Facebook and teachers: Still a potentially dangerous combination for your career
While ex Barrow County teacher Ashley Payne still awaits her day in court over the Facebook page photos of her trip to Europe that landed her in hot water with her principal and to a resignation that she maintains was coerced, other teachers continue to get in trouble over their social networking sites.
Among the latest casualty: A Massachusetts school administrator resigned at the end of last week after posting on her Facebook page that the parents in her upscale town were “arrogant” and “snobby.” June Talvitie-Siple was the program supervisor for science and math at Cohasset High School until school officials found out about the comments.
The 30-year veteran also posted that she was, “so not looking forward to another year at Cohasset Schools.” And she called students “germ bags.” Unlike Payne who limited her Facebook page to her friends, Talvitie-Siple had not restricted the wall of her Facebook page. Parents spotted the comments and alerted the superintendent who asked Talvitie-Siple to resign. She complied, saying that she would have likely done the same thing if she were school chief.
“I made a stupid mistake, it may have cost me my career,” said Talvitie-Siple, who has since changed her Facebook settings and wants other teachers to learn from her mistake.
“I take full responsibility for my stupidity and I hope it serves as an example to kids that they need to be very, very vigilant about their privacy,” she told ABC News
In a case similar to Ashley Payne’s experience, a sociology professor at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania was suspended for a posting to her Facebook page, which she said she had on the highest privacy settings.
Writing in jest, Professor Gloria Gadsden wrote: “Does anyone know where I can find a very discrete hitman? Yes, it’s been that kind of day?” A few months later, she posted, “had a good day today. DIDN’T want to kill even one student. 
. Now Friday was a different story.”
As happened to Payne, someone with access to the “private” Facebook page notified the school of Gadsden’s jokes. In Payne’s case, the anonymous note was written by someone alleging to be a parent whose teen was a Facebook friend of Payne’s. Payne says she had no students as friends and no student has ever been found. In fact, the district has yet to determine the source of the e-mail. You can read here why I am pretty sure another teacher wrote the incriminating e-mail that led to Payne losing her job.
In 2008, North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools disciplined seven educators for their social networking postings, including an elementary school teacher who posted derogatory statements about her young students on Facebook.
The teacher listed “teaching chitlins in the ghetto of Charlotte” among her interests on her Facebook profile. In her About Me section, the teacher also wrote, “I am teaching in the most ghetto school in Charlotte.”
According to the Charlotte Observer:
John Gresham of Charlotte, who represents the teacher, said she only meant to share her comments with friends with access to her page on the popular social networking site. She now faces possible firing for listing “teaching chitlins in the ghetto of Charlotte” among her activities.
“Facebook pages are only meant to be viewed by people permitted to see them,” said Gresham, who questioned how her private postings became public.
On Thursday, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools spokeswoman Nora Carr said the district allows teachers to post personal information online, but had to take action because it affected the teacher’s ability to interact with students and parents. She called the comments racially insensitive or offensive to students at Thomasboro Elementary School, where she teaches. “Clearly, when there is poor professional judgment, it impacts the teacher’s ability to do their job,” Carr said.
CMS officials plan to send a memo to their 19,000 employees saying that Web postings that can be viewed by the public should be appropriate.
A 26-year-old third-grade CMS teacher who did not want her name used, fearing reprisals, said the district hasn’t clearly specified what employees can and cannot post on such sites. Most teachers think if they keep their profiles private, she said, they’ll be safe.
“Our principal encouraged us to use our profiles to post links like ‘Adopt A Classroom’ to bring in potential donors,” she said. “But, given the recent investigations, he also told us to be careful about our Facebook material.”
CMS announced earlier this week it had suspended the teacher and disciplined four others for postings on Facebook. The action came after WCNC, the Observer’s news partner, discovered the pages on the Web site by searching for people who identified themselves as CMS employees.
Postings include photos of female teachers in sexually suggestive poses and a black male teacher who listed “Chillin wit my n—as!!!” as an activity.
In her “About Me” section, the suspended teacher wrote: “I am teaching in the most ghetto school in Charlotte.” Most students at Thomasboro Elementary are minorities from low-income homes.
Gresham said the district took action against her because officials were embarrassed by news reports. He questioned whether it was appropriate for a reporter to air private postings.
He said the teacher is helping the district with grading while she is suspended, and has been sharing lesson plans.
Teachers nationwide have been fired or suspended for online postings. Among them: A Colorado English teacher lost her job for posting her sexually explicit poetry on MySpace, a Florida band director was fired for a profile that included “his musings about sex, drugs and depression,” and a Virginia art teacher lost his job for posting photos of his “butt art,” done by painting his private parts and pressing them onto canvas.
I still go back to what Tim Callahan of the Professional Association of Georgia Educators said in response to the Ashley Payne incident.
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.”’
I think it is good advice. What do you think?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
127 comments Add your comment
MedStudent
August 24th, 2010
9:12 am
Ive always felt bad for teachers… because honestly I think its one of, one of, the most underrated and under-appreciated professions in existence. My mom is a teacher, and even she tells me, plenty of teachers go home every day wishing to wring the little brats they teach. Will they do it? 99% no, so I don’t think a teacher should get fired for saying “wow I wanna kill my students” lol definitely reviewed and psychoanalyzed for a while…
Simply Me
August 24th, 2010
9:17 am
sorry, just had to post this cause you people are CLEARLY idiots. Freedom of speech means the GOVERNMENT can not create laws or punish you for exercising your right to say what you want. HOWEVER, other private citizens CAN. Also, freedom of speech comes with the responsibility and you have to be ready to take whatever effect comes your way from saying what you want. If I dont like what my employees say I can fire them… period. If they dont like what I say I can quit… period. No one is CENSORING anyone. And furthermore, facebook is a choice. You dont HAVE to have one.
Liz
August 24th, 2010
9:56 am
Where have you people been for the last decades? Haven’t you realized that we have no privacy. You can get ANY and ALL information you want from the internet on anyone. I went to a site just the other day and found my full name, address, birthdate, (unlisted) phone number and even my former addresses plus my immediate family members. I have NEVER gone on the net and listed those things, but they ARE there. So why would anyone think the internet, including FB would be private? One thing wrong with our country now is the attitude of some teachers. I realize there are some great, great teachers who genuinely love children of all races, but then there are some in it just for the paycheck. If you have any racial biases, you should NOT be a teacher. Children cannot help where they come from. If you feel the way some of these teachers in these posts and on FB feel, GET ANOTHER JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!
Alexandria
August 24th, 2010
10:42 am
I don’t think this is about censorship, but more about what is appropriate and professional. I am 22 years old, and recently switched my major to education. Just about all of my friends have a Facebook page, and many of them think that I am “wierd/silly/paranoid…” because I’ve never wanted one. I don’t want one specifically because of what has happened to the people in this article.
Even before I chose to become a teacher, I did not want a Facebook page. I value my privacy, and I don’t like strangers having access to things I would normally only share with close friends. Yeah, people keep telling me that you can restrict your page to friends, but I’ve seen people access someone’s page that they don’t even know. Recently, my cousin accessed photos from a party that I had gone to; she didn’t even know any of the people! She only knew about the party because I complained to her that one of the girls put a picture of me on Facebook. So it “ain’t” that safe, or private.
The sad thing is, most adults (and not just teachers, adults period) just don’t have any common sense anymore. I mean, come on, grow up. As I said, I’m 22, and I keep seeing adults 10 to 15 years older trying HARD to be something they’re not: teenagers or very young adults. Instead, they just end up looking really, really stupid.
AJL2
August 24th, 2010
11:12 am
I’m not on Facebook and never will be, for things like this and for what I see in every day life. People are putting WAY too much into the site and losing themselves. Quality of life is being determined by what happens on Facebook. For some people it doesn’t seem like they can make a move without Facebook being involved. On top of which, IMO, it’s a stupid name. I just wish sometimes that we could go back to a pre-Facebook world.
Jeuce
August 24th, 2010
11:16 am
What a lot of people don’t realize is the need to be responsible when using the first amendment. just as a person can’t yell the word fire in a crowded theater, or perform sexual acts in public and call it art; people need to realize that their public views destroy their credibility in their chosen profession. on the same note, why are people adding “friends” from work on social sites? if a person wants to share updates about work use sites like linkd, but not facebook.
EG
August 24th, 2010
11:19 am
It seems a lot of people, especially in the age of the Tea Party, don’t understand what free speech means. Sure, these teachers have every right, protected under the First Amendment, to say whatever they want and be protected from LEGAL ramifications, not from employment ramifications. It isn’t like the stories being reported are about teachers speaking about a school tax levy or some school policy. These are teachers describing their students as “ghetto”, insinuating ill-feelings towards them or their parents, etc.
The same rules of appropriate speech apply to me at my job. If I go home and publicly blast a company I am negotiating with, or make disparaging comments about a particular client, I will get fired. How can my firm trust that I have the best interests of our company in mind when I go home and say things PUBLICLY that will cause our clients to lose faith/trust in our company.
These teachers still absolutely have the right to say whatever they want. However, having freedom of speech does not mean there won’t be consequences attached to exercising that freedom.
CPeevy
August 24th, 2010
11:31 am
I think this is insane Teachers are human just like everyone else honestly what they put on thier pages shouldnt matter, unless a teacher names a specific student it shouldnt matter. Honeslty its no ones business whats on anyones facebook page and if you dont like what someone has on it dont read it. Its freedom of speech and though you may not agree with what they posted on their page its thier opinion and no one should be able to bring that out publicly and use it against them.Unless they mention names of students or illegal activities.
Chris
August 24th, 2010
11:31 am
I think it’s funny that people object to things that teachers might say on facebook, but as long as they don’t know about it, it’s okay. Would it somehow be better if the teacher who referred to her “ghetto students” just thought it without saying it? At least if a teacher is dumb enough to post stuff like that on facebook, s/he would be exposed.
Interested Party
August 24th, 2010
11:39 am
I have been a teacher for 12 years. I have a Facebook account, which is set to friends-only status. I do not post offensive things on that site; however, I am openly gay, and for some, my mere existence is enough to offend.
I am fortunate to work in a place in which my sexuality is not an issue. I can easily see, however, a parallel situation to mine in which someone is persecuted in their workplace for being true to themselves in their private lives — even if that private life is not explicitly expressed in the classroom.
I *do* hold myself to a higher standard, knowing I’m a teacher. But what happens when someone else’s “higher standard” would have me completely disregard my identity? Is that not a slippery slope?
Monica(a student for free speech!!)
August 24th, 2010
1:00 pm
hey, teachers should have the right to free speech. MOST of what the teachers are saying that ive read are just to blow off steam. i mean really? youre gonna fire a teacher WHO MIGHT BE EXACTUALLY GOOD because of some stupid comment on facebook?? look, im 17 and im in highschool and kids like me are BOUND to annoy the crap out of their teachers so if they wanna blow off some steam, let them. THis is The United States of America people. We can say what we want when we want. thats what TEACHERS taught me.
PLUS why are we firing teachers for stupid reasons anyways?? we need to be KEEPING OUR TEAHCERS!! all the GOOD teachers from my school are getting let off because of BUDGET cuts.. -_______-’ and now teachers are getting fired because of facebook? sorry but you know how retarded that is? Sooner or later my classes are gonna be filled with 100 students! and do you know
how hard that would be to try to learn?? its already hard as it is with 43 in one class
DOESNT ANYBODY AGREE WITH ME?
Bill
August 24th, 2010
1:11 pm
My friend was a music teacher at a Catholic middle school. He is also a musician and wrote a song called “Wasted”, which is about getting drunk and high in college. He had it on his myspace music page. His students found the page and started singing the song with the lyrics “We’re gonna get wasted”. He was lucky he did not lose his job. He actually told the head nun about it and proceeded to close his account.
Booklover
August 24th, 2010
2:01 pm
Interested Party’s question brings up a great point. Teachers have a right to their personal lives just like anyone else. Should a teacher streak naked through the town square? Of course not. But what kinds of lessons are we teaching our kids when a teacher can lose her job for drinking wine in Italy or writing a song about doing other legal activities?
I have friends with small children who teach them that wine is “an adult drink” and I think that’s a great way of handling such issues. As you grow up, you get privileges: you get to drive a car, you get to drink (responsibly) with your friends, you get to buy what you want… if you have a job and you are responsible. It’s a give and take.
Perhaps young people would be more willing to take on responsiblity for themselves if we demonstrated that adulthood had its privileges. I simply cannot believe the audacity of some people who think teachers deserve to be treated exactly as their students are. We need to demonstrate to students that life is full of degrees of authority, responsibility, and privilege. For example, the administrators at my school get to park in the front of the school while the teachers have to park waaay in the back of the building. Do the teachers complain about this? Of course not. We understand that added responsibilities and authority come with privileges. Let’s teach our children the same concept, and maybe, just maybe, they will have more respect for authority.
StillPlayswithToys
August 24th, 2010
2:11 pm
Two completely separate issues here: Though say nothing on the net is private, there IS a expectation of privacy when a site offers such the choice. How things get out there is usually due to unethical behavior on someone else’s part, which cannot be stopped. The anonymity of the web allows the crazies to be extraordinarily public with their actions, but no one makes a disparaging remark about that behavior. To go out of one’s way to “snitch” or “snoop” fb for teacher comments is just plain wrong (hence, the connotations in snooping & snitching). To lose a job over one’s right to write what one wants on one’s personal page is a violation of the right to free speech, and maybe due process in the land of law-who knows. I am very careful about what I post, because I don’t want to offend the small group of people I have friended, never mind the students in the district I teach.
BUTT ART? The dope, but to be fired? It’s his ART- go ahead, define it & we’ll argue for another hundred years. “I didn’t want to kill one student today!” – really, she’s a mass murderer waiting for her chance to jump over her desk & throttle college students for being immature? “Hangin’ with my n——”? the basis for termination? Who’s offended, the same parents who KNOW & allow their own kids to say it? Or the white parents (pul-lease, what soap box did they fall off of?) The STUPID teacher who called the students “chitlins’? As appalled as I am by that, his/her whole career is now in jeopardy? In good conscience, I cannot argue his/her RIGHT to print something SO STUPID. Where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, & you take the proper precautions, other citizens should respect that. But respect and ethcial behavior cannot be legislated, just as stupidity cannot be criminalized. Still, I always think twice…. and it does bother me that I have to do that. SO, I play it smart and don’t post ‘funny’ edgy things I may be thinking. After all, teachers are held to a higher standard: absolute perfection. Have a nice day!
Jenny
August 24th, 2010
2:15 pm
So if you are a teacher you have no right to a personal life. Everyone, including teachers are who they need to be at their place of employment. After you clock out, you get to be whoever the hell you want. CEO’s of companys go on European vacations and drink, I go clubbing Thursday through Saturday. But when im at work .. im at work, as long as the drinking and the dancing is not done while you’re on the clock, who cares.??
However, the teacher that posted the derogatory terms to describe her students on FB was out of line. That was a low blow..other than that if i want to post whatever i want to post as long as im not suppose to be on the clock..you cant tell me what to do..
James, Student
August 24th, 2010
4:21 pm
I believe these people need to stop worrying about what teachers do in their personal time. We dont dig into their lives, but I can tell you they are far from perfect as well.
Heiffer
August 24th, 2010
4:30 pm
Great advice. Otherwise, be sure your sins, be they ever so minor, will find you out. I seem to recall a teacher who was terminated because there was a photo of her, on vacation in Europe during the summer, with an almost full glass of white wine in front of her. Yikes!
a retired teacher
August 24th, 2010
7:58 pm
Okay, all of these districts are firing teachers as a PR CYA. No real harm done – no real hitmen hired, no permanent psychic scarring of students or parents. And yes, parents can be arrogant, and totally lacking in perspective (or even a reality check) regarding their “precious darlings.” But on the other hand, everybody, get real. The internet is NOT private. Even secure connections can be hacked (and don’t believe they aren’t.) When you hold a loud cellphone conversation on a crowded subway, 30 people know your business. You may entertain the fantasy that you are surrounded by a magic curtain, but it isn’t there. Have some self-respect, think about what you’re doing, and don’t put anything out there, in any form, that you wouldn’t want your mom or dad to see.
Teachers losing jobs over Facebook; some examples | Legally Sociable
August 24th, 2010
10:08 pm
[...] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has some examples of teachers losing their jobs because of certain Facebook posts. [...]
Natalie Pollock
August 24th, 2010
11:23 pm
It is unfortunate that people have extraordinarily high expectations of certain professionals. The clergy and educators are at the top of that list. When a clergyman or teacher makes the mistake of acting like a human being judgment is swift and often harsher than any other person might receive.
As an elementary school teacher myself, I understand the feelings of the teachers. Some days are just like that. Consider how much garbage we have to put up with day after day…trying to get kids interested in learning when instead they smart off, refuse to work, and get verbally abusive with us because they’ve been taught already that adults don’t deserve respect. And we don’t get just one or two…we have 20 or more all in the same room. How are we expected to deal with that kind of treatment day after day and not feel the need to blow off the steam that has surely built up?
I also understand the need for discretion and wisdom on the part of people who post on Facebook or other social networks. There are so many people out there who post the same kinds of things these teachers who were fired did. It is not necessary to expose all of yourself…good and bad…for the world to see. Inevitably, the world will focus on the bad and run with it…as happened to these poor teachers. I have students who are friends on Facebook. I am always careful about what I post there, but I am also very choosy about who my “friends” are. Not every kid has access to my life.
We need to be smart about what we tell the world about ourselves, regardless of our profession or lack thereof. Use your head, if you have one, and think about what you are posting before hitting “post”. If you really want privacy, keep it to yourself.
Boundaries, I has them « Three Ring Mom
August 25th, 2010
7:05 pm
[...] are getting fired for calling their students stuck up . We all know Facebook can suck the soul out of your noggin through your webcam’s evil eye, and [...]
teachateach!!
August 25th, 2010
9:40 pm
As a teacher, and a Facebook user I know how important it is to keep things private. I don’t even have fellow co-workers on my friends list for these reasons. Parents will look you up, your bosses will try to find you, if you work with kids old enough to do so- they will find you too. I tend to keep a level of discretion on my page and only immediate friends and family are on my list.
This doesn’t just go for teachers either; it’s all lines of work. It’s best to keep these things private, and far away from your boss. AND, if you are going to post your vacation photos that were taken while you were “ill”, wait at least a couple/ few weeks to do so- lol, not after your boss thought you had food poisoning.
I feel, as a teacher, I should still be able to live my life and keep in touch with long distance friends and family via facebook if I please. But, at work, I don’t jabber on about my personal life or tell anyone “FACEBOOK ME Teehee!!”- teachers don’t have to be prudes, just selective. We are far from the school marm days and shouldn’t have to resort to isolating ourselves, just using a lot of discretion. And, before your add your co-workers you need to decide if they’re really friends- because if not, they will rat you out!!!!
Edublogs News: Social networking in schools, Facebook in trouble and email a thing of the past | Edublogs - teacher and student blogs
August 27th, 2010
1:23 pm
[...] Facebook and teachers: Still a potentially dangerous combination for your career [...]
Anne
August 28th, 2010
3:03 am
I work in a small town. I know I have to be sensible about the way I behave in any public space. facebook is a public space, so I think about what I post there. Social media is another excellent way of building strong connections with my learning community which includes parents, students and other teachers. An ounce of commonsense goes a long way.
Now that I have your attention again « HHS Thinker’s link
August 29th, 2010
1:14 pm
[...] Facebook and teachers: Still a potentially dangerous combination for your career by Maureen Downey in the Atlantic Journal Constitution [...]
ugg
August 31st, 2010
5:46 am
chi ceramic flat iron This was truely an amazing trip for me, I’m going to upload my own record of the flight
Gerard
September 18th, 2010
1:15 pm
Many teachers seem to feel they can or should be buddies with their students. That should never be the case.
Any teacher who posts anything innapropriate should be fired or punished. There are to many good teachers at all the education levels to have to put up with the improper and immoral persons that have made it inot the eductaional system in our country. At a time that our country faces some of the lowest, (15 ranked in the world!) We need to once again raise our standards.