Monday, April 28, 2008

Wild Teachers, Social Networking Sites & Dumb People

Well, it happened again.

And, of course, the Washington Post duly reported it.

I suppose it was just too tantalizing to let it go.

Even the headline “When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web,” guarantees readers. That story (which btw is worth reading) just makes me wonder.

According to the article, one high school art teacher was fired for painting canvasses with his rear end which he videoed on YouTube for posterity. (No wonder I can’t access YouTube at school. Who knew?)

Then there’s the substitute teacher who exposes herself in photos on her social networking site, another teacher who uses politically incorrect language regarding special education students, and other teachers who just use nasty language.

Some of this stuff should be inappropriate for any job venue.

I’m just wondering where these yahoos work. I glanced up and down my hallway and I can say with 100 percent certainty that our art teachers wouldn’t paint anything with their behinds–unless, of course, they accidentally backed into some wet paint.

And while we might have a few odd substitute teachers running around at any given time, I’m fairly certain that probably the most they’ve ever flashed someone might have been a peace sign back in the day.

And as we continue to warn our students about displaying and posting inappropriate content on their MySpace and FaceBook sites, these teachers apparently failed to heed similar warnings and seemed surprised when cornered about their content. One said, “I never thought about parents and kids…” seeing her site. Jeez.

While some may use all this posting nonsense as reasons to discipline or fire these Teachers Gone Wild, I prefer the old fashion excuse.

Do we really want stupid people teaching our future?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This, I think, qualifies for the Big, Fat Stupidhead saying.

Anonymous said...

I will never be a member of any of the traditional social networking sites. And I have started my own blog, Mr Teacher, only very recently. I enjoy my time spent blogging and I like to read the thoughts posted by others, particularly other teachers. Sharing experiences and opinions in an open forum is important.

Having said that, I go to all possible lengths to conceal my true identity because I am certain that my employers would not take too kindly to some of my comments.

And my question is this: Why would anyone, especially a school teacher, post, for example, erotic pictures of him/herself on an internet site that everyone in the world has access to? If, for some reason, you feel compelled to do this, why would you not take a few simple steps to guard your privacy?

Like you say, the worry is that these stupid people are working in our schools! Madness!

Melissa B. said...

Those Teachers Gone Wild are all in my Neck of the Woods--and I think the art teacher with the paintings of his posterior looks downright civilized compared to these 20-something floozies!

Mister Teacher said...

Um, almost surreal to read this posting and then see a comment by ME! Oh wait, that's NOT me!!
Now I totally understand Mamacita's recent post about people using the same blogger name!
Anyway, I am Mr. Teacher as well, and I DO have a Myspace page, but I took down all the nude photos. Just kidding, I never had any there. Though "Tom" keeps trying to send some to me...

HappyChyck said...

It's quite an accomplishment for my students when they find my Myspace page. The biggest secret they'll find out about me is that I only have 15 friends. Maybe if I showed some skin I'd have more, aye?

Devonia said...

Parent's Viewpoint: It's because of incidents such as these that I sometimes think, seriously, the doors to "government schools" should be permanently nailed close.

I'm for vouchers. It's getting really difficult to support the public school system.