Schools

APS to Students: Stop Being Mean to Us on Twitter

By ARLnow.com

Arlington Public Schools tweetArlington Public Schools wants students to stop launching expletive-filled tirades at its Twitter account.

Yesterday @APSVirginia tweeted a “friendly reminder” for those mentioning it in tweets to “be respectful.”

“We remove followers who don’t,” the school system said. “Our technology policies apply in the Twitterverse.”

Via email, school spokesman Frank Bellavia says the tweet was specifically aimed at students who have been complaining about snow cancellation and delay decisions.

“We have had a number of students use inappropriate language or make inappropriate comments on twitter over the last few weeks,” Bellavia said. “This is the second time we have posted this message asking students to be respectful on Twitter or we will block them.”

APS’ internet policy states that student and staff must be courteous, use appropriate language, must not harass or attack others, and must not “view, send, display, or use profanity, obscenities, sexually explicit, or offensive materials.”

Violations of the policy may result in school suspension, but so far APS has apparently just been blocking offenders.

Today, when APS decided on a two hour delay instead of a school cancellation — like Fairfax County Public Schools — students did not seem to heed the warning.

Student tweets at @APSVirginia 1/27/15

More tweets from this morning, after the jump.