Students, get out your notebooks. We have a report on the oddest teacher behaviors going on in the country.
A Colorado high school teacher is being investigated for posting some inappropriate photos on her public Twitter account. Carly McKinney, 23, allegedly posted pictures of herself that possibly show her smoking marijuana, and drinking alcohol, as well as posting other pictures of herself that were practically nude, according to the International Business Times.
Some of her students felt that it was strange to see the photos of their teacher, and they preferred not to know about their teachers’ personal lives. I can’t disagree on that point — we have all thought at one point that our teachers’ first names were either “Mr.” or “Ms.”
Surprisingly, some of her other students have started a Twitter account defending her — stating that she was simply practicing her First Amendment right.
However, the First Amendment doesn’t draw a boundary of how far is too far — especially for teachers.
Teachers are supposed to act as positive role models to their students, whether they like it or not. But, are they only obligated to act that way when they’re at work?
She is after all, not only a teacher. She is also a young woman. She did not take those pictures and engage in the activities as seen in her pictures on campus. So, where exactly should the line be drawn?
Fox News conducted an interview with radio talkshow host Michael Graham and civil litigation attorney Anahita Sedaghatfar. Both argued that nobody, not even teachers, has a right to free speech without some sort of consequences for what they say and how they express themselves.
Sedghatfar stated in her interview with Fox that if a teacher’s social media posts cause a “substantial disruption to the teaching environment” then it can override the First Amendment.
McKinney is on paid leave right now. Or as I like to call it, teacher detention. Let’s hope she thinks about her actions during her time-out.
And yet another teacher is under fire for a regrettable social media post.
Ohio middle school teacher Melissa Cairns is on unpaid leave for posting a photo on Facebook of a group of students with duct tape across their mouths. The caption read, “Finally found a way to get them to be quiet!” according to ABC News.
Cairns initially had a piece of tape to fix a student’s binder, but when the student put the tape over her mouth, other students joined in and put tape on their mouths. Then, the students asked Cairns to snap a picture.
This “joke” may potentially cost Cairns her job.
In the age of social media, how do we really define privacy? Cairns’ incident seems to be more of a technicality issue than an ethical one.
From racy Twitter pictures to a “funny” Facebook post, it’s becoming increasingly evident that teachers ought to walk on eggshells with their social media.
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