Natalie Munroe: Should teachers blog, even anonymously, about their students?
CNN and all the cable stations were abuzz about the teacher in Pennsylvania that has been suspended, and may be fired, for blogging about her students.
Natalie Munroe, a 30-year-old teacher at Central Bucks East High School in Doyleston, Pa., didn’t identify her students in the blog, but she did say some mean comments about them. For example:
According to the New York Daily News:
“In her blog, which has since been removed, Munroe referred to her students as ‘out of control,’ ‘rude, lazy, disengaged whiners,’ and called one ‘a complete and utter jerk in all ways.’”
“ ‘There’s no other way to say this, I hate your kid,’ she wrote in one post. ‘Although academically okay your child has no other redeeming qualities,’ she said in another.”…
“I don’t think I did anything wrong,” she told ABC News. “I’m sorry that it was taken out of context but I stand by what I said.” …
“In one tongue-in-cheek post she offered fellow teachers alternative ways to describe students on report cards, such as ‘rat-like,’ ‘dresses like a streetwalker,’ and ‘frightfully dim.’ Of one student, she cruelly joked that ‘the trash company is hiring. ’ ”
“Munroe’s attorney Steve Rovner argues she did nothing wrong, even if she offended people. ‘There’s no Internet policy at her school district. She was free to write and she free to express herself; it was like a personal diary,’ he told ABC.”
Munroe said only seven friends, her husband and herself were “followers” of the blog and that 60 of the total 84 blogs she wrote had absolutely nothing to do with work or her students. Her blog is back up and had 420 followers as of last night.
From an explanation on Munroe’s new blog:
“See, what I’d done was written a casual blog. I talked about everything–such exciting topics as our trip to Sesame Place, my favorite (and least favorite) restaurants, my work experiences, the diaper genie. I had 9 followers–2 of whom were my husband and myself, the other 7 were friends. When I started it, my goal was to write 1-3 times a week, though I didn’t usually have time to do it that much. I ended up writing 84 blogs between 8/9/09 and 11/25/10. (I remember that, at one point, my track of blogging was about equal with my gym-going, but my gym-going eventually surpassed my blog track. I went there religiously at least 3 times a week until my morning sickness started…) I slowed down at the end, writing only about 10 blogs between June and November. I was too busy with being pregnant, teaching a new curriculum, and being harassed at school to write anything between November and February.
“When I wrote, I kept things as anonymous as possible; I know there are crazies out there and I didn’t want anyone trying to track me down. I blogged as “Natalie M” and had no location information or email address or anything listed or accessible. Nor did I ever mention where I worked or the names of students. Yet, there’s this perception that I was trying to lambaste everyone in the school without heed. That’s bollocks.”
“What bothers me so much about this situation is that what I wrote is being taken out of context. Of my 84 blogs, 60 of them had absolutely nothing to do with school or work. Of the 24 that mentioned it, only some of them were actually focused on it–others may have mentioned it in passing, like if I was listing things that annoyed me that day and wrote without any elaboration that students were annoying that day.”
There is a whole lot more on her site and it gives much more insight into her mindset and her purpose. Reading her side of the story did soften my opinion some. However I still have thoughts and questions:
- You hear all the time about teachers getting in trouble for photos they show on Facebook or things they write on Facebook. Facebook is much more private (just your “friends”) than an open blog. I’m unclear why she thought this would be a good idea or even OK even without naming the students and even if it was only a few times.
- Maybe the teacher didn’t realize with Wordpress and Blogspot, you can set it so search engines can’t find it. It won’t show up unless someone has the exact URL. Two summers ago when we were trying to keep everyone updated on my brother’s medical condition, I created a Blogspot blog and made it private. I sent the link to family and friends and they bookmarked it. They were the only ones that could see it. But would that make it OK? Would that make it better if a teacher was writing about her students on a private, non-search engine, blog?
- I am wondering how the students came across it? It’s unlikely that search engines would have picked it up even if not marked private. You have to have a ton of hits for your blog to pull up on Google and Yahoo so if she only had nine followers, I’m not sure how anyone else found it. Hmmmm.
- As someone who blogs for a living about her children and our family life, I have definitely had to learn what is OK to post publicly and what is not. And I have gotten into trouble with friends for including things that even though were anonymous they felt were still private and out of bounds. They felt identified even if they weren’t by name. Even though the teacher didn’t identify the students, are mean comments about them still out of bounds?
- In journalism, there is a standard to be sued for libel that you have prove that someone is identifiable. Now if that teacher has five classes of 30 students a day then probably no one is identifiable if she didn’t use their names. However, I think writing nasty things about her students hurts her credibility and the parents’ confidence in her as a teacher.
- It just occurred to me: Is this the reverse of college students rating and commenting on their professors online? (And as we know people are much more vicious when it is anonymous.) Michael doesn’t think this is not comparable at all: that the students pay a college to be taught where this lady is being paid to teach the kids. Hmm.. have to think on that some more.
So what do you think: Do teachers have a right to vent? Do they have a right to write a journal or diary? Is it OK to do that online on a public blog? How did you feel about her explanation versus what was being pulled by different media outlets? What should happen to this teacher?
– By Theresa Walsh Giarrusso, ajcMomania
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310 comments Add your comment
Tina
February 21st, 2011
2:49 pm
lol
Riley S.
February 21st, 2011
3:01 pm
“You don’t get to humiliate your employer….not unless you’re briging something unreplacable to the table, and back to my earlier point of hearing her speak, she doesn’t come off as difficult to replace.”
jarvis – Unfortunately, I think only a handful of people have bothered to critically research and seek imformation regarding Munroe and her comments. I find it rather amusing that so many teachers have hitched a ride on her bandwagon via the ironic anonymous blogosphere. I have a host of teacher friends from a wide variety of experiences that I have asked for insight into this given situation and none of them, NONE OF THEM, personally support Munroe’s apparent delusions to the fullest extent.
So I guess all the teachers I know are lying to my face, and the rest of Munroe’s anonymous supporters are telling nothing but the honest truth and are destined for sainthood and lucrative combat pay.
I also find it interesting that the very people educating our children know very little about the true intent of “freedom of speech”. Heck, the Supreme Court could tell you where you are at fault with your beliefs on your “rights” and you’d still argue to your defense till the bitter end, wouldn’t you?
Entitlement is a disease.
nsnstv
February 21st, 2011
4:56 pm
Hey “Wake Up Call”, you stated:
‘Not interested in making waves? The parents of good kids have been shamed into being quiet because they have to be OR they’ll be branded with a politically correct label, like a racist, etc, etc.’
So, in your opinion, it’s all of those ‘ethnic kids’ that are causing the problems. The ones you feel like you’ll be labeled a racist for pointing out. Well, your inference is already racist. Do you honestly believe that ‘The parents of good kids’ only come in one color? I live in Johns Creek, and trust me, 80% of those problem kids are from your so called ‘good kids’ group, and you know what I mean.
MomsRule
February 21st, 2011
5:42 pm
TWG – I hope all is well with you and yours. I enjoy reading your blogs on a regular basis but this topic is….well, its getting a little tiresome. :) New topic please!
David Granger
February 21st, 2011
6:33 pm
Does a teacher have the RIGHT to? Yes, probably so. HOWEVER: If the teacher feels that she wants to exercise that right…to blog about her students…keep in mind that they also have the right to blog about her. And I doubt that students…being more immature…will be as “adult” in their blogging as a teacher would. And kids can be awfully cruel. If you’re not prepared to take it, then by all means…don’t dish it out.
LindaS
February 21st, 2011
7:11 pm
I think she did the right thing. Maybe some parents out there will consider what their sons and daughters are doing at school. Bad behavior in school is a real reflection of what may be going on at home. If the students don’t respect authority at home, they certainly won’t respect it anywhere else. Of course she’s not talking about all students, but the ones that make a point of being disrespectful and disobedient. I’m sure a lot of that is reflected in their grades. If they’re not doing what they should in class, they’re not learning, but disrupting the teaching time. The students who really want to learn can’t because the teacher is wasting too much time on the students who would rather show their behinds. Ms. Munroe did what a lot of teachers really wanted to do. Sometimes, someone needs to tell the ugly truth. She could have gone a step further and personally contacted the students’ parents, but most parents refuse to believe their child is that bad in school. I’m sure some of those parents have second jobs. The kids have their parents’ schedules down to a tee. That parent should go through the usual after school/work routine and then show up at home unannounced. What would they find? There’s something to think about. Students need to understand the adults are in charge.
Hannah
February 21st, 2011
8:39 pm
Sure, teachers can vent. Just don’t put it in writing online where anyone can see it. Talk to your husbands and friends, don’t write it down for them. Sure, they can have a diary or journal. It doesn’t need to be online. Sounds to me like this woman needs to consider a career change. If she feels that strongly about her students, it doesn’t sound like she’s in the right profession.
Fifty with 3 kids
February 22nd, 2011
11:48 am
It amazes me that so many are willing to comment without knowing the facts so let me enlighten you: Fact – Natalie Munroe blog was not anonymous; On the front page she had her name Natalie M. with her picture (you know the one with her left hand under her chin looking back over her sofa with glasses? Where do you think the media got it in the first place?). It was entitled “About Me” and you could click on “View my complete profile” next to that … in short far from anonymous. Fact: On at least two separate occasions Ms Munroe herself admitted to being on her blog while at WORK; a clear violation of District rules. Fact: Ms. Munroe at times did in fact ‘name names’ specifically fellow teachers and administrators. One teacher she named and which she wrote: “has no business being a teacher … and is “a complete duesch-bag” Fact: the blog in question that spews so much hate and disdain for “whining” and “entitled” students and their parents was written in part at work (employer rules violation) and occured in Jan 2010 … a little more than 3 years after she became a teacher! Hardly an expert TEACHER let alone an expert on what’s right or wrong with our education system. Speaking of which: Fact: Central Bucks had a graduation rate of more than 99%. That is not a typo …. 99% graduation rate and perhaps even more impressively than that (for those synics out there that may think the district is somehow padding its graduation numbers or instructing its teachers to just “give good grades regardless) is of those who graduate more than 92% go onto to higher education. Fact: ‘GreatSchools.com’ ranked this school district 9th best in the country. That’s right, not the state, 9th best in the country! Way ahead of the national average per the U.S. dept. of Education which reported in 2009 our national high school graduation rate was 86% of which 55% go on to “some college.” Clearly, Central Bucks is way above the national averages … which is a credit to the students, parents, administrators and most of all the teachers of Central Bucks School District. Ms. Munroe fortunately is not the rule but rather the exception. I have had 3 children go through this school and onto college. One of which had her for a teacher (”the worst teacher he ever had” in his words). Are there lazy kids at this school? Sure. Are there whining grade grubbers at this school? Sure. Are there overbearing parents? Sure. All of which are the extreme exception and not the rule as Ms. Munroe would lead you to believe. Why are students and parents so outraged? Because her reputation as a horrible teacher is no secret. She belittles her students, she makes it clear that “most questions are bad” and that “if you don’t understand her lessons don’t ask for help or extra time from her” (we actually did so and were told she is “not required to help any student beyond the classroom”) and if you don’t understand her lessons or subject matter than “obviously you were not paying attention during class.” Basically, students and parents alike just knew to keep your mouth shut, grin and bare it as best you can and that it is only one subject, one grade and is not the end all to you graduating or getting into college. That life is full of “jerkoffs” and “assholes” (if offended by these terms than you must be against Ms. Munroe as just two of the many profanities she herself wrote on her blog about her students) and you must learn to deal with these types of people. About her blog here is another fact that the media didn’t pick up on: Again on her front page … a picture of a school bus with the words ‘Short Bus’ written on it and next to it the caption reads: “I don’t care if you lick windows, take the special bus or occaisionally pee on yourself…you hand in there sunshine. You’re friggin special.” Talk about “entitled,” “seems smarter than actually is,” “has a massive chip on her shoulder,” “a complete and utter jerk in all ways,” “lazy asshole,” “complainer,” “sneaky, complaining, jerkoff,” “rude, beligerent, argumentative fuck,” “tactless,” “utterly loathsome in all imaginable ways,” could all be used to describe herself. By the way, the above are all exact quotes from her own blog. She continues to claim “this was not meant for public consumption” and also was well known for constantly warning her students to not put anything on the internet that might embarrass or otherwise cost you college acceptance or future employment. Yet she did exactly that and is almost indignant now that it is public. Making no apologies (really?) Forget about what you think of today’s education system, forget about right to free speech for the moment. Just ask yourself given the choice: “would you want your child, any child for that matter within 100 miles of this woman? Let alone in a confined space(classroom) for an hour every day? I feel sorry for her as she obviously has some sort of problem with people in general. She should get help but before she can she must admit she has a problem. Again, a rookie teacher in one of the most prestigious, successful, highest paying, school districts in the entire country and she believes “kids and parents” are her problem. A place where on back to school night you cannot get parking if you show up late; there are not enough desks/chairs in the classrooms to sit all of the parents … as opposed to a relative of mine who teaches in an urban school district who complains to me (not a blog on the internet) that she is lucky to have “one or two parents show up on their back to school night.” That when she calls parents because “little johnny” didn’t do his homework there response (if any at all) is something like: “he’ll be lucky to finish school anyway as we may need him to go to work” OR “he told me he did do his homework and that because you don’t like him you are just trying to get him in trouble with his mamma.” Let’s call a spade a spade here and hope that Ms. Munroe never, ever, is allowed in any classroom or involved with young people of any kind for any reason. I feel sorry for her own kids as based on what I know to be the facts she is destined to become the kind of parent she so un-eloquently loathes about other parents. She is everything she claims her students to be and as the supposed “adult” and “professional” so much worse, because rookie teacher or not she is 30 years old and should know better. All the more reason for her to find a job that has nothing to do with kids and quite frankly should involved little to no human contact as she has demonstrated to be such a hateful person. Just read her blog .. oh yea, she took it down so none of you can read it … even though she doesn’t think there is anything wrong with what she said, and people “need to here the truth.” I don’t know about you all but doesn’t something seem just a little bit off with her?
Knowledge is Truth
February 22nd, 2011
2:14 pm
Teachers should be able to do what EVER it is they want to do in their own time except screw their students!
mary
February 23rd, 2011
9:08 am
the blog is a way to vent and part of public speach. As long as her comments were made after work hours then there should not be an issue. she is entitled to her opinion and entitled to voice it. We certainly do not need laws stating you should not voice your opinion. The internet is part of everyday lives that should not be invaded or monitored by the government. She certainly should not loose her job over this nor should she be suspended. the actions against her are in my opinion a violation of her rights. Everyone has the right to say what they want. if it leads to violent action then yes accountability is there, however just venting because children seem to be a little soft and spoiled that seems to be the theme on radio as well. So what next fire the teachers who call in on radio shows, and find them by monitoring phone lines. Leave her alone, she is teacher, let her keep her job…..There shouldnt be a consequence for venting, or i definetly would be in trouble for venting about my customers.