- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Parenting
StrawberryAlarmClock
member
***This space reserved for photo of new squish***
Clicky: Teachers' Personal Lives
StrawberryAlarmClock
member
in Parenting
- I'm sure you're familiar with this story in which a 24 year old teacher posted pictures of herself drinking wine and beer on a European vacation on her Facebook page and was forced (??) to resign.
Here are some other true anecdotes. In most, the teacher was engaging in legal (ethically debatable) behavior. In one, clearly, the law was broken but the response of the school may surprise you.
1. A student teacher (technically still just a college student attending a class which happens to be in the field) was at a Turkey Hill a half mile from the school campus, smoking a cigarette over his unpaid, duty-free lunch break. He was expelled from the student teaching program when two seniors who had open lunch (free to leave campus during lunch) saw him smoking and spread the word at the school.
2. A married mother of two received a text message from her husband on their anniversary with some explicit references about what he wanted to do that evening with her. She had dropped her phone in the cafeteria and did not realize it was missing until the principal called her down to the office. A student had turned it in and she was suspended for the contents of the text message.
3. A male football coach's car was broken into by two students. They found a rented pornographic DVD in the car and were more than willing to throw themselves under the bus for their theft in order to share the news with the whole school. Charges were dropped against the kids but the coach was fired. I don't know if the car was parked on school property or not.
And get this!
4. A male teacher was arrested and served one year in jail for vehicular manslaughter due to a DUI. After finishing his sentence, he returned to his position.
Something doesn't seem right here. I get that teachers are held to a higher standard and I've embraced that. My Facebook is squeaky clean (no students, high security, don't post anything even slightly off-color anyway and I promplty unfriend people who do), I don't drink/smoke/do drugs - never have. I'm married and faithful and am a "model citizen". But, some people are not. Some adults make adult decisions off the clock (like what videos they want to watch, whether they want to be smokers, etc) and can lose their careers over it. Are there any other professions in which what happens off the clock affects your career?
WDYT?
[Poll]
***This space reserved for photo of new squish***This discussion has been closed.
Re: Clicky: Teachers' Personal Lives
I think a lot depends on what is in a teacher's contract. I know that many private religious schools have specific rules about what a teacher can and can't do even on their own time. If you sign a contract stating that you can be fired for smoking, drinking, etc. on your own time, then you shouldn't be surprised if you get fired if someone sees you smoking, drinking, etc.
If there is a rule about sexually explicit content on school property and you are sexting your husband or have porn in you car, you shouldn't be surprised if you get fired for it.
The whole FB privacy thing bothers me. Kids are being punished at school for stuff they say on FB. People (teachers included) are being fired for stuff they post on FB. I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. I would hope that people would be smart about using privacy settings so the general public can't see their posts.
These 'true anecdotes' sound an awful lot like something that is (ironically) making the rounds on facebook. The last one in particular reeks of the kids who broke into some guy's home/barn and stole cds/dvds only to find CHILD PORN on them and smartly turned themselves and the owner of the material in.
As for the linky; it is a one sided story. And even if it is the gospel, why would any of her students have access to her facebook page?
I think teachers should be held to a higher standard than a construction worker. It is a real shame that they have fallen so low in the social hierarchy overall where their authority is constantly being questioned and then their off-site behaviour is being scrutinized on top of that.
I had no idea until I heard it on a news report that in my state you can be fired for being gay. You can also get turned down for a hotel room with your lover although I've never heard of that actually happening...never heard of it happening.
Yikes. I hadn't heard about the barn. The anecdotes were shared with us by our grad professor last night.
Facebook is a tricky beast. The teacher doesn't have to have the student friended for them to see some of her things. If a mutual friend - an alumnus, a friend who happens to be the aunt of a current student, etc - comments/likes/etc one of her photos it may show up for the student if her security is not set properly.
Sad but true. It really does depend on so much on the situation, relationships, etc. You really can't make a mathematical formula or a rubric for propriety.
special snowflake
did your professor mention whether it was public or private schools (contracts vary greatly if they exist at all at some places) and did he really get the stories from inter web folklore? because maybe someone needs to fire him... not for his drinking, sexting, smoking, pornful ways but maybe for being a lameass in his class lecture.
that's all i'm feeling on it.
This!! I do try to keep personal and private lives as separate as possible, but you are just as likely to see me out enjoying some adult time with friends as you are anyone else.
I have considered deleting my FB account several times... once you put it out there, it's out there.
Same. I didn't have a FB until one of my co-workers convinced me to get one during my 2nd year of teaching. I definitely don't live a "hell on wheels" life style but I am able to do what I want in my off time.
Obviously, if you work at a private school and sign a contract that you need to be willing to follow said contract.
However, none of those situations above would cause anyone in my district to lose their job. Hell we have a principal in one of our buildings that got an OWI. She did not lose her job.
Hmm... We saw DD's preschool assistant smoking on the way into the grocery store the other week. When she saw us, she kind of hid it - I don't think DD noticed, but I did. Does that mean I could get her fired? That's stupid ridiculous.
I think the only example you gave that MAY have a case was the teacher who had pornography on school grounds - he was ON school property. But, other than that? Ridiculous.
Unfortunately in our town, I can see parents being up in arms about it. In fact on the opening meetings EVERY year the principals/supervisors/administration warn us about being kept out of the public eye--either on Facebook or just know that anywhere you go--you can conceivably run into parents. I know I have had to remind my husband of that A LOT.
In fact, when we have school staff parties--they are usually at someone's house to avoid that situation--or in a place that isn't frequented by parents.
My friend was fired from her music teaching job mid- year, because she was living with her fiancee before marriage, and after 3 years of searching for a new job in the area, gave up on trying to find anywhere that would hire her because of it. It was a private catholic school, and I guess it was in her contract somehow forbid it (under a blanket statement that said she wouldn't go against the Church's views).
Yet, my HS principal had to get his SECOND open container on school grounds (he kept getting caught with beer at school functions) before they would fire him. He was one of those guys that hooked up with the SPED teacher, which ruined 2 marriages, and let students drink at his home (he had a son in HS, whose graduation was basically a kegger).
So, there are two extremes to the system, and I don't think either is right. If you aren't breaking a law, then it shouldn't matter, and IF you are breaking laws, it should be a no tolerance policy.