Would you check out a teacher’s Facebook profile?

College is college and people should not judge a teacher based on what they did then. What did those parents do at that age??? But, when a person graduates and enters the “adult” world and has trained to be a teacher then by all means delete those pages in Facebook, and other reunion websites. You are now a responsible adult, teacher, and have to set an example. If you want to be taken seriously then it is time to grow up and behave.

It is not as simple though as deleting a profile. For most college students, only a fraction of their profile pictures and wall postings are posted on their profile. Much of that information is posted on the profiles of other users; sometimes their friends, sometimes people they are only marginally connected to or not even aware of, sometimes in a facebook or myspace group. While a teacher can delete their own profile, they have no control over the profiles of their peers from college and even less control of group postings that could be several years old.

As a public school employee (school psychologist), I have chosen to safeguard my facebook page with privacy options offered by the website. I don’t believe that all teachers, because of their chosen profession, should be discriminated against based on how they spend their private lives but I also know that this is not a new concern, just a new medium. Before MySpace and Facebook, teachers were told not to patronize bars in areas near where they worked (heaven forbid a teacher engage in a legal activity outside of working hours!) I work with many great teachers. I also work with several teachers and administrators that are far below mediocre. I think if schools and boards of education made personnel decisions based on performance at work, and not on any ridiculous politic or even meaningless “tenure,” schools would be a much more positive and enriching place for our students. What would be interesting to know is if there is any stronger relationship between “inappropriate” content posted by a teacher versus lack of “inappropriate” content when compared to actual job performance. Are we entering the world of “social network” profiling? Add it to sex and race profiling and three big cheers for America.

Private lives are just that, PRIVATE!! I work with college students each day and we are constantly dealing with this issue. I tell my students to just stay away from those websites unless they use them professionally…meaning no party pics, no profanity, etc. I KNOW that employers search MySpace and Facebook before making an offer to a student for an internship or full/part time job. Just use common sense!

It’s all about building your personal brand when you are trying to build a career, and if you honestly think companies aren’t looking, you are sadly mistaken. Yes, it is your private life, but by posting it online you are making it PUBLIC. It comes down to this…would you want your grandmother to see it? If not, it’s probably best to keep it to yourself.

Parents that have had much worse in their past want to send their kids to school pretty much run by nuns, no life besides teaching. It’s a part of wanting the best for your kids, and understandable, but not realistic. For parents and students, teachers are teachers, not people. I just remember being at a Burger King with some teacher friends when some students came in, shocked that teachers actually ate something besides cafeteria food.

Now, where the problem comes in is that facebook and myspace breed familiarity , which can either be very good or very bad. I knew a teacher that used them effectively to tutor students or they’d talk to him about problems. It seems to me to be a very useful counseling tool. The problem arose when a girl received a detention and went to the principal claiming he was sexually harassing other students. Even though he was vindicated when the emails were checked, the rumors still went out about “inappropriate” relationships. Unfortunately, there are enough teachers that get into relationships with students.

As a single 24 year old high school teacher who recently graduated and finished their first year of teaching, I definitely use Facebook to keep in touch with my friends and family. It is convenient and doesn’t have all of the annoying frills of MySpace. I have my profile set up to where you have to be my “friend” to see my profile and the little information you can see if you aren’t my “friend” is appropriate. I also have high school students (regardless of school) blocked from finding me on Facebook so I don’t have any students trying to contact me or adding me on the website. With all this being said, I think it is ridiculous that teachers are not given the same basic freedoms that most others get. I know of some terrible parents who virtually get away with murder when it comes to their treatment of their children but DFS does little to address the situation but God forbid a teacher has a picture online somewhere where they’re at a family barbecue and they have a beer in their hand.

As a young and new teacher myself, I have had my facebook and myspace accounts since college as well. Although I feel I have nothing on my website that would misrepresent me or be “inappropriate,” I still have set my profile to a private status where only people who I am friends with can view my profile. (I have had it this way since the creation of my accounts in college.) This is so in case spam or something else would happen to get on my page, I could filter it before it would be out there for everyone to see. This is also so I can maintain a professional relationship with my students (which I think is more of an issue with social networking than this one). There is not anything on my page that I would not share in my classroom, that is not common knowledge of those I know, or that I would not feel comfortable with anyone, including parents or employers, looking at. However, I do think it is a little unfair to hire someone just based on a internet profile. I do agree that teachers should not be singled out as one profession that should not be able to have a private life or network with friends online, but I do believe the career I chose inspires me to want to be a role model for those I teach. Whatever that is to you, whether it is deleting a few pictures, setting profiles to private, deleting that account, changing your lifestyle so that it shows you are a professional now, or just being you, that is what you should do and represent, whether you are a teacher or any other profession out there. I am not out to be the young cool teacher, but I am about getting to be myself and still be a professional, respected teacher by students, parents, co-workers, and employers. Hopefully, they can see that in my resume and interview, not just based off my home page.

It’s never a good idea to mix your private life with your work life. Fortunately, your Facebook profile does not represent who you are when you step into the office. Everyone does and should have a separation of the two identities. Facebook offers a number of different ways to protect your profile, but if you are smart you will not post things you do not want to be seen. Better yet, take it a step further and live a life that you do not have to hide.

What you people don’t know is that you have to add someone for them to see anything on your profile. All the “public” can see is your name and school or network you belong to, nothing else. So privacy is only an issue with the person who allows the persons they choose to view their profile. I really don’t get all the negative feedback on facebook. Maybe check out the actual service before you negatively post about it. It’s a great thing and has provided more healthy relationships than negative ones. I’ve had many people who, without facebook, would never have seen or been able to get ahold of. Old classmates, work friends and people you may have met from the night before. It’s a great tool for people. Also for people in school or just in general who might be shy or nervous in public can express themselves easily and confidently on the internet now.