<p>Re post #18 My husband taught school for 30 years and we never lived in the neigborhood where he taught. He wanted to be able to sit on the deck and drink a beer without students gaping. And of course everytime we went to the liquor store we would run into parents and students.</p>
<p>It’s not a big deal.
If my teachers (or colleges, for that matter) saw my facebook… haha, thank god it’s private.</p>
<p>“Oh Noes! Our Teacherz and Docterz is drinking beerz on the interwebs!”</p>
<p>Son of Opie, I don’t think he was violating HIPPA rules. He was just plain stupid discussing things that should not have come out. It’s not just the teachers. The thing is, not everyone finds out that they missed out on something because of their on-line indiscretions. Many people when they discover info or behavior that they don’t like, just black ball the person if they are applying for something. You may not know how much damage you have done to yourself.</p>
<p>Well as for that student teacher: they denied her a teaching degree and a career, but did they give her back her tuition money? Doubt it!</p>
<p>Sigh. Yeah, teachers should be careful what they put online just like everyone else, but since when is a picture of an adult holding a bottle of tequila shocking and horrifying? It’s probably best for teachers to keep all their profiles friends-only anyway, but seriously, some of the stuff referenced in that article? Not a big deal. The case where someone was denied her teaching degree over the “drunken pirate” picture is especially ridiculous. Teachers are human, and sometimes they have a drink. If they’re over 21, why is it a big deal?</p>
<p>My girlfriend teaches high school, and so is absolutely paranoid about what shows up online about her–even though her facebook and Myspace are friends-only, she keeps them squeaky clean just in case. Better safe than sorry…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Teachers have real lives too you know.</p>
<p>So now students can find out about what teachers do out of school. I have had the luxury of having a teacher be the parent of a fellow debater from another school, such that when he was assigned to judge my school’s team (he was officially affliated only with his son’s team) he swore under his breath. It was sort of revealing. </p>
<p>The only danger it seems, is that well, by making teachers seem human, you break down their use of authority, if you know that teacher has a weak spot.</p>
<p>So a teacher makes a sex joke online – so what. Do you expect teachers to be sterile organisms? Must everything in their private lives be centred around teaching? They have a role to act in school, but they should not be penalised for actions outside of school, so long as reasonable precaution was taken. </p>
<p>Having to protect your personality from your students even in your private life is <em>not</em> reasonable.</p>
<p>for facebook, 2 words:</p>
<p>limited profile</p>
<p>Whoever is stupid enough to put his/her private stuff on FB or Myspace that can be used against them deserves no sympathy.</p>
<p>“Having to protect your personality from your students even in your private life is <em>not</em> reasonable.”</p>
<p>I think it’s completely reasonable. I don’t tell my boss what I do in my bedroom, I don’t post racy pictures of myself on my filing cabinet. I’m always very aware that ANYONE I meet could be a patient or a client. I’m aware when I post things on this forum that any one of you could walk up to me tomorrow and say ‘is that you posting on CC?’. </p>
<p>While I don’t “change” my personality, I definitely try to make sure that the things that I would not want my professional colleagues (or my children) to know are not on public display. I have some sympathy for those who <em>thought</em> they were only sharing their photos and stuff with friends, but for those who don’t give it a thought, that’s extremely naive and unprofessional.</p>
<p>My D is a teacher now and says her 8th graders are surprised that she won’t “friend” them. She’s their teacher, not their friend! </p>
<p>Kids have no idea of how public the internet really is and how something can come back to bite them years later. And as we used to teach kids “don’t talk to strangers,” now we have to teach them “don’t post private information in a public forum.”</p>
<p>I am not sure why a teacher would want to “friend” her students. There is an implicit responsibility for adults who see what kids are doing to take action if certain lines are crossed. These lines are crossed a lot on these forums. It can put a teacher in a quandry if s/he learns about situations or discussions as to when intervention is advised. If there is a bad outcome, and evidence that a teacher was aware of the situation and did not intervene in some way, the fall out can be deadly. Why on earth would anyone want to put himself in that situation? There is responsibility enough within the classroom/school setting. </p>
<p>I got onto one of my kid’s sites a few years back, and reported some potentially damaging situations to some parents. Most of them were not happy to be apprised. A few months later, one of the kids was kicked out of school with his facebook site part of the incriminating evidence. So even things considered serious are not well received by parents. Yet if a teacher does not step in, there are responsibility issues that arise, reasonable or not. I would not want to patrol a classroom of kids’ sites.</p>
<p>Just about anyone in a position of responsibility and contact with the public, be it a teacher or businessperson, is usually expected to maintain some standards of public behavior in order to not discredit their institution or affect relationships with clients, students, co-workers, etc.</p>
<p>Teachers, executives, etc. are free to engage in whatever legal private behavior they wish. When raunchy behavior occurs in public, and/or receives attention via the media or websites, it can be problematic.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>That’s why you hire a law firm that recruits only the highest ranked grads - to avoid sub-par performers! And most reputable professionial schools are selective enough that even lower-ranked students are still likely to be fairly bright. Unfortunately, it is indeed possible that your child’s teacher COULD have been last in his/her not very selective class. At no point in the teacher education and recruitment process is there a step that weeds out the bottom half (or any major fraction) of the aspirants. No easy solution for this - a combination of higher salaries, rigorous teacher education programs with tight admissions standards, equally rigorous testing of new grads, and demanding administrators willing to dismiss those that aren’t strong performers would be a start. I’m not hopeful.</p>
<p>Couple of thoughts from someone who has served in a variety of capacities in education.</p>
<p>Teachers certainly have the right to drink, let off steam, tell a raunchy joke to close friends. Once they display those behaviors publicly, they are putting themselves at risk for disciplinary action. I had the unfortunate experience to sit in as an witness when a teacher’s actions were being questioned. All I can say is that everything becomes fair game. Whether we like it or not, teachers - at least in a public school - are paid by the taxpayers and as such are held accountable not only because of their unique relationship with students, but also by the public at large. </p>
<p>If a teacher maintains a myspace or facebook primarily as a community page with classroom or public info the main emphasis - no problem. But if they start to post private information they are treading on shaky ground. While some here may argue that the student teacher should not have been deprived of her teaching certificate - it happened - and it will cost her a lot of time and money to restore what was lost. Even if she wins, her reputation has been tarnished and few school administrators are going to want to hire someone who at the very least showed poor judgment - she did tell her students about the myspace page. </p>
<p>Once again, I would be the first to say that a teacher has right to do whatever he or she wants. D1 is a teacher and she certainly knows how to have a good time (as did her parents back in the day). But - she knows she would be out of her mind to publicize or document her antics. </p>
<p>Beyond the threat of losing a job or disciplinary action, you have to wonder why people have become such exhibitionists. Can’t they just enjoy themselves without rushing to show others what they have been doing?</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, it is indeed possible that your child’s teacher COULD have been last in his/her not very selective class.” </p>
<p>I don’t think that questionable personal judgment is necessarily related to one’s class standing or the selectivity of their school. </p>
<p>I’ve seen some very smart, accomplished people (from prestigious schools) engage in exceptionally risky and potentially self-destructive behavior. </p>
<p>" a combination of higher salaries, rigorous teacher education programs with tight admissions standards, equally rigorous testing of new grads, and demanding administrators willing to dismiss those that aren’t strong performers "</p>
<p>Do you really think that rigorous “testing” of new teaching grads would ensure that those individuals wouldn’t put questionable pictures of themselves on myspace or engage in similar behaviors? </p>
<p>I think that imbues academic elitism with a certain moral sanctitude for which there is little demonstrable evidence.</p>
<p>I see no problem with teachers getting drunk and naked. Parents need to chill.</p>
<p>lmao, i’ve found some myspaces of my teachers and they bragged about how they liked to get drunk and stuff</p>
<p>Sorry, JS, I kind of veered off topic by responding to an earlier post that seemed to imply recruiting from the bottom end of the bell curve was OK.</p>
<p>Actually, smart people can often exhibit poor judgment. :)</p>
<p>No problem RD! Actually, though, I think (in teaching, at least) you could have a wildly creative, committed and effective teacher who wasn’t necessarily at the top of his or her academic class, either. Some of my son’s best teachers have been engaging/inspiring in ways that I’m not sure are quantifiable via pure academic tests, etc.</p>
<p>Definitely agree w/your perspective on the benefits of “rigorous teacher education programs” and “demanding administrators willing to dismiss those that aren’t strong performers.” E.g., tenure after 3 yrs at a HS does no one any good (as far as I can tell)…</p>
<p>So would keeping “incriminating” pictures off of facebook be comparable to having a tattoo on your forearm, but then wearing long sleeves whenever you’re at the office? This feels like another generational issue to me.</p>
<p>Facebook is not the same thing as public domain- this is another example of how the old generation’s values do not directly translate to the world of the internet. An analogy: You can find out a lot about a person’s personal life by going through their garbage can on Sunday nights or looking into their windows, but that’s not the same thing as saying it’s any of your business to look (and they can always pull the blinds). Facebook profiles may be accessible to people, but they still have to go out of their way to read them. It’s not like anyone has their public servant’s account up as a homepage. Finding pictures of any indiscretions is a very deliberate, intentional search. It’s not like people “stumble across” those photos. They seek them out. Sounds a little like internet voyeurism to me.</p>
<p>I do realize that my profile may cause me to miss some opportunities in life, but on the other hand, I’m not sure I would want to work for someone like that anyway. Maybe it might even work in the other direction (I had employers in college that looked at my profile- they found it funny) I guess I’m still young and idealistic, but I think I’ll have enough chances to do something with my life that it won’t matter if a few slip away. Tolerance is a two-way street.</p>