Yes. And your students’ parents. Your students, too.
That giant snapping sound you hear is the sound of teachers–if they have the brains that God gave a giraffe–restricting access to their Facebook and MySpace pages after reading this article in today’s Washington Post. Seems there are a few molders of impressionable young minds who exercise questionable judgement in what they see fit to post on their personal pages.
“I know that employers will look at that page, and I need to be more careful,” says Erin Jane Webster, a substitute teacher in Prince William County, Virginia. (OMG, Erin! Ya think?) “At the same time, my work and social lives are completely separate. I just feel they shouldn’t take it seriously. I am young. I just turned 22.” The Post describes part of Miss Webster’s page as suggesting its author “is in the throes of sorority rush.”
One wonders how the “completely separate” and “I’m only 22″ line will work on her students’ parents at Meet the Teacher night. On second thought, why wonder? She’ll probably put it on YouTube.
I wonder how Erin would feel if she ran across her male principal’s Facebook page and found pornographic images of teachers in their classrooms. It’s private, right? It’s the kind of thing middle-aged men might do, right?