I had an experience with social media recently that was a
rant, not a post, but it brings to mind the responsibility we have as teachers
to respond or not to respond.... On a closed Facebook site for the Stone
Bridge area, a mom posted that her daughter was reading a book that was totally
inappropriate, took a picture of a page she felt inappropriate and posted
it. She said her daughter was a student
at MMS, in 6th grade, and was required to read this book by her
English teacher ( yes, me) A lynch mob
joined in with outrage. Some responders
were reasonable, giving the advice to have a conversation with the
teacher and speaking of taking text out of context and the noting other popular young adult literature themes and topics. Others were outraged and were
deeply concerned for the well fair of their own child. Who is this teacher? What was she thinking? Within 24 hours, almost fifty responses were given to
her initial post.
By the time I reached school, teachers and admin were abuzz… Yes, the student was mine, the project was mine (part of my GM unit) and no, the book was not assigned, but a choice. And yes,
the book is in our school library. I
had spoken with this very mom several times that week and, the day prior, she
said she was reading with her daughter and was hooked on the book. I volunteered my personal copy so she didn’t
have to go to the library to check out her own.
I guess as she continued reading, she changed her mind (?). Anyway, I
was in the clear as far as covering my professional bases, but could not help but feel I had done something wrong and publicly
marred the name of our good school.
And then…. the principal decided to be “proactive.” By 10 am the dean called the mom and said she
heard she had a problem with the book that her daughter was reading and would she like to come in and talk about it? That’s when things got really dicey. This phone call enraged the mom. Through an email conversation with me,
she emailed that she never intended on having a conversation with me about the book even though she had questions and reservations, and, yes,
it was OK that her daughter read the book and she would oversee the reading. The dean had no right to call and “stick the
hornet’s nest” and be over dramatic. She never retracted or changed any of her postings. Eventually, the moms of Stone Bridge moved on.
According to reputationhawk ,”… personal opinion on any topic can be posted on blogs, websites, and other sources..." This mom did not use my name, but I had no recourse even if she did. However, did we have a right to interfere with a rant of a mom? If she had been ranting at soccer practice, would the dean have interrupted her and said, “Would you like to talk about this?” At what point to educators need to interject, police, and defend our own feelings and opinions? What freedom do parents and students have to voice their own personal thoughts about us, our teaching, our school?
5 comments:
You present some interesting questions. In my opinion, It would had been best for the school to ignore. This was not an official complaint. However, I hope parents realize the consequence of posting virtual rants. It is a bit cowardly to use Facebook to complain without any intention to come face to face with those involved. It's not like bringing attention to the world that a USA corporation has products in its store from countries that violate human rights in hopes of starting an advocacy campaign ( which involves more than just FB posting). Unfortunately if this parent's name can be found on Facebook, and the child's name is associated, colleges, potential employers, and the like could find this rant and make assumptions about the family.
Wow...what a headache. That would really bother me, but you're right. There's not much we can do about it. While we focus mainly on the positive aspects of technology use in ITS, this highlights some of the negative aspects. Sometimes having a free public sounding board isn't the best thing.
We have had similar instances happen, about specific teachers and about student behavior, too. For the most part, we have to ignore what is said if no formal complaint is filed. Obviously this parent had a case of jumping the gun, and the book's message won her over. However, as with PABBIS, one squeaky wheel brings out all the oil cans who have to have their squirt.
Hang in there, Lynn! She's reading-- and so is mom!
Thanks for your thoughts, ladies. Noel - I love your "squeaky wheel" comment! So true.
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