I have something to say to the role models for and of my generation and those following me: FAIL! When you taught us to "not care what other people think," you forgot to emphasize that there are limits to that statement.
I'm reading an article today in the Washington Post, titled "When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web." The topic is (quite obviously) teachers who have racy MySpace and Facebook pages for all the world to see.
Ms. Webster, a Prince William Co. long-term substitute teacher (i.e., for when a teacher goes on maternity leave, has surgery, etc.) for students with emotional and learning disabilities, granted an interview with the journalist. Parents, brace yourselves - this person may have unfettered access to your children's tiny minds. If stupid is as stupid does, this chicky fits the description (and she wasn't even the worst of those quoted in the story; that title goes to one Ms. Espinosa).
Among the priceless gems on her public page is a graphic of a bumper sticker that says, "You're a retard, but I love you." Her defense, ladies and gentlemen: "My best friend, she always calls me that because I say ditzy things... [but] I would never go around calling people that. All of my [students] have emotional disorders or learning disabilities. . . . I love them." So, Ms. Webster, I take that to mean that both of you are devoid of basic manners, empathy, and consideration. Saying that it's okay because it was just your friend teasing you is like the Seinfeld episode (much as I hate to credit that show) about the dentist who coverts to Judaism just to be able to make the jokes. An ordinary person calling another a retard is appalling! But because you teach people with disabilities, it's okay for you to use it.
In the photos section of her page, she includes a shot of a couple of guys flipping the bird and one of herself apparently passed out drunk and holding a bottle of Cuervo. Great message to send to your impressionable students. She says she didn't realize that people could see her page regardless of whether she approved them as "friends." STUPID STUPID STUPID! It's a basic user functionality to make private or password-protected certain parts of your page, or the whole thing. Clue: can you see pages of people who didn't add YOU as a friend? Then they can probably see yours, dingus! And if you, an educator, are not bright enough to think of that, someone really needs to consider whether you should be at the blackboard at all.
In defense of her page as a whole (quoting directly from the article): "I know that employers will look at that page, and I need to be more careful," said Webster, adding that other Prince William teachers have warned her about her page. "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." Brilliant. So when you're looking to get hired as a sub, and the principal checks your page (nota bene, folks: employers are googling you and are looking at your webpages, blogs, and MySpace crap, if you have it), s/he'll see a drunk with poor social skills... but then they'll see your age and say, "Oh but she's only 22! We'll give her a pass!" Right. Besides employers, what parent who sees that page is going to overlook it just because it's a page regarding your social life, which you say is separate from your professional life. You may think they're separate, honey, but you lost the right to claim so once you posted that you were employed as a teacher at thusandsuch school. As soon as you did that, you became a representative of your school, and anyone looking at the page was free to make an association between your deportment and the standards at your place of employment.
See, that's the tricky word, isn't it? "Professional." To be sure, this lack of basic decorum and self-awareness reaches far beyond the boundaries of education. Here's the nuance to not caring what others think, and it's one of the first things I was taught when I got my first job at age 16 in a food service joint: Anytime you are identifiable as a representative of a professional organization, you must be aware that your appearance and behavior is equally representative of that organization. While my aphorism is particularly targeted toward employment, it pertains to anyone in a position of evaluation as a professional or as an individual: teachers, managers, leaders, job-seekers, college applicants, romantic interests, etc.
Quick and easy check: Google yourself periodically to see what turns up. Log out of your social networking site and check out your page as a stranger would see it. If there's anything you wouldn't want your boss, colleagues, boy/girlfriend, AND parents to see, take down the picture or make it private. Would you vote for a candidate who you saw on MySpace posing in nothing but lingerie against a fire truck? Would you be comfortable if your son's Boy Scout leader posted a picture of himself in mid-moon? Could you take seriously the teacher who posted shots of herself making out with her boyfriend? How about hiring that engineer who posted a video of himself stumbling drunk out of a bar and letting loose with a string of curse words? Would you let your teenage son date the girl photographed dragging on a joint? Do you want to waste time seeing the guy who posted a shot of himself proudly grabbing some girl's butt at Spring Break? (All but the first are completely hypothetical situations, so far as I know.)
This is especially important if you take a position that is clearly in the public eye and seen as a social influence, but it applies across the board. If you go to a company function and your boss is there, you mind your Ps and Qs of course. But if you're wearing a shirt (or carrying a tote, etc.) with the company logo to Happy Hour, you make sure you limit it to a drink or two. All it takes to lose out on a contract is for a potential client to see your company logo dancing on the bar.
It's neither my place nor my intent to regulate what you do in your private life. I'm not suggesting that we should all become Puritans because we never know who might see us. I'm just advocating a little common sense and propriety, and putting out fair warning that you're making an ass of yourself.
I'm reading an article today in the Washington Post, titled "When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web." The topic is (quite obviously) teachers who have racy MySpace and Facebook pages for all the world to see.
Ms. Webster, a Prince William Co. long-term substitute teacher (i.e., for when a teacher goes on maternity leave, has surgery, etc.) for students with emotional and learning disabilities, granted an interview with the journalist. Parents, brace yourselves - this person may have unfettered access to your children's tiny minds. If stupid is as stupid does, this chicky fits the description (and she wasn't even the worst of those quoted in the story; that title goes to one Ms. Espinosa).
Among the priceless gems on her public page is a graphic of a bumper sticker that says, "You're a retard, but I love you." Her defense, ladies and gentlemen: "My best friend, she always calls me that because I say ditzy things... [but] I would never go around calling people that. All of my [students] have emotional disorders or learning disabilities. . . . I love them." So, Ms. Webster, I take that to mean that both of you are devoid of basic manners, empathy, and consideration. Saying that it's okay because it was just your friend teasing you is like the Seinfeld episode (much as I hate to credit that show) about the dentist who coverts to Judaism just to be able to make the jokes. An ordinary person calling another a retard is appalling! But because you teach people with disabilities, it's okay for you to use it.
In the photos section of her page, she includes a shot of a couple of guys flipping the bird and one of herself apparently passed out drunk and holding a bottle of Cuervo. Great message to send to your impressionable students. She says she didn't realize that people could see her page regardless of whether she approved them as "friends." STUPID STUPID STUPID! It's a basic user functionality to make private or password-protected certain parts of your page, or the whole thing. Clue: can you see pages of people who didn't add YOU as a friend? Then they can probably see yours, dingus! And if you, an educator, are not bright enough to think of that, someone really needs to consider whether you should be at the blackboard at all.
In defense of her page as a whole (quoting directly from the article): "I know that employers will look at that page, and I need to be more careful," said Webster, adding that other Prince William teachers have warned her about her page. "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." Brilliant. So when you're looking to get hired as a sub, and the principal checks your page (nota bene, folks: employers are googling you and are looking at your webpages, blogs, and MySpace crap, if you have it), s/he'll see a drunk with poor social skills... but then they'll see your age and say, "Oh but she's only 22! We'll give her a pass!" Right. Besides employers, what parent who sees that page is going to overlook it just because it's a page regarding your social life, which you say is separate from your professional life. You may think they're separate, honey, but you lost the right to claim so once you posted that you were employed as a teacher at thusandsuch school. As soon as you did that, you became a representative of your school, and anyone looking at the page was free to make an association between your deportment and the standards at your place of employment.
See, that's the tricky word, isn't it? "Professional." To be sure, this lack of basic decorum and self-awareness reaches far beyond the boundaries of education. Here's the nuance to not caring what others think, and it's one of the first things I was taught when I got my first job at age 16 in a food service joint: Anytime you are identifiable as a representative of a professional organization, you must be aware that your appearance and behavior is equally representative of that organization. While my aphorism is particularly targeted toward employment, it pertains to anyone in a position of evaluation as a professional or as an individual: teachers, managers, leaders, job-seekers, college applicants, romantic interests, etc.
Quick and easy check: Google yourself periodically to see what turns up. Log out of your social networking site and check out your page as a stranger would see it. If there's anything you wouldn't want your boss, colleagues, boy/girlfriend, AND parents to see, take down the picture or make it private. Would you vote for a candidate who you saw on MySpace posing in nothing but lingerie against a fire truck? Would you be comfortable if your son's Boy Scout leader posted a picture of himself in mid-moon? Could you take seriously the teacher who posted shots of herself making out with her boyfriend? How about hiring that engineer who posted a video of himself stumbling drunk out of a bar and letting loose with a string of curse words? Would you let your teenage son date the girl photographed dragging on a joint? Do you want to waste time seeing the guy who posted a shot of himself proudly grabbing some girl's butt at Spring Break? (All but the first are completely hypothetical situations, so far as I know.)
This is especially important if you take a position that is clearly in the public eye and seen as a social influence, but it applies across the board. If you go to a company function and your boss is there, you mind your Ps and Qs of course. But if you're wearing a shirt (or carrying a tote, etc.) with the company logo to Happy Hour, you make sure you limit it to a drink or two. All it takes to lose out on a contract is for a potential client to see your company logo dancing on the bar.
It's neither my place nor my intent to regulate what you do in your private life. I'm not suggesting that we should all become Puritans because we never know who might see us. I'm just advocating a little common sense and propriety, and putting out fair warning that you're making an ass of yourself.
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