Social Media, Education and the Intersection of Both; or Trolling My Dad's Cyberbullies

Last week, my dad was venting to me about the difficulties around his school board campaign. Local politics isn’t any less vicious than statewide or national politics. My dad had been on the school board in Dripping Springs for almost ten years— he’d seen more than his fair share of confused and frustrated parents before.

But this election cycle has been particularly vicious. His opponents seemed to have initiated a loosely organized smear campaign against him, releasing a website detailing a whole lot of nonsense– none of which actually having anything to do with education.

My dad isn’t benefiting anybody by running, least of whomst himself. He’s really only running to protect the schools from the conservative crusade against education-- his opponent, Tricia Quintero has led a surprisingly partisan campaign focused on keeping taxes low– and resorting to spreading false and defamatory information about Rojo.

Cyberbullying is defined by these behaviors:

• Offensive name-calling

• Spreading of false rumors about them

• Receiving explicit images they didn’t ask for

• Physical threats

• Constantly being asked where they are, what they’re doing, or who they’re with by someone other than a parent

• Having explicit images of them shared without their consent

When you google cyberbullying statistics, many of the results are about the effects of such on children and teenagers, but as private Facebook groups such as Dripping Springs Neighbors can confirm, online abuse knows no bounds in terms of age. 

The supporters of my dad’s opponents seem to have adopted this approach in the days preceding the election, resorting to name calling, spreading mis-information, and false accusations.

All of this, despite the dismay, is still providing some humor for my family. I would describe my parents as ‘progressive conservatives’. And they met at a Republican rally! For a faction of conservatives to be attacking my dad and my family is surely an ironic turn. 

So why are these trolls pestering my dad?

Dripping Springs is a rapidly growing area-- any infrastructure you can think of is struggling to keep up with the population boom. From dwindling water supply, to overcrowded county jails (Hays Co spends over $100,000 a WEEK transporting inmates to (privately funded) holding facilities as far as the Panhandle) to the internet speeds.

The cost of living in Dripping Springs is above average for a city of it's size, and difficult to afford on a teacher's salary. In an effort to keep teachers in the classrooms, my dad had to have some uncomfortable conversations about funds, and, well I guess some folks didn't like it.

That, and-- years ago, there was a trans third grader who wanted to use the bathroom, and there was another girl who was upset about it. The principal of the school allowed the trans child to use the bathroom they were comfortable with, and parents went insane. Considering this issue has nothing to do with education, the board followed policy:

From the Texas Tribune article linked above:

At an interview before Monday night's meeting, Dripping Springs ISD Superintendent Bruce Gearing said the district's code of conduct operates under a nondiscrimination policy. 

"The policy says that we shall not discriminate against any child for any reason stated in the policy" Gearing said. "I feel confident we are making the best decisions in the best interest of individual children in individual circumstances. We accommodate students on a daily basis for lots of different issues."

My dad volunteered to run for that position to improve education, not make decisions about who can use what bathroom. His biggest point, to paraphrase, was that when the school board takes on an issue like trans folks in the bathroom, the board has to hire lawyers. And that money can no longer go to textbooks, learning aids or actual measures to improve safety.

For a quick aside-- because, again, this has nothing to do with educating children, the argument that keeping trans people from using the bathroom they’d find convenient is keeping bathrooms safer is clearly a lie people tell themselves to cover up whatever prejudices they hold.

Women have enough legitimate impediments on their safety and personal liberties to worry about. It’s irresponsible to give young girls a false threat. Statistically, you’re more likely to be assaulted by someone of the corresponding “biological” gender of the bathroom you’re in. 

I may not understand trans people, but that’s doesn’t mean I don’t try to treat them like Jesus would want me to.

If you're scared to use the bathroom, the American legacy of independence and personal liberty indicates that you should find a special bathroom to go in, fucking snowflake.

PHEW. So who is behind this political cyberbullying campaign?

Tricia Quintero is endorsed by republican state rep Carrie Isaac and vehemently opposed a much needed bond to address growth in the school district.

Tricia’s husband is a policy director for a conservative “think” tank focused on “eliminating ISD M&O property taxes and rein in local spending: by continuing to buy down (wtf?) our school district maintenance and operating property tax rates, policymakers can put Texas on a pathway to eliminate property taxes.”

way to come out and say it, man.

Republicans, in their enduring jihad against education, have been pushing for school vouchers. This program intends to redistribute funds from public schools to families to be able to select a private school. In states where this system has been in place, 60-70% of the funds go to families who could have already afforded private school. People are calling it “school choice” to make it seem like it gives parents the option to pick a (private/charter) school appropriate for their children– but what if the school doesn’t pick them back? 

What if the private schools in a particular geographic area are more difficult to get into academically? What about special needs kids?

(The voucher program could also have a negative impact on the Teacher Retirement System.)

Texas public school funding currently ranks among the lowest in the nation, while also having one of the highest GDPs– I guess bad education is good for the Republican party?

What I read from Tricia and Olivia’s campaigns is lukewarm sweet nothings about education, but an emphasis on taxes. What’s most disturbing to me is the bi-partisan approach to a local school board election. If you really care about education, wouldn’t you keep politics out of it?

~~~

My dad has confided in me about the vitriol before, but last week was the first time he’d asked me to take a look, and gently encouraged me to get involved. 

At this point, I can’t remember if he outright asked me to intervene. It kind of felt like it, but a soft ask. Subtle, gentle encouragement. Historically, when my parents recognized a skill of mine, they would enthusiastically support whatever it was. They want to see me succeed, but at times I felt overwhelmed by the pressure of the encouragement. This time, I didn't feel any pressure, just curiosity and openness.

Meanwhile, personally, I’ve been reflecting on how to express more complicated and negative emotions. For so long, I would just absorb them, but recently, I’ve been experimenting with letting them out in creative ways.

Having been the unfortunate victim of my spicy verbiage, I think my dad has an understanding of the power my words wield (I’m not perfect, and neither is he. It's healthy!). He didn’t want to say, “release the kraken” but there was a part of him that knew that’s what would happen.

So I found the posts he’d referenced, held my breath, and submerged into the comments.

Engaging with the trolls, participating in spreading negativity hasn’t appealed to me for as long as I’ve had access to the internet. Early on, from experience with troll-like behavior in real life, I’d realized that they thrive merely on the attention, and will pursue it with grotesque desperation. 

This time, though, as my eyes consumed the salty words being spoken against my family, I noticed my thirst for vengeance stirring. My thumb caressed my smudged screen tantalizingly, names became recognizable from previous ventings, vapid utterances from propagandized people swirling up and down. 

After pointing out the poor sportsmanship of my dad’s opponents, and sharing some gentler thoughts on how we conduct ourselves on the internet, I quickly found my internet adversaries to have an abundance of time but a frustrating dearth of sense or critical thinking skills.

Long ago, a wise man once told me, “you can’t talk sense to people who ain’t got none.”

My throat gurgled with acid reflux from the content I was consuming, and the idea that I was engaging with it, but my heart was soaring, pumping with the power of a jet engine, spewing exhaust fumes rife with words that could melt steel beams.

At first, the words carefully trickled from my thumbs. But after the second or third response, my heart rate increased, cortisol and dopamine surging through my veins, my phone almost had to say our safe word for the enthusiasm of my prodding.

The ignorance and entitlement that I was facing deserved no respect, kind words wouldn’t be welcomed or understood anyway, and I proceeded to lay verbal waste.

My observations were met with responses that would be reworded post-hoc, statements walked back, the trolls began to deny their own accountability and staying power of their words. I felt like a D1 athlete dunking on 12-year-olds. It felt a little gross, but I was enjoying it in a macabre way. 

Eventually, most of our conversations would be removed. I’m not sure if by the moderators or by the posters themselves, but if a win could be found in the comment section of Mark Zuckerberg’s internet, I think I caught just the faintest whiff.

When Jesus overthrew the merchants tables in the temple in Matthew 21, he commuted an act of violence to defend the idea of the sacred. Isn’t educating our children sacred? It’s probably all we have, exisentially speaking. Isn’t that worth lobbing a few not-niceties over?

That’s not to say that any of this was enjoyable enough to want to do again. As cathartic as it was to reflect The Karen’s behavior back to them, I don’t think very much learning happens in the comments section, for anybody.

One idea I got out of the experience was that if Mark Zuckerberg's internet is going to offer verification style labels next to people's names like 'top commenter' and 'top contributor', they should also post their reading level. (Carrie Isaac must know her supporters are illiterate if her website's content is mostly videos, right?)