The School Newspaper of Lawrence High School.

The Budget

The School Newspaper of Lawrence High School.

The Budget

The School Newspaper of Lawrence High School.

The Budget

Trouble in the twittersphere

Getting your built-up anger out
over the internet may not be such
a good idea after all. Who would’ve
guessed?
As social media sites like Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram become
a big part of life, steps are being taken
to keep the negative products of these
sites from becoming a problem — specifically
when it comes to high school
sports.
“It was two years ago,” senior
Amanda Montgomery, a varsity softball
player, said. “A girl got in trouble for
posting stuff on Twitter. She posted
pictures of her smoking and drinking
[and was] suspended from the team for
a couple games.”
District guidelines now hold student
athletes to a higher standard for
what they post online.
“Inappropriate use of social media
may jeopardize an athlete’s good
standing with their team and, therefore,
be cause for disciplinary action
up to and including removal from the
team,” Ron May, director of administrative
services for USD 497, said.
While these guidelines have been
in place for more than a year now,
many high school athletes were not
aware of them.
“I just found out about it a week
ago,” senior Kyle
Wittman, a varsity
football player, said.
“The coaches haven’t
told us anything
about it. I really think
[they] should’ve
brought it up.”
The LHS football
team hasn’t had a
problem with its
players getting into
trouble with social
media sites, but the
team has experienced
members of another school’s team
posting threatening words on Twitter.
“I know for a fact that a couple of
schools last year called out some of
our players,” Wittman said.
Last year, an opposing team posted
tweets with hashtags containing direct
threats toward some of LHS’ players.
One of these guidelines’ purposes is to
ensure that LHS does not do the same.
Any student athletes who step outside
the line are putting their high school
sports careers on the line.
“When it comes to that stuff, [the
coaches just tell us to] stay away from
social media,” Wittman said.
The
girls
basketball
team
coaches
have approached
the
problem
a little differently.
“[We]
try to
make our
student
athletes aware that they have to be
careful of what they’re putting out
there,” head coach Nick Wood said.
The basketball coaches are concerned
about the consequences misusing
social media can have on their players
later in life. To make monitoring the
players’ online activities easier, a twitter
account called @ladylionbball has
been set up. Twitter is the main the site
where inappropriate posts occur and
are seen.
Each of the student athletes are
told to follow the page. Wood and the
other coaches do not constantly check
their players Twitter sites. If a negative
situation arises, the Twitter account
allows the coaches to trace back where
the problem began and use that to
solve the issue quicker. The goal is to
resolve the issues before it gets to the
point where a suspension or removal
from the team becomes necessary,
Wood said.
Personal disputes with team members
or other teams are not the only
posts players have to worry about. If a
student athlete posts a picture involving
drugs or alcohol, or references
them in a text post, repercussions
could be even worse than a personal
dispute.
“You’re representing yourself,
you’re representing your team, you’re
representing your family and this
community,” Wood said. “When you
decide to be a part of a sports team
here, whether they like it or not or realize
it or not, there’s a big responsibility
that comes with that. And part of that
is being responsible through social
media.”

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

All The Budget Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest