Former School Employee Denies Charges Of Cyber-Shaming For Correcting Student On Twitter
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Katie Nash, a former employee of the Frederick County Public School System in Maryland, says she was not trying to cyber-shame a student when she corrected his spelling on Twitter, which later led to her firing when the social media interaction went viral.
Nash, the Web Experience Coordinator for the district, told Rich Zeoli on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT that her response was one of many with students over the course of a few hours, and, otherwise, not very noteworthy, until it began to pick up steam online.
"It's a relatively big district, so we're getting a lot of tweets. I had been responding to students since I got there and really hadn't thought too much about it and didn't think I was being all that funny, to be honest with you, but, just in the course of business, so yeah, it didn't take long. When it started to go viral, I ran up and told my boss, hey, just want to let you know, this is going. This is picking up steam. If you're a social media manager, that's what you're trying to do. I didn't think I was going to get in trouble for it, just wanted him to be aware. I was a relatively new employee, so, hey, FYI. That was Thursday, and by the next Friday I was gone."
She said the student was not offended and understood she was trying to have fun with him.
"Maybe our school system didn't really want me to engage and so there was a little bit of outcry that I was cyber-shaming, that I was bullying the kid. The student, himself, at no point felt bullied. Right away, he was laughing and he said I don't take it personally and it's funny. His dad even reached out to me and said don't worry about it. So, it's important to know that the student, himself, and all the other students, nobody had any feedback that she's being really or she's trying to hurt this kid's feelings."
Nash said she is not dwelling on the incident and does not want it to become a stain on the school district her children reside in.
"Bad things happen. When you're a student, the world is rosy and rainbow and nothing's happened yet. When you're an adult things happen. They don't have to be fair but you've got to pick up and keep going. So, I've tried to be positive. I love our school system. I'm a PTA president. I've got my kids in the system. I don't want to take away from what the overall system does. I think you've got a few bad actors doing some stuff in central office and it doesn't need to be that big. I think they thought, if we fire her, then things will just quiet down and it's had the opposite effect."