Conservatives on social media heckled and chased an Arizona mom off the internet in recent days after she publicly complained about her son’s high school pushing abstinence and anti-abortion education.
Suzanne Young briefly spoke to TPM on Monday about her decision to leave the internet, saying she tried to explain herself on social media to no avail.
“I spent the first two days explaining my position, but people were just woefully misunderstanding me,” she told TPM when reached by phone.
Troubles began for Young, who is a New York Times bestselling author, when she tweeted about the sticker Gilbert Public Schools made her teenage son place on the inside cover of his biology textbook.
The sticker said abstinence was “the most effective way to eliminate the potential for unwanted pregnancy” and urged students to talk to their parents about sex, contraceptives, abortion and more.
Local and national media, including liberal and conservative news sites, picked up Young’s story. Soon she was met with a torrent of criticism.
Here are a few examples:
@suzanne_young Please tell my 17 year old grandson who was placed for adoption that it would have been better if he was aborted. #Moron
— Maria M (@MariaM49148350) August 21, 2015
@suzanne_young and? I feel sorry for your son that he has you as a mother… hopefully the apple falls far from the tree…
— NewsTrend (@newstrendweebly) August 21, 2015
@suzanne_young would prefer abortion over adoption, apparently! pic.twitter.com/VyA9CNXyyr
— Palmetto Princess (@CarolinaQueen__) August 22, 2015
@suzanne_young why do you live in Arizona? Also, religion has nothing to do with the science that say’s it’s life. PP supporters can leave
— Kristen Swisher (@jonahbaby1) August 21, 2015
@PennyDreadful81 @suzanne_young she’s a liberal idiot.
— Zappin’ Liberals (@zappin_liberals) August 22, 2015
The former English teacher said she was worried about schools limiting their students’ knowledge.
“If we let school districts decide what information we can learn by putting stickers on it, we’re going to have problems,” Young told TPM on Monday. “People wanted to interpret it a certain way because wanted a villain and I became the villain.”
Deleting or deactivating most of her social media accounts became her best option, she said.
“You don’t realize four tweets can send some people into a rage,” she said.
