17-Year-Old Gets Suspended From High School Over A Single Tweet

#1 What you say on social media can get you in a ton of trouble. Just ask recent high school grad Leonard Semma.

And although he's a proud grad now, Semma wasn't always a shining example of academic excellence. He recalls the time he was suspended from high school for his "greatest achievement" to date.

#2

Here's the story behind the legendary tweet. It was last January. Michigan. Snow covered much of the state, which tends to happen to Michigan a lot. Superintendent of Walled Lake School District, Kenneth Gutman, sent out an apology "for the parking lots not being plowed."

#3

The morning he sent out the fateful tweet, Semma wasn't feeling so hot. He was dropped off at school and slipped on the ice that had accumulated in the parking lot and bumped his head. Which sucks.

#4

Turns out that Semma wasn't the only one who had parking lot troubles: some of his other friends were nearly hit by drivers. Again, not cool.

#5

#6

He, along with other students were kinda pissed off, and understandably so. So when he saw the superintendent's tweet, he decided to respond with one of his own - and thus, a legend was born.

#7

An hour after sending the tweet, Semma was called into the main office where he met with the Principal, who was confused as to why Semma, a good student, would tweet such a thing.

So he was handed a three day suspension - right smack dab in the middle of finals week.

#8

For his brash tweet, Semma was forced to write a letter of apology to the Superintendent just so he could take his final exams. The best part though, was that his parents "laughed at the tweet and called Kenneth many names" Semma said in an interview with BuzzFeed.

The Walled Lake Schools District's "Student Code Of Conduct" book does stipulate that the use of profanity can result in a suspension.

#9

Semma had deleted his original tweet, but his throwback one received over 60,000 retweets and 129,000 likes. Even better: people are carrying on his legacy by tweeting the exact same message to superintendent Kenneth Gutman.

#10

Semma said that he never thought his tweet would get the attention it did as he was just voicing his frustration.

Then again, heroes rarely know when they're being heroic: they just are.