In light of the recent incident, local high schools are now taking a look at their policies regarding the use of social media. I assume the suspension had to do more with the use of profanity than her questioning the WIAA logic. She had accompanied it with her uncensored invitation to “EAT S_IT WIAA”.
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The Star Tribune stated that Gehl, “was suspended for five games for tweeting her criticism of (the WIAA)”.
Some have wondered why the WIAA would be involved at all. This to me was more of a general response to an organization per se, not an individual.
But in an email sent to schools last month, the WIAA is reminding schools of their sportsmanship policy in an effort to curb jeers like “air ball” and “scoreboard” at high school events. “For tweeting my opinion?’ I thought it was ridiculous”. Absolutely. But I’m also absolutely fine with the school following their Handbook and providing the suspension it called for.
“Because let’s be clear: the tweet was inappropriate, and deserved to be addressed”, Wilson wrote.
In fact, myself, WSN, and other WisSports.net staff have been the recipients of numerous rude, vulgar, and disrespectful comments. I chose the latter, and I am glad I did, because it changed my life.
Fans say they’ll continue to have fun, and push their team during every game. And I’m definitely not taunting them. Critics say the cheers are mostly harmless.
“It helps point student cheering sections in a way they can have fun and be positive at the same time”, Johnson said. To clearly lay out expectations and consequences.
What’s worse is that media entities with the reach of Sports Illustrated and ESPN are continuing to perpetuate a narrative based on poor information and promoting poor behavior. “I want the students to represent Rhinelander-the students, the school and the community, well”. So far, students have not reacted kindly to the news.
And that’s the point: For those actually enforcing the WIAA sportsmanship guidelines, Clark’s email – which was apparently an attempt to make sure the crowds at holiday tournaments remained civil – wasn’t the apocalyptic news that social media turned it into. Even if Foursquare and Facebook finally figured out that granting such risky apps access to their API can potentially lead to rapes and kidnappings, when one app gets cut off, two more will likely pop up to try and take it’s place.
The WIAA does have a sportsmanship committee that reviews these policies, and has done so for several years. They have left that up to the discretion of the member schools. But, these guidelines are not so much about sportsmanship as they are about political correctness.
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Becker added, “My main concern is how the WIAA will choose to respond to complaints about member schools from parents of opposing schools”.
