Facebook crackdown on teachers

[sparky]

Yes sparky. Thank you. NJs bill is even stricter. Teachers/administrators will be held accountible for what they know about outside bullying and what they "should have known" Huh?

So as I understand it, they must "investigate" and "address" it, but the court says no one may not be disciplined. We are now to have an "anti-bullying specialist" and a team of "investiigators" who have no authority to discipline the students.

The only sense I
can make of it is this; both bullies and victims will be able to sue the schools for any time a kid sends a dirty picture or gets his feelings hurt. Damned if you do; damned if you don't. Another gift to the lawyers.

eggzzzactly chanel

further would be the esculation of said da*ming via factions insisting on zero tolerance doctrine

teachers being fired for opining on the 'net

parents having anti-bullying specialists sopena their IP's, home computers, etc

 

[chanel]

I read the proposed biil but haven't seen the final version. I believe it passed almost unanimously because anyone who opposed would be portrayed as "pro bullying".

Kids are meaner today than ever. But there is a huge difference between calling a principal a pedophile and an ex boyfriend calling a girl a whore. Under these new regs, one is free speech and the other will require investigations, negotiations, counseling, and /or lawyer fees. You cannot legislate "niceness" and sometimes the treatment is more harmful than the injury. In a majority of these "allegations" the kids will be friends again long before the "investigation" is complete. Adolescent Psych 101.

 

[Douger]

I personally think you shouldn't "friend" your students on Facebook.

If you want to give your cell # to a student that you think may need you because they are having troubles at home or at school, and you're the only one they can talk to, shouldn't be a problem, as long as you know you can trust that student not to share that info with other students.

It's a judgement call I guess.

First things first. Facebook(ing), MySpace and all the rest were "created" for one purpose and it aint for making friends. It allows your masters to watch even closer.
EBAY is another. If you sell a lot of stuff on Ebay expect a knock on your door.
Just the mere mention of Ebay can cause some Nazi IRS assholes to orgasm.

 

[chanel]

Well it seems that opposing gay marriage on facebook can cause a teacher his job now:

A former “Teacher of the Year” in Mount Dora, Fla. has been suspended and could lose his job after he voiced his objection to gay marriage on his personal Facebook page.

Jerry Buell, a veteran American history teacher at Mount Dora High School, was removed from his teaching duties this week as school officials in Lake County investigate allegations that what he posted was biased towards homosexuals.

“We took the allegations seriously,” said Chris Patton, a communication officer with Lake County Schools. “All teachers are bound by a code of special ethics (and) this is a code ethics violation investigation.”

Read more: Florida Teacher Suspended For Anti-Gay Marriage Posts On Personal Facebook Page | FoxNews.com

Chilling.

 

[chanel]

School officials in Union Township are investigating allegations that a teacher at Union High School posted comments on her Facebook site criticizing a school display recognizing Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender History Month and calling homosexuality "perverted

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey released a statement defending Knox’s First Amendment right to make the comments.

"Although we do not agree with the sentiments expressed on Ms. Knox’s personal Facebook page, her comments are protected by the First Amendment," stated Ed Barocas, the group’s legal director. "The ACLU believes that the response to offensive speech is not the restriction of speech, but more speech."

But Garden State Equality, a gay rights group, joined the lawyer Paragano in calling for the teacher’s dismissal.

Union Township school officials investigate teacher who allegedly made anti-gay remarks on Facebook | NJ.com

Predictions?

 

[chanel]

A Camden school official faces the state’s first penalty for improper Facebook use, according to an Ethics Commission decision released this week.

School board member Sean Brown may be censured for mentioning “local terrorists” in a Facebook wall post that linked to a photograph of School Superintendent Bessie LeFra Young on the district’s website.

The Commission previously has imposed a reprimand and a suspension for board members who posted inappropriate information on media websites. It said censure, a penalty between those two, would send a “cautionary message” about the proper use of Facebook under the state School Ethics Act. Censure is a reprimand that’s read aloud at a board meeting.

Censure recommended for Camden school board member who linked board president to 'terrorists' - pressofAtlanticCity.com: New Jersey News

Teachers can get fired. School board members get "censured".

 

[Gagafritz]

Teachers should have just as much right as anyone to be on and use the internet. Including blogging their opinions, chat or whatever. And, we dont need Big Brother combing the internet for any opinion they have that somebody doesn't like.
Having said that, it behooves teachers to keep a wall of separation with students. Friending on FB would not be a good idea. That seems like it could open a world of problems. When hiring though, they need to start addressing how teachers and students should communicate, etc.
As for cells, my son has his coaches cell # in case he needs to call the coach, miss practice or whatever. There are legitimate uses for all of these things. As for FB, i could see a Classroom FB where the whole class is on a page and the teacher could easily communicate that way with the whole class.

 

[chanel]

A few of our teachers have blogs that serve that purpose. We also have a professional development/social network that teachers can use to discuss educational issues, but everyone is very cautious about using that.

Some embarrassing out of context comments from a friend's facebook account were recently posted on a local message board. She was extremely upset, so I emailed the site administrators and asked that they be removed. Her fb account was set on "private" but the haters managed their way around that. The newspaper's response was that there are different rules for "anyone on the government payroll" so real names, addresses, salaries, gossip, and outright lies are permissable according to their forum rules.

So there you have it. She was unable to defend herself and I was basically told "tough shit".

Lesson learned. Free speech for anyone except teachers.