Teachers and Facebook: “Don’t do it.”
I asked Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators about teachers and Facebook in the wake of the messy Barrow County case in which a young teacher resigned after her principal discovered that she had posted Facebook photos of herself drinking in Europe and had posted the word “bitch” as in “I am going to play Crazy Bitch Bingo.”
(See my earlier posts on this if you are unaware of the story. Ashley Payne is now suing and the case has sparked hundreds of comments here at Get Schooled, most in her support.)
Callahan told me:
“We have talked to teachers about their expectations of privacy in this new world. As American citizens, they have a First Amendment Right to have a Facebook page, but we are telling them, ‘Don’t do it.”’
In my interview with Payne last week, she said her teacher pals are frightened after what happened to her.
“My colleagues are scared to death because they are afraid that this is some strange witch hunt. Most of them have changed their names on Facebook or taken their entire Facebook page down,” she said. “They feel it is an invasion of privacy. It feels like we are not allowed to have personal lives.”
Is it even possible in this day and age to stay clear of Facebook if you are living a full life and get anywhere near a camera?
In a conversation this weekend with three friends, we talked about the Payne case. One friend said the case illustrated why she refused to have a Facebook page. She didn’t want any photos of herself on the Internet.
Well, at that point, one of the other women told her that she was, indeed, on Facebook as snapshots of her were included in a group posted recently by another pal. My friend almost had a heart attack because she did not know and would likely never known as she’s not a Facebook user.
I will admit to one very very funny video of me floating somewhere on the Web. A friend used her cell phone camera to capture my “seizure-like” sideline cheers at my son’s soccer game. I try to adhere to the rules and keep any cheering low-key, but the result apparently is that I have these jerky motions where I get poised to yell or stand up and then quickly restrain myself. I have refused to find and watch it, but others have told me it’s quite amusing.
Very often, the posters to Get Schooled say it much better than I can. Here is a teacher response to this issue that I think says it all:
I have been debating all weekend about whether or not to take down my FaceBook page. My mother insists that I should do so, just in case, but I don’t feel there is anything inappropriate included on my page. I try to be careful of how I am photographed in any situation because many of my friends have pages where they post photos. So even if I remove my page, there are still photos of me on the internet. I use FaceBook to keep in touch with relatives and friends who live all over the country, and it bothers me that, as a teacher, I can’t enjoy the same format of communication enjoyed by so many others. What concerns me most, however, is that one anonymous email can derail a career in so short a time. I have been teaching for seven years now, and it seems each year the cons list grows while the pros list diminishes…sigh!
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130 comments Add your comment
Dondee
November 16th, 2009
6:01 pm
Why can’t we be treated as professionals? I was discussing this issue with a co-worker after school and we pondered what makes teachers the favorite target of politicians, parents, the media and even school administration/boards? Would a doctor be questioned about having a beer displayed on his/her Facebook page? Lawyer? Firefighter, Accountant?
We have discussed how we tell young people who are interested in pursuing a career in education to run the other way. How can we hope to attract the best and the brightest when we, teachers, keep getting little to no respect?
Like someone I know said, I think I’ll be a greeter at Wal Mart….I have a feeling you would get more respect.
a_mom
November 16th, 2009
6:03 pm
I agree that teachers do need to be held to a higher standard since they they are in a position to influence their students. And if a teacher posted pictures doing something illegal like snorting coke, or immoral like pole dancing or slutty pictures, then I’d say that was a genuine problem that could require resignation (especially if it’s something illegal). But having a beer is neither illegal or immoral. And she had restricted it to friends, so either someone shared access to her page or she has an irate “friend”. But this particular case should not require her resignation.
As someone else stated, what if a student had run into her at a restaurant where she had a glass of wine at the table? I hope she gets a lot of money from her lawsuit.
Sarah
November 16th, 2009
6:09 pm
She did not get fired! She quit! She does not deserve her job back for that reason alone.
Dondee
November 16th, 2009
6:10 pm
a_mom,
If teachers are held to a higher standard, what about parents? I am sure that you are a very thoughtful, concerned and involved parent, so this likely does not apply to you. But what about those parents that subject their children to a chaotic lifestyle, that don’t value education or even good behavior? Teachers are not the only ones who touch a child’s life. Parents need to be above reproach, too.
Yankee Transplant
November 16th, 2009
6:12 pm
I hate to tell y’all, but incidents of this sort are much more common in the South than the North. I suspect there are two reasons. First, many people outside Dixie (especially rural Dixie) have developed more realistic expectations of teachers; you’d need to get caught drunk in school to have a problem. Second, teachers’ unions in the North have real power: they can negotiate contracts and (important in this case) they can file grievances that have legal bite.
By all means bring in the ACLU. Maybe they can get Ms. Payne hefty damages, which she can use as a cushion while she looks for work in a sane school system.
Dondee
November 16th, 2009
6:13 pm
Sarah,
Why did she quit? She was ambushed and made to feel that she was going to be fired anyway. Maybe she should have told her principal to fire her on the spot, but I have a feeling she was too shocked and overwhelmed to think clearly. The administration is in the wrong. I hope she wins her suit and that the principal and Barrow BOE are made to publicly apologize.
1teacher
November 16th, 2009
6:14 pm
The problem with the higher standard principle is that such policies are often vague, as noted by the comments left in a previous post. Who gets to determine what behavior is considered immoral or uncouth? Oftentimes that decision is left to the community and/or the school board, and those definitions are often broad, as other posters have mentioned.
I’m not familiar specifically with Georgia laws, as I teach in Illinois, but I have been following the case. Unfortunately, Ms. Payne already had one strike against her since she was a probationary teacher. Unless the local district’s collective bargaining contract specifies differently, a school district can dismiss a probationary teacher without cause, and without giving that person a reason, at the conclusion of his or her contractual period of employment (generally end of the school term). School districts can also dismiss tenured teachers for immoral or unprofessional conduct, with just cause, if they can show a nexus between the egregious behavior of the teacher and his or her performance in the classroom. This one is harder to substantiate because of the due process requirements afforded to a tenured teacher, which Ashley apparently didn’t have. Educational law is chocked full of similar cases that leave open the time honored question – “how free is my personal life?”
Echo
November 16th, 2009
6:21 pm
I wonder if a picture of me flipping my middle finger up with a caption that says “furlough this Sonny!” on my facebook page would be frowned upon by my school district?
Joy in teaching…removing matress tags while drinking a beer? I’m sure there is a law in Georgia making that a punishable offense.
Sarah
November 16th, 2009
6:26 pm
Oh, please! She can’t have it both ways. She can’t be a grown-up who is allowed to drink and so young and innocent that she quit a job because she thought she was going to get fired.
RJ
November 16th, 2009
6:26 pm
“… or immoral like pole dancing”. How is pole dancing illegal? It could’ve been a picture from the pole dancing exercise classes, or from her former stripper days (which is legal), or from her bedroom. Either way, how is it anyone’s business? If it’s on a facebook page that set to private, it’s nobody’s business.
It’s amazing that some people actually believe that teachers should be held to such a high standard. I absolutely refuse to get rid of my facebook page. I’ve re-connected with so many friends from my past. I enjoy keeping in touch with everyone. I won’t allow any job to control my life.
@catlady, sounds like we’re doing similar reading programs. I cannot understand how this form of “teaching” is supposed to increase student achievement.
Meme
November 16th, 2009
6:28 pm
Catlady, we did this program several years ago. It was a big flop.
Principal In Shock
November 16th, 2009
6:44 pm
Sarah and others. In many instances, not saying it is so in Barrow, we as administrators are either told or highly encouraged by HR in our systems to get a resignation at almost any cost. School Boards do not want to pay unemployment or give any reason for lawsuits. I personally have been told to do this by former HR directors and superintendents. They do not want to fire anyone and usually won’t. They will either intimidate to get a resignation or wait and non-renew if possible. It is one of the dirty little secrets of the school business. Anyone in education administration who says differently is most likely not telling the truth.
high school teacher
November 16th, 2009
7:05 pm
“… or immoral like pole dancing” Dang! I guess I need to quit my second job. lol
In all seriousness, there is either more to the story than we know, or this principal was way out of line. Time will tell which is true.
d
November 16th, 2009
7:58 pm
I joined MySpace before I became a teacher, and did not think to lock it up after I started teaching. I did have a problem with a student using a fake account (pretending to be a teacher at a nearby school) trying to get personal information from me (he was unsuccessful and used his last message to cuss me out and admit who he really was). You can bet my account was locked up in 2 seconds. Facebook is the way I keep in touch with important people in my life, it is just a fact of life for me as a now 30-something single male that I will use the internet to communicate with these people. I will not allow someone to make me fear for my job, however, because of this. Privacy settings are at their highest levels and I am do not accept any friend requests from anyone other than family or friends. I don’t believe I can easily be searched either, but should I receive a request from someone that I don’t need to be “friends” with, it is easy to ignore the request, and I have done so.
Georgia Teacher
November 16th, 2009
8:03 pm
I teach. I love teaching. I teach in the community I live in and I love it. I am also a beer connoisseur and I go out to have a few beers on a regular basis. I do not go overboard, but I am also unafraid to live my life in public. Why? Because I understand my rights to freedom of speech and the restrictions placed upon me by my contract.
I also have a FB page. It is set to the highest privacy settings and I do not allow present students to be my friend on FB. Beyond that, it is not my employer’s business so long as it is not shared with my students.
I keep the line between my personal and professional life clear. Work is not allowed to intrude on my personal life anymore than I allow my personal life to interfere with with my students.
What is sad how many teachers live in fear of this.
flytch
November 16th, 2009
8:21 pm
“Dumbing down of america” starts by ruining the public school system. They are doing a good job of it…
rukidding
November 16th, 2009
8:22 pm
You have got to be one of the most ignorant writers I’ve ever seen! You described side line cheering as “seizure” like cheering! What the hell is wrong with you? Have you ever seen anyone have a grand mal seizure? I can’t believe no one has picked this up before me, you make me sick and I’m embarrassed for you. I think I’ll forward this to the Epilepsy Foundation so they can see what a moron you are!!!!
Echo
November 16th, 2009
8:27 pm
rukidding, get a clue. This is a blog…screw your political correct bullsh!t.
And yes, I have seen grand mal seizures, my grandmother was epileptic but at least she didn’t pretend to be offended at every off the cuff statement. I think you are the bigger moron.
high school teacher
November 16th, 2009
8:37 pm
Georgia Teacher,
Even sadder (or is it more sad) is the fact that the spokesperson for PAGE tells teachers not to have a facebook account. That’s scary.
middle school teacher
November 16th, 2009
8:53 pm
Has anyone considered that Ashley Payne is free to give any information that she wants to give, but the school board is limited in giving out personnel information? Do you really think that we have heard the whole story? How many times do we get one side, ie the cross-dresser in Cobb, and later learn that everything was not as the media was reporting? Maureen, do you really feel that you have investigated all of this story and you know fully about the situation? I have been really disappointed in your effort to once again make education in Georgia been seen in a negative light.
Do I think it would be wrong to “fire” her for for a Facebook page as described? Yes, I do.
Oh, wow!
November 16th, 2009
9:05 pm
Georgia Teacher – I could’ve written your post, as I also live in the community in which I teach (and a board member, who is also my neighbor, has seen me with a drink on the table at a local restaurant). I can’t live my life afraid – I also don’t live my life stupid – I am a role model for my first and foremost “students” – my children. I’m sorry if someone has a problem with that.
I don’t know about you all, but my Jesus turned water into wine, and I’m raising a class to Ms. Payne – best of luck to you!
Old Grunt
November 16th, 2009
9:06 pm
The profession of teaching is a joke, but not the teachers who for the most part are very professional. There are pictures of me drinking going into bars and being very roudy as a young man. Do I lose my job as a teacher because of them? Those pictures were of a time when I was wearing the uniform of an American soldier. When you are young and going into harms way you do think of how this will look 20 years from now. I guess I was okay to defend the nation but should not be able to teach it’s young. 23 years soldiering lead to my retirement and service disablity, but I wanted to serve some more and teach. Six years later and still teaching but now with this silly fake morals wondering if it is worth it. I have taught all six years in a Title One school and now I need to worry that if one of my old Army buddies post a picture of me from my past I maybe ask to resign. I now tell friends and family it is not worth the headaches you have to put up with to teach. My students are not the problem, it is the stupidity of administrations.
Straight shooter
November 16th, 2009
9:07 pm
RUkidding, You must be kidding if you take offense at the word seizure in this context. Get a grip. It’s a description, not a slur. Is now wrong to say convulsed with laughter because it offends people who have convulsions?
I really get tired of this silliness. And I have seen seizures. I’m a school nurse. .
Maureen Downey
November 16th, 2009
9:19 pm
Middle School teacher, I have to tell that I have gotten more information from Barrow County than from Ashley Payne or her attorney on this incident. It was Barrow that sent me the statements of both the principal and assistant principal. It was Barrow schools that provided me the original anonymous e-mail – which Payne herself did not even know was the source of the complaint and had never seen until she read it here on the Get Schooled blog. Barrow also sent me the court response to the lawsuit from which I also drew information.
So, I have to correct your comments that Barrow has been denied a chance to speak. I spoke more to the Barrow spokeswoman than to Payne or her attorney.
And I would like to see education in Georgia improve as I have four children in the public system. I also believe that a state can only be as strong as its schools. But we won’t get there by pretending that we don’t have problems.
Maureen
Perplexed in Sonoma, CA
November 16th, 2009
10:04 pm
I am watching this case with great interest from the California wine country. (Note to readers: please buy our local wines this holiday season and serve them to ADULTS ONLY!).
Now, I’ve just thought of something that has not yet come up yet, either in Ms. Downey’s articles or in the blog posts.
The pictures of Ms. Payne holding an alcoholic beverage that are part of the fuss here were taken in Europe, not in Georgia, or for that matter, anywhere else in the United States.
Many countries in Europe don’t even HAVE a minimum age at which it is legal to consume alcohol (but most have a minimum age to PURCHASE it). So, here we have an adult woman engaging in lawful conduct of her own, most likely in countries where it would have been perfectly legal for her students, had they accompanied her on her trip to Europe, to join her for a glass of beer or wine without violating local laws in the places they visited.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_drinking_age
Middle school teacher
November 16th, 2009
10:49 pm
Maureen,
I appreciate your explanation of your efforts to get the full story. Hopefully, you noticed that I agreed that “firing” Ms. Payne over what has been presented would be wrong in my opinion.
I reread my post. I don’t think that I need to be corrected on my comments. I did not say that Barrow was denied a chance to speak, but that the county is limited in giving out personnel information. I do believe that you made every effort to get the full story. Hasn’t it been your experience in dealing with personnel issues that releasing all information is rarely done by government entities?
I, too, would like to see education improve in Georgia in all areas of the state. I know that what I teach is certainly more difficult than I learned in school and more difficult than just a few years ago. I have not changed grade level or subject area.
I enjoy reading the blog and appreciate the changes that you have made.
UsedToTeach
November 16th, 2009
10:54 pm
As a mother and a former teacher, I am apalled at some of the bigoted posts I have seen on this site. It seems to me that Cdog should be homeschooling children because even a Catholic school would be too immodest for him/her because the Sisters have wine at Communion. If human beings are not good enough to teach your children, keep them at home. Then when they go out into the real world, you can wonder why they cannot handle the people and issues they encounter. This is not to say all those who are homeschooled have these issues, but a parent who wouldn’t want his or her child’s teacher enjoying a glass of wine or a drink needs a reality check. Teacher’s are people too, and ALL people make mistakes. But having a drink with a friend or a colleague on his or her own time is something anyone should be entitled to. I was once asked to resign from my teaching position because I supplemented my income by tending bar in a DIFFERENT town from where I taught. The standards, especially for female teachers, are ridiculous and unattainable. This, among other things, is driving excellent teachers away from the profession.
stevieb
November 16th, 2009
11:42 pm
This anonymous email that came in doesn’t pass the “smell test.” As Ms. Downey has suggested, it sounds an awful lot like it came from another teacher. One can only imagine the source. Public school parents know the type. It’s the teacher who arrives at school at the last minute, takes every possible day off, volunteers for no extracurricular school activities, is totally no-responsive to parent questions, can’t seem to grade tests in a timely manner, feels entitled to the job and is completely threatened by a great teacher like Ms. Payne. This is the person the school system should be tracking down and getting rid of, not Ms. Payne.
Dondee
November 17th, 2009
6:21 am
Back at Sarah from after 6:00 last night……Well, how would you have reacted? I wonder if you would have been “all grown up” and refused to resign or if you would have felt pressured to quit? You know, different people react to that kind of revelation in different ways. That has nothing to do with her maturity level. BTW…are you a teacher? If not, as has been posted many times on this blog, why don’t you take a walk in our shoes? You will find teaching is not the “cushy” job you think it to be. I suggest you give it a whirl and then you can pass judgment.
deidre_NC
November 17th, 2009
7:00 am
i think this teacher screwed up by quitting…i think that in itself probably took some of her rights away..she should have stuck to her guns and made them fire her. she did nothing wrong. my kids teachers have facebooks and they are friends with students. i also think it is wrong that employers can look at facebooks to decide whether to hire someone or not…
catlady
November 17th, 2009
7:18 am
Rj and meme: We have been doing it SIX YEARS NOW, with no end in sight. And RF for 4 years, although the feds report gave it a big F (except for the amount of money it put in the pockets of Bush’s friends). I’d say we are SLOW LEARNERS. And I have to laugh that our county uses it–our county, who feel they are the most patriotic of places, where God, guns and the Republican party are kings, yet we use a reading indoctrination program that sounds a whole like the Heil, Hitler form of teaching! We should also click our heels and salute as we answer in unison!
Breakfast in America
November 17th, 2009
7:24 am
This disturbing case reminds me of a song back in the late 70’s entitled “The Logical Song”, penned by Rick Davies and Rodger Hodgson of the group “Supertramp”. The words go something like this:
…Now watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical, liberal, fanatical, criminal…
…Won’t you sign up your name, we’d like to feel you’re acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable…
Never were such words so frightenly applicable in the systematic railroading of a young teacher by a
mindless and faceless government bureaucracy.
catlady
November 17th, 2009
7:27 am
Or, come to think of it, maybe that is what IS wanted: folks who will accept their dreary lives, doing what they are told by the boss and the media, getting mad when Rush tells them to, and never questioning why they do the work and get paid $9 per hour but the boss gets 45 per hour. It gets them used to being a puppet from kindergarten on.
Dawg Fan 74
November 17th, 2009
7:41 am
During the current economic climate, I don’t think you have to worry about attracting good teachers. Once the economy improves…then school systems will be force to change their social networking policies.
Teacher with Experience
November 17th, 2009
7:57 am
By the way, it is possible that neither Maureen nor the Barrow County School system is providing all of the facts. In addition, each may be slanting the information to support their viewpoint. Perhaps we need to wait until all of the facts are revealed.
AnonymousTeacher
November 17th, 2009
7:58 am
Thank you, Breakfast in America! That has been one of my favorite songs since I was 9 years old. Ironic how I grew up and became a teacher because I wanted to encourage independent, critical thought to a new generation of students, and this is what we get instead.
Common Tater
November 17th, 2009
8:00 am
Bubba, you took the words right out of my mouth! I hope the ACLU gets involved and that she gets millions of dollars in her lawsuit. I’d be suing for 30 years pay if it was me. The PSC should be lifting the certificate of the principal and assistant principal and any other administrator (or is that ad menace traitor?) involved.
Cdog, you make me sick. You say, “I would not want my kids being taught by a teacher that drinks and uses vulgar language. Teachers should be fired over political or religious beliefs. . . ” Fine. I hope you are home schooling your kids. Kids know that people drink and use vulgar language. Hell, probably half of the kids are doing both of these things, among others – one starting with s and ending with x, on a regular basis. Have you listened to the music a lot of these sweet, innocent children are listening to?
Administrators and Legislators have always been the major hinderence to education in Georgia and other states. Ridiculously stupid laws like No Child Left Behind are killing us.
Asked to resign over a glass of wine. What’s next? Female teachers not being able to go to a public swimming pool or the beach because one of her students MIGHT be there and discover that she has boobs? Please, spare me. We are going from the ridiculous to the sublime.
Oh, and I have pictures of catlady in shorts and curlers in a Piggly Wiggly, if any Administrator is interested . . .
CT
Library Diva
November 17th, 2009
8:10 am
I have been debating whether or not to start a Facebook page in order to post my 40th class reunion photos but now…NO WAY. They are completely innocent but we are shown with cups in our hands( no one could tell what was in the cups). I cannot believe that this poor young teacher has to go through this for photos and a random word on her Facebook page when at least 4 times in the last few years we have had young teachers announce that they are pregnant and they are not married. Which sends the bad message to students, the wine or pregnancy? If they do this to someone for holding a glass of wine, what would they do to someone who has a baby out of wedlock, burn them at the stake???? The administration in Barrow County need to get lives!!! I hope they don’t need new teachers next year because none of us will want to transfer there, that’s for sure and I certainly would tell any new teachers to steer clear of that county!!!
dgroy
November 17th, 2009
8:25 am
We, as a society, have now, officially, gone over the edge. Folks, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again……”Political Correctness is killing our country.” It is now time to stop this madness. We are becoming a society like those who are hell bent on destroying us and they’re doing it without firing a shot and with our help…..wake up America before it’s too late!!!!!
dgroy
November 17th, 2009
8:33 am
We, as a society, have now, officially gone over the edge. Folks, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and again……”Political Correctness is killing our country”. We are becoming like those who are hell bent on destroying us and they’re doing it without firing a shot…..and with our help!!!!!!. Wake up America…….it’s time to stop this madness.
Common Tater
November 17th, 2009
8:48 am
It hit me in the shower (which I took fully clothed, lest someone peep into my windows and report me to police) – at the end of Jeff Foxworthy’s show, when the contestant hasn’t answered all the questions, Jeff should make them look into the camera and say either “My name is Joe Shmo and I am as dumb as a Barrow County Georgia Administrator” or ” My name is Joe Shmo and I’m as dumb as the person you elected to Congress.”
Ahley Payne, I lift my glass of bourbon to you. Cheers, girl. You didn’t deserve this grief (and neither do any other teachers who live in fear due to our archaic education employment scheme).
CT
nik
November 17th, 2009
9:01 am
I think it is absolutely ridiculous to ask a teacher or any other public servant to delete their FB page. The same parent that complained about the teacher drinking beer and using the word “bitch” probably displays that same behavior at home in front if their kids. Teachers should have the right to a personal life. If parents paid as much attention to their kids as they do inconsequential things, a lot of the problems with the teenagers would not exist. Next, unmarried teachers pregnant teachers will be asked to resign. It’s common knowledge that people in certain professions are expected to behave in a certain moral manner, but this has been taken to a new, low level.
Sarah
November 17th, 2009
9:08 am
Dondee, I am a retired teacher with 35 years experience under my belt. I was told that I would be “let go” my 5th year because one of our central office folks lost a grant. I was told that it would be best if I resigned. I had a card from GAE that said, “Don’t resign! Talk to a GAE rep first!” I made 30 more years at the same school.
Private school guy
November 17th, 2009
9:59 am
I have a web site a blog and a Facebook page. None of them are coming down. What the public expects us to be is good educators. The holders of the highist office in the land have drank, smoked, cussed and fooled around. This did not make them bad presidents.
The example I set for my students is to love learning and knowledge.
I would rather have them see me sitting in a cafe with a glass of wine in one hand and a book in the other than shopping for junk at Walmart and eating unhealthy food at some burger joint.
Maureen Downey
November 17th, 2009
10:03 am
Teacher with Experience, I am giving you all the facts that I have been able to get and verify. Are there others? Probably. I suspect that there is probably more to the tensions between this young teacher and her administrators. (But I have to note here that the principal’s statement says she had performed satisfactorily in her two years at the school.)
However, I think the basic facts are out there now: And that is that an unsigned e-mail opened and forwarded by the superintendent at 6:19 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2009, led to a meeting less than two hours later with Payne, her principal and her assistant principal. At that meeting, she was told she would be suspended, according to the official statement of the principal.
The principal and assistant principal both concur in their statements that it was the Facebook page that led to the meeting.
Further, the assistant principal acknowledges that Payne had no idea why she was summoned to her office: Her official statement says: “This is true as when Mr. McGee called from the road he did not share this information.”
I stand by my statements that this seems extraordinarily fast action by a school system in response to an anonymous e-mail. Even if the e-mail had been signed and verified, this seems an extraordinarily fast response to an e-mail complaining that Payne was in photos showing alcohol and that she used the word “bitch.”
Maureen
aghast
November 17th, 2009
10:30 am
I am completely appalled at Tim Callahan’s comment. It runs completely counter to their legal support for teachers. I can’t believe that any “Professional Association” for Educators would not stand up and support the rights of their teachers to use a popular networking site for personal use. He would have made a stronger case to urge teachers to have the privacy settings in action and recommend to not be friends with students. If a teacher is following these “common sense” steps, then there is no reason why they should be dragged through the mud for their personal choices, especially legal ones. I cannot see PAGE as a “Professional” organization any more since they fail to recognize their supporters as “Professionals” with personal lives. Sad times, indeed.
Maureen Downey
November 17th, 2009
10:36 am
aghast, I think the concern of Tim was that the online world is not fully private, not matter what precautions we take. I am trying to find an expert to write an op-ed piece about this issue as I think it needs a full discussion.
Maureen
Jennifer
November 17th, 2009
10:58 am
School administrators need to stop being the morality police and stop scapegoating morality issues for punishments – for students and teachers alike. When will schools get it ? Just educate our children – don’t put them in your version of a square box. A two hour turn around on a firing is extraordinarily fast action – there is more to this story – someone who matters wanted her gone – that is what this is about.
aghast
November 17th, 2009
11:34 am
Maureen – thanks for the update. I would still like to add that if a teacher has taken the necessary precautions offered by a website to keep their information private, then I think that’s all they need to do. Well, that and use common sense. Which is different from person to person, I will admit. But at the end of the day, this teacher did not flagrantly flaunt her opinions and pictures to unwilling or willing students. That’s why I have an issue with Tim Callahan. PAGE should be supporting teachers, not suggesting that they refrain from common networking sites. This teacher didn’t do anything wrong and it’s a case of hitting the panic button. Tim Callahan should be taking issue with a principal for such a quick firing, not being the morality police.
Just a teacher
November 17th, 2009
12:01 pm
This is stupid. The woman shouldn’t have resigned, and she should sue her employer for causing her grief over this. I teach, and I drink. I just don’t do both at the same time. Get a grip. And I agree that someone should hire a private investigator to look very deeply into this principal’s private life to make sure that he / she has never done anything which he / she wouldn’t published on the front page of the AJC.