The Twitter account @mhs_dish was the subject of controversy for the few days it existed, attracting the attention of many students.
One such student, Davin Green, junior, said she first discovered the account when she logged onto the site and saw it was one of her followers. Green said she looked at the account to see what it was and said she was a little shocked to see that it was focused on posting “gossip” about other MHS students. Green said at first the account didn’t seem so bad, but she un-followed it.
The next day at school Green said she heard people talking about the account and saw it had created more tweets.
“Each one was getting meaner,” Green said. “I thought it was going to escalate into hurting people, and it was damaging the school’s reputation.”
Green said the third night she saw the site up, she printed out every tweet and all of the account’s information. She then posted a status on Facebook that threatened to turn in the papers to Junior Principal Dr. Dan Ramsey if the creator of the account didn’t delete it.
“It was down by 8 p.m.,” Green said. “But I still turned the papers in to Dr. Ramsey.”
Dr. Ramsey declined to comment on the issue.
As president of the Junior Class, Green said she wanted it shut down because it created a negative impression in the community about MHS and Rockwood in general. Another reason she wanted the account shut down, Green said, was because it targeted some of her friends.
“You don’t let people talk about your friends like that,” Green said.
Green said the most important reason she wanted it taken down was because she didn’t want anyone to get hurt.
“I’ve been bullied before,” Green said. “There’s a line that you just don’t cross, and for me [@mhs_dish] crossed the line. It’s the type of thing that could lead to someone committing suicide.”
Green said she has received mixed responses for her role in shutting down the Twitter account. Some people have thanked her, Green said, but more people have accused her of being a “snitch” and have complained about wanting to see what else the account would post.
“I don’t care,” Green said. “[@mhs_dish] was posting a lot of personal information about people, and I wouldn’t want anything on there if it were me.”
Victoria Hieken, junior, was one of the first people the account posted about. Hieken did not have a Twitter account, but said she found out about @mhs_dish when some of her friends texted her what the account had posted.
However, Hieken said the post did not seriously hurt her feelings.
“I thought it was funny,” Hieken said.
Although Hieken took the post about her lightly, she said she thought the other posts the account created were very personal and serious.
Hieken said she had mixed emotions about the account being shut down.
“I kind of wish I could see what they were posting now, but it was getting way out of hand,” Hieken said. “I wasn’t too hurt by it, but I feel for the other people it talked about.”
Principal Dr. Greg Mathison did not speak specifically of the @mhs_dish incident, but he said the school’s policy is that if something outside of school, like a Twitter account, is causing a “significant disruption” at school, the school will take disciplinary action. Additionally, Dr. Mathison said if the action began at MHS then went onto the internet, the school would take disciplinary action.
However, if it does not take place on school grounds and does not cause a significant disruption, the school cannot discipline the students involved, Dr. Mathison said.
“If it is outside our realm of control, we encourage the parents and students involved to contact their local police departments,” Dr. Mathison said.
Dr. Mathison said oftentimes the administration will sit down with students and parents and try to mediate such a situation. He said the most important thing, regardless of any specific incident, is that people should not harass each other any time or any place.
“That’s just not how we treat people,” Dr. Mathison said.
Dr. Mathison said the district has taken a hard stance against cyber bullying, especially after the Megan Meier case a few years ago, in which a teenage girl committed suicide after being cyber bullied.
“We work to create a safe and orderly environment,” Dr. Mathison said. “No one deserves to be bullied or harassed inside or outside of school.”
