that every teacher in a public school–whether beginner or veteran–needs to understand as the school year begins in his/her district.
The best way to prevent a problem arising from a social networking site is to simply not have one.
But Aristotle was right. We are political (social) animals. We are wired for and exist in a perpetual network of inter-relatedness. To ask creatures predisposed to act sociably to withdraw from social functioning seems ill-advised. So fair enough: what if a teacher has a Facebook page already? The AFT suggests
- posting no material “that others may consider offensive”
- not “friend” ing students
- consider using an alternate username
- regularly checking to see if information has been posted and checking its accuracy if so
- not making “disciplinary decisions about a student regarding an Internet posting if the teacher is the target of the speech”
- making the Facebook account private (hiding it from public searches)
In the old days, in the town square or forum, when individuals stood and spoke, they did so in the light of day and within earshot of their listeners. Physically surrounded by an audience, a citizen would get immediate feedback for their opinions. The same feedback happens in talk radio and on letters to the editor pages.
Whether I am an education worker, house painter, pedicab operator, or dog trainer in the 21st century community, I am unable to keep separate my private life from my public one. Online or no, we are all socially-mediated. Like Bill Clinton, we discover that it’s impossible to neatly apportion existence into separate, stand-alone “box”es. If someone wishes to scrutinize us, public or private, he may. Information and surveillance in our society is that cheap.
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