TV Reporter: Sachem Students Bullied Me on Twitter Over Scavenger Hunt Story

WABC Eyewitness News reporter Kristin Thorne says she was bullied on social media by Sachem East students as she was reporting on the controversial senior class scavenger hunt.

“Today I got a very good taste of what it’s like to be bullied in high school via social media and do I feel bad for kids,” the Emmy Award-winner reporter wrote on her Facebook page Tuesday evening. “A bunch of students at Sachem East High School were not too happy with my story. The things they’ve written about me on Twitter are disgusting.”

More on Patch:

• Sachem East Senior Scavenger Hunt List Shocks Community
• Vandals Damage Graves of Civil War Solidiers at Lake Ronkonkoma Cemetery

Thorne had reached out to East students on Twitter regarding the scavenger hunt list (read it here) and while most of the replies were from students defending their school and urging coverage of the positive things happening at the school, several tweets make clear sexually references toward Thorne, one of them reading “DM me nudes and I’ll tell you everything.” “DM” refers to a private direct message on Twitter.

“Thank goodness I’m older and wiser and can laugh at it but it makes you think if they have no respect for people older than them what they treat their peers like,” Thorne wrote on Facebook. “So much for all this anti-bullying stuff. It’s a scary world and I’m sad that my kids have to live in it.”

Several members of the Sachem community, however, took issue with Thorne contacting students via Twitter.

“I saw her tweeting at children, following them on Twitter then asking for them to follow her back so she can message them privately,” Sachem North teacher Jonathan Chiaramonte commented on Thorne’s Facebook post. “That is highly inappropriate.”

What’s your take? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Have positive Sachem school news you want to share? Find out how here.

Check us out on Facebook