One of the schools I work with recently received a memo saying they can be fired for inappropriate content on Myspace, facebook, twitter, or match.com., etc. If you don't feel like opening the memo, it says they can be fired regardless of if they posted it during school days or not.
I understand if you have a public profile, I do--like if you have a blog that lets any Joe Fool come and post comments (like this one). I also understand if your facebook status says "Mrs. Brown is out of town over John Jacob Jingleheimer in her fifth period class" or other inappropriate material that indicates you are breaking the law or feeling like your car is warm and dry for the student at the wet bus stop. However, I have to draw the line at match.com. I think that if your profile includes that you like Piña Colada and making love in the dunes off the cape, that is your beezwax. If you want to watch porn on weekends with your gay bf, that is your right (in most states.) I think it is ridiculous for CMS (Charlotte-Meck in NC) to dictate what you can do in your personal time because it might make you a "bad teacher."
How about checking to see what these people are actually doing in class and checking for student engagement? How about finding out if the teacher is working all hours of the week to help students after class, before school, during lunch, and staying until 2 am chaperoning a dance and making sure the moral fiber of the students is strong before you go out for a weekend in Vegas for some R and R.
I feel personally that teachers should be good examples, avoid profanity and refrain from swaying students to your political beliefs, to keep your nose clean during the school day certainly yes. But fired for what you do with your online dating? How are they going to track that anyway? Are they going to create a user "PinkertonCMS" looking for potential matches with teachers displaying lewd behavior in the greater Charlotte area?
What do you think?
Wow, that's intense. The memo, that is. I agree that if you do something illegal and then post it online, you should be subject to punishment, and likewise oversight by an employer. However, the thought of Big Brother's School District deciding if my favorite musical artist might be too lascivious seems like an overstepping of bounds.
ReplyDeleteIt also reminds me an incident at my former place of employ a few years ago. A coworker of mine decided to create a MySpace page for our institution. Not a bad idea, but he did it without consulting anyone, including our PR manager or his supervisor. Although it was rife with misspellings and grammatical errors, it was not entirely objectionable until his linked all his "friends" to the new page.
The problem was that some of these "friends" had profile photos that included nudity. I found this completely inappropriate for a web page of an informal education institution that targets families as its main audience. In addition, I could see some big problems when the teens employed at the institution found out we had a MySpace page and visited.
I confronted my coworker with my concerns and found that he did not share them. After he blew me off, I had to go over his head to get some results. There were results, alright; the page was eventually taken down, but I was almost fired.
I think this is a complicated issue, and one we're not through hearing about. In the meantime, I guess I'll refrain from posting inappropriate comments on your blog, in case your employer is watching.
Is this one of those venting posts?
ReplyDeletesuper lollerz at Landee!!!
ReplyDelete"Don't stand soo--ooo,........don't stand soo-oo,....don't stand so close to me!"
I agree with you btw.
Not venting! I was just asking the question--Krissie brings up a good point, I just thought it shouldn't apply specifically to match.com or other online dating things. I agree they shouldn't mention the school or students in inappropriate ways...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think the online dating world should stand on it's own. Why should the school admin be involved in/care about that aspect of their employee's life. What underage kid is gonna be hooked into that anyway? Maybe I shouldn't ask.
ReplyDeleteBut Krissie's comments are quite valid. If it's a public domain where it's being linked back to the organization, some discretion should be used. Just my two cents.
I agree. I read that article that you posted on FB. Those teachers should have made their pages private. Seriously! I have my FB private and I don't have anything bad, but my political leanings are there, and I'd rather not have to deal with people I work with knowing my political beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of Big Brother watching is sort of terrifying. Like the reference to pina coladas, by the way.
I had lunch with an old friend who is a Pediatrician who works at Labor and Delivery at at a hospital. She invited the OB/GYN partner along. He delivered the babies, she checked them out. A team of sorts. They were venting and joking about some of their patients. Some of the stuff was shocking. I didn't really realize how annoying patients can be. This venting and joking bothered me at first, but then I realized that everyone needs to vent. It doesn't make them any less of a physician. Perhaps it makes them better doctors because they joke and vent. They need to release the frustration so that when they are with their patients they can be focused and professional.
Professionals are human. If the professional is communicating under the expectation of privacy--speaking quietly at a restaurant table or posting on a private page like Facebook, this does not mean that the professional is any less professional.
However, posting about where you work and nasty things about your students on a profile which is public is just plain silly and dumb.
Phew. Does this also apply to my calling in the Primary Presidency? Because, people. Get off my back.
ReplyDelete