A teacher and her graduates

[aliki]

I've been teaching for 11 years now, and having taught approximately 60 - 80 students every year, I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 graduates who have taken my class. My school is unique in that we are not a local high school but one that receives students from all across the district (and actually, all across the state of New Jersey, though realistically since we are a commuter school only, less than 5% come from out-of-county). Our county is approximately 600 square miles, so I am bound to bump into students wherever I may be, and not just the town that my school is located in.

In the 2 months that my cousin has been with me, it never fails to amaze him. We have bumped into my students when:
- We went to the grocery store to buy supplies, and the cashier was an ex-student
- We went to Rite Aid pharmacy, and the cashier was an ex-student
- At the petstore, the dog trainer was an ex-student
- An ex-student was our server at a restaurant
- An ex-student was in front of us in the check-out line at CostCo today
- At the movie theater, a group of students were also going to the movies
- At Buffalo Wild WIngs, a group of students were also dining there
- Randomly in parking lots
- Always at the mall

And I thought about how that influences my life. I never get stupid drunk. I don't curse in public. I never wear revealing clothes. I don't make obnoxious comments or pick a fight in public. In essence, I try to lead a saintly life. Would I do this if I weren't a teacher? If my kids are around, probably. But if I were out with some girl friends, we may get loud! But not in today's digital world, where everything is recorded and uploaded to every form of social media.  Where teachers have been fired for seemingly innocuous stuff like:
- Posting photos of them on personal Facebook page of them drinking wine while on vacation in Italy
- Having posed in a swimsuit for a yacht magazine
- For getting pregnant while being unwed
- For being a transsexual kindergarden taecher
- For working in the porn industry TWENTY YEARS before becoming a teacher
- For making a status post on Facebook that implied she felt that working with middle school students was worse than dealing with criminals in jail
- For making a status post on Facebook that said Black History Month was idiotic
- For using Twitter to call a parent a c***t

See more here: http://community.edb.utexas.edu/socialmedia/node/61

Comments

[tediousandbrief.livejournal.com]

Out of those reasons teachers were fired, the only one I can really understand would be maybe the last 3 or so, especially calling a parents the "c" word. I think I recall a few of those being from private religious schools (at least the getting pregnant while being unwed).

It really is quite terrible that that's how teachers are viewed and that something like posing on a yacht in a swimsuit or posting a photo of them (assumingly over age) drinking wine on vacation would get them fired. That's just totally and completely wrong.

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Suspended, maybe; or reprimanded... but fired? For a non-public post on social media?

[(Anonymous)]

I would agree with suspending or reprimanding them, but I could see someone getting fired over those. Not that I'd agree with it.

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Yes, because are held to higher moral standards than any other job, or anything the parents might say at home...

[ellinou.livejournal.com]

I think you wouldn't behave drastically differently. Being a teacher doesn't stop some people from being complete idiots, so why should the opposite effect apply?

That said, I do agree that the scrutiny is ridiculous. But I don't think it applies only for teachers. You can find stories of people being fired from any kind of job for innocent posts on social media. Though it is true that for "public" jobs, that effect is intensified.

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Really? I don't know any other profession where you would be fired for posting a photo of you enjoying a glass of wine while on vacation.

Like, not even one other job.

[belenen.livejournal.com]

I think we have a different definition of 'innocuous'! Those last three seem like red flags for bad teaching!

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Red flags for bad teaching, but I wouldn't say it's a reason to lose your job over. We all have bad days and rant on our private journals, don't we?