Did a Teacher's Facebook Status Warrant Job Termination?
After a recent news story surfaced about a young student drowning during a school field trip to the beach, fifth-grade teacher Christine posted a Facebook status about how much she hated her students, declaring that it might be a good idea to take her own students to the beach. She was consequently fired from her teaching position.
Now, Christine is claiming that her personal life and professional life ought to be separate entities; a stance with which a rankled "Anderson" audience member takes issue.
"If you were so miserable in your career that you wrote that you would not throw a life vest to one of your students, then perhaps you being fired was a blessing in disguise," says the audience member, who also says he does not think Christine should be a teacher.
Christine disagrees.
"I don't think I should be judged over one comment," Christine says. "I was not miserable. I had a bad day, that was all it was."
Hear more in the video below…
Comments
This is why I don't have coworkers as Friends on Facebook. It only takes one comment - not necessarily a nasty one - to skew things at work; it's a competitive world, and some people hinge on every word looking for something.
Yes I do feel the teacher should be fired .
Also she should loose her license to teach,and never be able to work again, with children
I am a teacher and I cannot believe that a teacer would say something like that! I teach sixth grade and yes it is a challenge, but to say that you would not through a life vest to a studenit drowning...that is too much...I love my job and their are days I want to walk out my classroom door..but if I saw child choking, I would have the compassion to go back and help. I am so sick of teachers complanining about students!! Go work at Walmart or McDonalds. There are some of us that love what we do! This woman's teaching license should be taken away from her!!
Double standards I say. If that lady with the red-colored hair could send over the website as an oversight to those parents, what makes her think parents have the capacity to watch their children's move at every second, especially when it comes to online material. She expects them to do what she can't do, yet cannot accept responsibility for her mistake. P.S. that website is very gruesome and I wouldn't want that sent to my email either.
i personally have two accounts, because i knew for a fact that i am not the only one seeing my profile, i have my relatives, friends, office mates and others. On my other account i use a different name. the reason why i do that is to avoid having negative opinions about me. And also it helps me to express my thoughts and myself, and i am not hurting anyone's feelings at all. So it will not affect my personal life and my professional life
Once at a huge country music festival, we were mingling with large groups of people. We met these two girls who were parading the campgrounds in tiny bikinis and beers in hand. Soon later, they ended up coming into our site with their friends, and we found out that one of them was a Kindergarten teacher. Once they left, my group had talked about how crazy it was to know that parents don't even know what the personal life of some of the people they trust their kids with are like. She even had put stickers on her arm to resemble a certain male body part, which she quickly took off once she realized she was getting tanned.
I think it's crazy for people to act like that. Especially sites that anyone can access, as a student who grew up in the Facebook age, I was always looking up my teachers on FB if I knew their names.
I think all of this facebook, twitter and such, man, it is controlling people's lives, i can not believe so many people trust the internet, how are we so blind to understand that freedom does not include everything you do/ feel, we are in a world where there should be the understanding that if you post it, it's not private
Hey Anderson,
Today is second time I have watched your show where you make this comment about being a "pole dancer". Why? Do you mean to say stripper? Because the two are not the same. Pole dancers are major fitness performers. Do you know that pole dancers work for Cirque du Soleil as aerialist? They compete in pole fit competitions. They train at a gym every day in order to be strong enough to do the moves. We are not hookers,strippers or sad moms trying to be sexy and looking for attention. Please look into it. World pole performers are absolutely incredible and have unbelievable strength and grace. I hate hearing them put down like we are doing something wrong because there's a pole, because they are sexy and because we were not a lot of clothing. There's no difference to dancing Latin ballroom in terms of clothes and sexy moves. We were small outfits because we grip the pole we all parts of our part and clothing makes you slip and we need the grip of skin. Anyway, I know this will probably make people's eyes roll but I wish you could see a world champion perform as realize what it takes to be able to do that. Sad, to have to be judged for being an aerialist and gymnast because we do it on a vertical pole.
I agree with what the audience was saying you put things like that on face book everyone is reading it. Everyone around the world is looking at it that is why face book has so many people on it. All so don't put your personel life on this its an open book to read...
I am a teacher. I am proud to be a teacher, and I believe that integrity is a key component of my job. I also believe that it is critical that teachers are respectful and kind to all students and parents at all times. I am absolutely appalled by the teacher who made the very insensitive and disgustingly inappropriate remark about taking her students to the beach. If a student made a comment like that on social media, he/she would be targeted as a possible threat to others!It's not just disgusting that she made the comment on Facebook, it's disgusting that she would think that and then share it with everybody. There is something seriously wrong with her thinking!!!!!
All of your guests today have a big problem with taking responsibility. People who think that what they do doesn't affect others are seriously mistaken. People who say "why does it matter what I do in my private life?" do not understand life at all! We all live on this Earth. We all have a responsibility to others. Teachers, Moms, and Coaches have the particularly important responsibilty of being role models to children. Children are not oblivious. They watch and they listen and they know what adults do. If adults are threatening to bring them to the beach with the hope they will drown.....if adults are secretly using whips and chains for sexual pleasure......if adults are working in a restaurant with their boobs showing and their butts hanging out........if adults are taking pictures of themselves with blood all over them...........Good Lord, it's a wonder kids can lead a normal life at all!! People need to take a good look at themselves in the mirror. Respect yourself first....don't do and say disgusting things! You are short-changing yourself and everyone around you by not living your best life!!! People are so dis-illusioned it is scarey. Those who say "This is my life!"....think about who gave you that life!! Think about your parents,for heaven's sake! and think about our good Lord who gave us everything that is good.
A bad day? Everyone has bad days, but anyone who is going to say "I hate their guts" DOES NOT need to be working with children! I work with children daily. While days are sometimes hard as children have rough days too and may not always listen, for someone to ever say they would want their children to die at the beach....Really? I believe the school system was completely right to fire her, and I believe she should have had criminal charges brought against her.
As far as Facebook being private...it is not private. There are ways for people to see it. You cannot post something on Facebook and expect someone else not to see it.
Good rule to live by (not only for teachers, but for everyone...If you would get in trouble for saying it to your boss, or you wouldn't want your children to see it, DONT POST IT ON FACEBOOK!!!!!!!!!)
Ridiculous.
I don't appreciate what the teacher wrote. It was really a pretty shocking comment, but I believe her that she was stressed. There are sometimes my child drives me crazy and seriously I can empathize with dealing with 30 everyday. My anxiety could never support what teachers do.
The girl scout girl should just move on to Camp Fire and change her signature on her email so it doesn't happen again. I totally agree with her that parents should not blame her, but blame themselves if they are not monitoring what their kids are doing and seeing online. I have made an account on my computer just for my kid. She never touches the computer without asking, and making sure she is logged into her own account. Her account is heavily restricted and I have the browser set up so she can only search on Kid Rex and I have parental controls set up so I can monitor everything she does and inappropriate sites are blocked. If my child looked at my facebook, that would be a failure on my part.
I feel bad for the cheerleader. She seems like she doesn't have much to worry about, I hope that All Stars thing works out, so she can laugh at those prudish parents who got her fired.
The CNN lady, however correct about laws, is part of the problem these women have. If you don't make it okay to get so offended and not use common sense, than I bet people would stop ruining the lives of others because they are offended.
Get over yourselves people and stop being so offended.
Oh, come on you guys! I have been a teacher for over 30 years. We all have bad days, and we all vent. I am a good teacher, but there are some days when I am so overwhelmed and frustrated that I need to vent too. Facebook is a PRIVATE FORUM, and I believe we should have the expectation of privacy when we use it. A friend of mine was fired for comments he made about Halloween on FB . . . . this is a violation of our right to free speech. The law needs to catch up: we need legislation to protect our privacy when we post on social networking sites.
As far as Im concerned, Christine isnt sorry that she said what she said. I think the way that shes wording it that she is only sorry that she got caught saying it! Sorry that there were reprecutions of her actions. She "feels bad that it have come into this kind of situation". As a mother, had I seen my childrens teacher say something like that, I too would have fought to have her fired!