Student's Snow-Day Plea Triggers Online Furor

[Rhino]

Virginia Student's Snow-Day Plea Triggers Online Furor
Thursday, January 24, 2008

By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 23, 2008; Page A01

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. Through the ubiquity of Facebook and YouTube, the call has become a rallying cry for students' First Amendment rights, and it shows that the generation gap has become a technological chasm.

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....http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/22/AR2008012203660.html

[Air Force Guy]

Well, if the kid becomes guilty of inciting a riot...that's a chargeable offense.

[Rhino]

What riot, and how did he incite?

[Air Force Guy]

What riot, and how did he incite?You understand the word IF in my sentence?

When someone like that idjit at the UofF who was originally charged with inciting a riot for simply saying "Hey guys! They're arresting me! Help!"

It never did turn into a riot but the attempt at instigating a school insurrection--as one might argue that this kid was trying to do with the no-snow-day--has precedent for being enough to get you charged.

[Rhino]

You miss the point. Even if a riot had started, he didn't incite it. "Let them know what you think" is not inciting a riot.

[Air Force Guy]

You miss the point. Even if a riot had started, he didn't incite it. "Let them know what you think" is not inciting a riot.Neither is what the antagonist at the Kerry speech spouted as he was being dragged away.

That didn't stop him from being charged at the scene...and eventually being asked to leave the student body at the end of the semester.

[Rhino]

Asking a crowd to help you resist arrest could be seen that way, though they'd have a hard time proving it. Besides, the civil disobedience of Andrew Meyer does not even remotely compare to this story. And Meyer wasn't charged with inciting a riot anyway.

[Venus de Smilo]

This kid is a cocky little shi+head.

[Eagle1]

whats the deal with the freak out
all she had to do was delete the message
if you have that position and have a listed phone number you cannot expect to have no calls

[Venus de Smilo]

whats the deal with the freak out
all she had to do was delete the message
if you have that position and have a listed phone number you cannot expect to have no calls
If anyone should have called, it should have been the kid's parents, not he. I think the response was over the top but for the kid to then put the audio on the internet sites with the sup's address and phone number is an outrage. It was just plain vicious and vengeful and he needs to have his butt warmed.

And if he's got a 1A right to publish what he wishes, say what he wishes and call whom he wishes when he wishes over anything he wishes, then so does the sup's wife.

Having a listed phone number isn't an invitation to every whining punk to call adults and question their decisions about snow days or anything else. And we don't know what the kid said in the message he left anyway. He was totally out of line to be calling in the first place.

These passages in the story show the audacity and arrogance of these brats:

"One Oakton High School student said in a posting yesterday that the crank calls to the Tistadts' home were out of line but that Kori's call was appropriate. "I am not happy that [Dean Tistadt] gambled multiple times with our safety just so we might have a bit more knowledge crammed in our heads at school," he wrote. A Westfield High School (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Westfield+High+School?tid=informline) student agreed: "thank God someone stood up for us at last!"

-----If they were really in danger, their parents would have called the school administration about it or kept their kid home in spite of a snow day not being called.

"Some were just as adamant the other way. A student from James Madison High School in Vienna (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Vienna?tid=informline) wrote: "It's called a home phone number for a reason. My dad is a physician and I can't tell you how irritating it is to get calls at all hours of the night from people who think they are entitled to immediate attention . . . leave the poor guy alone."

-----I'm glad to see at least one kid with some manners and respect.

"Kori, a member of the Lake Braddock (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Lake+Braddock?tid=informline) debate team who said his grade-point average is 3.977, said his message was not intended to harass. He said that he tried unsuccessfully to contact Dean Tistadt at work and that he thought he had a basic right to petition a public official for more information about a decision that affected him and his classmates."

-----So, he's on the debate team and it's gone to his head. He wanted to argue with the administration because he, a 17 year-old, either disagreed, didn't want to go to school, or was just looking for a way to assert himself/stir the pot. He also apparently thinks his GPA gives him carte blanche to be an asshole. If the snow was a real concern, why didn't he ask his parents about it or write the sup a letter or send an email? And "petition a public official for more information about a decision" sounds like tongue-in-cheek code for being a deliberate pain in the ass.

"He said he was exercising freedom of speech in posting a Facebook page. The differing interpretations of his actions probably stem from "a generation gap," he said."

-----How arrogant. This is no different from the lefties hiding their perversions behind the 1A or the Islamofascist terrorists using our laws against us. Different content, same rationale.

"People in my generation view privacy differently. We are the cellphone generation. We are used to being reached at all times," he said."

-----So, therefore, anyone not of his generation just needs to get used to it and do it his way, the way of a 17 year-old. And his argument isn't even logical. The fact that he used a cellphone is totally irrelevant. If he'd called over a landline and received the reply on an old-fashioned answering machine, there would be no difference. In fact, if he hadn't had a cellphone handy, he may have resisted the impulse to make a cocky little jackass out of himself by having the time to think his idea over. Very weak. No debate points for that one. Further, he should have been suspended for publishing the response and the address and phone # on the internet. Not punishing him just indulges him and therefore further encourages the behavior. Now he's loaded for bear, full of himself, and God only knows what his next BS activity will be. He can do no wrong, apparently.

He's a cocky, arrogant little prick and he needs to be taken down a peg - make that several pegs. The first thing to do is take away the cellphone.

[Eagle1]

you dont by chance happen to be a school administrator?

If anyone should have called, it should have been the kid's
parents, not he. I think the response was over the top but for the kid to then put the audio on the internet sites with the sup's address and phone number is an outrage. It was just plain vicious and vengeful and he needs to have his butt warmed.
Putting the audio online wasn't vengeful, it was harmless fun. The address and phone # are already available if someone has the desire to look.
And if he's got a 1A right to publish what he wishes, say what he wishes and call whom he wishes when he wishes over anything he wishes, then so does the sup's wife.
exatly, but that right doesn't mean that the kid cannot share what she said
Having a listed phone number isn't an invitation to every whining punk to call adults and question their decisions about snow days or anything else.
It is not an invitation, but it does happen. Anyone with a position of authority and a listed number should prepare for this. It doesn't make it right, but one call asking a question is not illegal.
-----If they were really in danger, their parents would have called the school administration about it or kept their kid home in spite of a snow day not being called.
Most likely there was no danger. That is not the point. Kids always bitch about having to go to school whether they like it or not. In my state the cold limit was a certain wind chill or if the deisel gels up.
"Some were just as adamant the other way. A student from James Madison High School in Vienna (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/related/topic/Vienna?tid=informline) wrote: "It's called a home phone number for a reason. My dad is a physician and I can't tell you how irritating it is to get calls at all hours of the night from people who think they are entitled to immediate attention . . . leave the poor guy alone."
-----I'm glad to see at least one kid with some manners and respect.
My father was an attorney. I can't tell you how many calls we got in the middle of the night from prison or during domestic violence. But this does not apply to this case. This also has nothing to do with manners or respect. Obviously if the kid respected the guy he would not have called.
-----If the snow was a real concern, why didn't he ask his parents about it or write the sup a letter or send an email? And "petition a public official for more information about a decision" sounds like tongue-in-cheek code for being a deliberate pain in the ass.
I think it is clear he was not concerned about the snow. He was being a pain in the ass. Thats what kids do.
"He said he was exercising freedom of speech in posting a Facebook page. The differing interpretations of his actions probably stem from "a generation gap," he said."
I buy this argument. He is using the 1A to excuse his rude behavior, but blame the parents for not teaching the kid some respect.
Further, he should have been suspended for publishing the response and the address and phone # on the internet.
That is overboard. If the guy's wife had acted like a responsible adult there would be no issue.

[DesertFox]

Nothing about this was harmless fun.

[Eagle1]

the kid thought he would be funny by calling
the wife blew up
the kid showed it to everyone

[Venus de Smilo]

you dont by chance happen to be a school administrator?


Putting the audio online wasn't vengeful, it was harmless fun. The address and phone # are already available if someone has the desire to look.

exatly, but that right doesn't mean that the kid cannot share what she said

It is not an invitation, but it does happen. Anyone with a position of authority and a listed number should prepare for this. It doesn't make it right, but one call asking a question is not illegal.

Most likely there was no danger. That is not the point. Kids always bitch about having to go to school whether they like it or not. In my state the cold limit was a certain wind chill or if the deisel gels up.

My father was an attorney. I can't tell you how many calls we got in the middle of the night from prison or during domestic violence. But this does not apply to this case. This also has nothing to do with manners or respect. Obviously if the kid respected the guy he would not have called.

I think it is clear he was not concerned about the snow. He was being a pain in the ass. Thats what kids do.

I buy this argument. He is using the 1A to excuse his rude behavior, but blame the parents for not teaching the kid some respect.

That is overboard. If the guy's wife had acted like a responsible adult there would be no issue.
There's is no way on God's green earth that I would be a school administrator. I think it's more likely that you're a school administrator. They seem to be full of people who are regularly unable to see what these little shi+heads are up to.

Putting the address and phone # online was a deliberate ploy to get some harassment going against them. It wasn't harmless, but I'm sure it was fun - for the punk.

The punk knew exactly what he was doing. His parents apparently condone it. Maybe someone should put their address and phone number on the internet and see how they like it.

As to your last statement, adults are allowed to occasionally blow their stack when a kid is being a cocky, provocative jerk. I think the admin's wife handled it wrong. She should have called the punk's parents and unloaded on them instead. Nevertheless, the internet publication of address and phone # was downright vicious in a "Ha-ha, look what I can do to you! I win! Ha-ha! Gotcha!!" way.

The kid had no business calling in the first place. His objective was to provoke. He got what he was after and then used it to make himself look and feel powerful by setting the admi and his wife up for harassment. He shouldn't be allowed to get away with it.

[CzechPrince]

I live in Fairfax county, which is why I find this more amusing. I know when we got the big snow here a week or two ago they did cancel local schools (of course, I didn't get off so easily :P)


I don't think the kid was trying to be malicious in what he did.

[Incident_command]

He knew what he was doing. Kids a punk.

[Air Force Guy]

Asking a crowd to help you resist arrest could be seen that way, though they'd have a hard time proving it. Besides, the civil disobedience of Andrew Meyer does not even remotely compare to this story. And Meyer wasn't charged with inciting a riot anyway.Meyer asked the female arresting officer, "What am I being charged with?" "...inciting a riot," she replied.

Quoted from the widely released video of his arrest and detention.

[Rhino]

He wasn't charged with inciting a riot. He was charged with resisting and disturbing the peace. And again, that does not compare to this story.