the population.
Not a job I'd want, frankly.
Quote from article:
"People in my generation view privacy differently. We are the cellphone generation. We are used to being reached at all times," he said.Kori explained his perspective in an e-mail yesterday to Fairfax County schools spokesman Paul Regnier. Regnier said, also in an e-mail, that Kori's decision to place the phone call to the Tistadts' home was more likely the result of a "civility gap."
"It's really an issue of kids learning what is acceptable and not acceptable. Any call to a public servant's house is harassment," Regnier said in an interview.
Yeah, the "harassment" comment is out of line, but he's right about where a line of acceptability should be drawn. This is all about lack of courtesy... along with lack of backbone (Three inches of snow and this kid wants the world to stop? What a rude awakening he's in for once he has to leave the confines of school.).
You don't expect it to be posted on facebook, that's for sure.
You don't? In this day and age, everything you do can wind up on the Internet. If the woman stopped for a moment, she probably would have thought better of what she was doing. But she didn't, and now she's got her 15 minutes of fame.
He called and simply inquired about why school was not cancelled.
She has not released a tape of him cursing or anything, which makes me think he was polite on the phone.
he was simply asking why......that is not quite complaining.
Just like every adult wants off work sometime...
ie....what is your point?
Perhaps he genuinely did want to know about the decision-making process.
AUDIO OF THE WITCH’S PHONE CALL TO DAVE KORI:
http://dcist.com/2008/01/23/fairfax_county.php
http://www.630wmal.com/Article.asp?id=556154&spid=
Not in the 21st century.....anything can be gone digital, and people should think that way.
What I found is that Buffalo knows how to handle snow. The reason why school can stay operating even with several of snow is because Buffalo has a massive fleet of snow-plows that treats the roads. Alexandria, VA almost certainly doesn't have that.
Do we know what he said, or how he said it? Do we know if he's called them in the past, on similar or different topics?
Are you assuming that, or have you got something showing what he actually said, and how he said it?
The kid was completely out of line. Wife didn’t handle too well, but we don’t know what other calls she’s taken over time. Th;ey might want to look into an unlisted home phone. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to return the snot-nosed kid’s call ;)
My kids went to Fairfax County Public Schools, and snow closings (or not) have always been a no-win situation. As I recall, last week’s snow started well after the high school kids were already at the schools. Their buses pick them up around 6:30am.
Misunderstood. Sorry.
We do not have a transcript anywhere of Dave’s call to the school official’s home.
While I appreciate the First Amendment as much as anybody, to claim that getting rid of it is a "sin against God" is going a little bit over the edge. To prove my point, suppose we consider how the First Amendment squares with the Ten Commandments:
Commandment One -- "I am the LORD thy God; thou shalt have no other gods before me". -- This is not entirely in keeping with the whole Establishment Clause part of the First Amendment, but since the First Amendment is a restriction on the federal government, it doesn't really matter what congress or the state does as the First Commandment deals with individual responsibility before God.
Commandment Two: Thou shalt not make for thyself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. Thou shalt not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God... -- Same as commandment one in regard to the first amendment.
Commandment Three: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who takes His name in vain. -- One might properly view this as a Divine restriction on the unfettered exercise of Free Speech and Freedom of Association. It would appear that the Almighty is reserving to himself a right that the First Amendment denies to our governmental authorities.
Commandment Nine: Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. -- A direct prohibition against lying is a restriction on the freedom of speech.
Given that four of the Ten Commandments definitely restrict the rights specifically enumerated in the First Amendment, your contention that "to get rid of the First Amendment is a sin against God" appears to be suspect at best.
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