The Edutopia Poll
by Sara Ring
As the popularity of social-networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook continues to grow, so has the risk for teachers who post personal pages on these sites. Teachers have been suspended and even fired when the wrong person -- in some cases, a student -- stumbled on their page.
Though some people feel that pages that reference social drinking and other adult pastimes set a bad example for students, others believe that teachers' online posts are no one's business but their own. Can pictures and writing displayed on a personal Web page qualify as "conduct unbecoming"? Or do teachers have the right to express themselves as they please outside of school grounds? Tell us what you think.
question to all those teacher's
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 30, 2008 - 10:56.
About five years before I became a teacher, I had a small part in a movie where I was in bed with a man and woman and my breasts were exposed there was no touching involved. I am worried that if someone finds this out I will be fired. Do you think I am making too much out of this? It was a B movie after all and no one may ever see it, some advice would be greatly appreciated.
I just got an email from my
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on January 20, 2008 - 11:17.
I just got an email from my union to completely delete my pages. (facebook and myspace) I deleted them because my union told me to do so. I do not agree with it, but I will abide. I did not have anything alarming on the pages, but I felt that even having a myspace page set to private looks suspicious. It seems like, hmmm why is she having it on private? Trying to hide something? I am not affected without it, I am truly too busy with my job to care or to worry about it.
I had a MySpace. Being a
Submitted by R. (not verified) on December 12, 2007 - 06:19.
I had a MySpace. Being a younger teacher, it was an awesome way to keep in contact with friends from college who were also beginning teachers. One day, I had some frustration in the classroom and decided to make a blog post about it. I'm not sure what happened after that - a set of parents went over my head (as in, they didn't talk to me about it) to my principal and demand that I be fired. (I'm not even sure how they saw my page in the first place due to the privacy settings.) They even took it to the Board of Education. Thankfully I was not fired, but I had to completely remove my site (severing contact with many friends/colleagues) and also do a public self reflection journal for an entire semester. I now have a "no student policy" on any of the social networks; it's just not worth the hassle, even though I'd like to show them how to use the sites responsibly.
If teachers have a social networking site, it is their responsibility to make sure that the content of the site is according to what they would like their students to know about them.
I am all for privacy and the
Submitted by Bear (not verified) on November 29, 2007 - 14:02.
I am all for privacy and the non-invasion of privacy, however, once something is posted on the web, it is no longer private, but very public.
Lack of privacy on the web
Submitted by David (not verified) on November 29, 2007 - 06:10.
One of the problems I see with the new online communities that are cropping up is that teachers are able to show so much more of their private life to the public.
Another issue with which I foresee problems is content teachers post before they become teachers. This content is now part of the public domain, and as such is likely to be recycled and viewed for the rest of our lives. Producing a social networking site, with the advent of various aggregating websites, has become much like getting a tattoo. Sure, you can use some sophisticated and frustrating processes to erase your digital footprint on the web, but it will be difficult.
So, do we hold teachers accountable for their actions before they become teachers? What activities are socially acceptable to show, and what activities are not?
I had an innocent video up on my personal blog that showed me using my laptop with my feet while holding my sleeping son in my arms. Unfortunately I wasn't wearing a shirt at the time. One of my colleagues at work pointed out that this might not be considered appropriate so I removed the video.
Who defines the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not? Some things are obvious, others less so.
Sara Ring's Edutopia Poll
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on November 28, 2007 - 12:29.
This is a hard one! I don't know that teachers should NOT be a part of any social websites, but should definitely take the precautions of not posting pictures and/or using a pseudonym. But then again it's a safety practice one should use anyway.
Should they be punished? How far is a school district willing to go to punish a teacher on a social website? Embarrassing to the school district? Probably. But where does one draw the line as to what is embarrassing enough? What if one saw a teacher in an adult bookstore? A little tipsy (or a lot) at a bar or night club?
Culture has a lot to do with what is acceptable in any society. What's tolerated in one place is not tolerated in another. Look at the tolerance differences between inner-city schools and small rural schools.
After a lot of babbling on my part, I'd say the answer to the poll question is clear as mud!
Should teachers be punished for personal posts on social-network
Submitted by Anonda (not verified) on November 26, 2007 - 15:38.
YES YES YES-
The teaching profession is like none other. Teachers should be held accountable to a high standard. We are entitled to a social life, but we also know, especially as educators, how sensitive and easily influenced children can be. We also know that a child will interpret what he sees and what he sees may not be what was intended. We influence lives, we create futures, and we may be the only person someone can talk to. What if you have a child who wants to talk to you about the pressure of drinking/drugs and then sees a picture of you on the internet doing the very thing he needs someone to talk to about? As teachers we have to think about everything we do inside and outside of school. I don't think it can be any different.
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