Is this the way we want to live?
Is this what our children have learned from us? Take a look at this Twitter thread we’ve copied and see just what we look like.
— UPDATE: The images of the tweets have been removed.
Take a look in this mirror, and see these responses to your school superintendent’s announcement that school would proceed on a normal schedule. We’re not talking about whether the decision was right or good or even wise or unwise — we just want you to see what the (admittedly unrepresentative) sample of town residents, mostly parents and students, look like. We’ll have more to say about this later, but frankly, right now we’re just exhausted and depressed looking at this rude, disgusting and mostly ignorant yawping.
— See: Brenner to School Community: Sorry, I Should Have Delayed School [UPDATE: Vilification on Twitter] (April 2)
Those who responded in a civil manner to Brennan’s tweet should give anyone reading this some cause for hope, but for the most part, the people tweeting here behaved abominably. Anger certainly explains some of this, and there was certainly a wide range of offensiveness, from mild to terrible — but don’t discount ongoing barbaric stupidity among some:
[Incidentally, some people whose tweets appear here may object that Darienite.com doesn’t have permission to republish their garbage. Actually, we do. As a news publication, we even have the right, as established by legal precedent, to publish copyrighted photos for a short time. We expect to keep this article up for two or three days and then remove the images. As a service to the town as a whole, we need to show it what some of these vocal residents look like on Twitter. Sometimes it’s hard for loudmouths to realize how bad they look until others see it and speak up. We’re hoping that’s what happens. The first step is for others to know it exists.]
From Superintendent Dan Brenner's Twitter account
Superintendent Dan Brenner’s 5:17 a.m. tweet.
- — UPDATE: The images of the tweeted replies were here.
Editor’s note: We know we’re going to get some criticism for posting this. One objection is that it shouldn’t be news to anyone that Twitter can be foul. But if we ignore this kind of bad behavior in our own community, we encourage people to think that we don’t care, and that the behavior is just fine or not very objectionable. The people who posted nasty comments should reflect on their behavior, and parents should tell their children that it’s wrong. Children need to know that others object. Adults even need to know it. Second, some will object that we shouldn’t point out something that makes Darien look so ugly. We think there’s more benefit to be gained by showing it. Third, some will object that we shouldn’t repeat the abuse that’s being heaped upon our superintendent. Well, it is uncomfortable for anyone to see it again, but he’s a public official who is familiar with bad behavior from children and their parents, so we don’t think it will cause major trauma. Fourth, some will say that these comments were made in the heat of the moment. We note that these Twitter users had hours to remove their intemperate posts. Fifth, some will object that we’re being too harsh on children by showing the town their public tweets. We won’t even dignify that with a response.
— David Gurliacci