Friday, December 9, 2011

Teachable moments on Facebook

A high school teacher is under fire in New Jersey for taking to her Facebook page to argue that “homosexuality is a perverted spirit” and complaining about recognition of October as LGBT History Month in school.

A Bronx High School principal posted a Facebook profile picture of herself slathered in chocolate syrup dancing with a half-naked man. (She’s also under fire for allegedly improper crediting of students).


A couple of years ago, a teacher in Georgia was fired because of European vacation pictures that showed her holding beer or wine glasses (she said she was drinking but not intoxicated). Her page also included an unspecified expletive.

A first-grade teacher faces losing her job after posting on Facebook a comment about being “a warden for future criminals.”

Raises some interesting questions. Are educators more constrained than the rest of us when it comes to freedom of expression in their off-work lives? Sisters Schools Superintendent Jim Golden says yes.

“Like it or not, like a judge or a policeman, you’re held to a higher standard,” he told The Nugget.

But what standard, exactly? I can see disciplining or firing a teacher whose comments indicate a serious bias against a group of students he or she is supposed to serve.

“If I say something racist, I’m probably going to get fired,” Golden says. “And I probably deserve to be fired.”

OK, I get that.

But what if you’ve just had a crappy day and pop off about your students being “future criminals”? Is letting off steam something to kill a career over? If the teacher said that to a friend over a stiff drink in a bar (and I’m sure every teacher has said something like it at least once) it wouldn’t have been any kind of big deal. Because it’s on Facebook, it became a big deal.

And raising a pint of Guinness in Dublin and letting your friends see the pix on Facebook? Come on! What’s wrong with that?

Sisters School District does not have a specific policy about teachers’ use of social media. Golden said such uses fall under state standards and practices guidelines — but the standards of an “ethical educator” don’t address this area specifically either.

You could argue a couple of different sides to this question. On one hand, teachers should be able to have lives outside the classroom and away from their students. Those lives might even be R-rated. They should be able to express their opinions and let their hair down.

But Superintendent Golden is right — you’re never NOT a teacher, even when you’re off duty. Comes with the job. And you’re still a teacher on your Facebook page.

Social media is a useful tool, perhaps, though it also seems like a gigantic time-suck and an arena custom-made for preening narcissists. It certainly is not a secure venue in which to vent your spleen or show off your chocolate-covered dance moves. You can’t help wondering with these and some Twitter scandals, “What were they thinking?” Maybe there’s some weird dissociative aspect to the Internet that encourages people to post and say things that they would think twice about showing or saying in mixed company.

Sisters School District may not have a social media policy, but maybe a good one would be: Don’t post anything you wouldn’t show or say at a school board meeting.

Jim Cornelius, Editor