Teacher Loses Her Job Over Her Facebook Status

It has been said over and over, but it seems that it still needs repeating.

Do Not Post Anything On the Internet that You Don't Want Everyone to See

Facebook and other social networking sites can be invaluable in helping you stay connected with your personal network and allow you to build your professional network as well. In fact, many people have found their new jobs through a friend or a friend of a friend's recommendation.

Although many people find job through Facebook, many also lose their jobs due to over sharing on Facebook.

Earlier this month, according to Boston.com, a teacher was fired after making a comment on her Facebook page saying that she was “so not looking forward to another year at Cohasset Schools,’’ calling residents “so arrogant and snobby.’’ . Angry parent complained to the school board and the teacher was asked to resign within 24 hours.

In the interview, the teacher said that the comment was made after some tension in a meeting with the school board, community and parents. She said that she thought that her comments were set to only be viewed by her friends and that she was just venting. She is now concerned that her comments may ruin her career.

According to the teacher

“You would assume if you have to confirm people as a friend, [other people] can’t see,’’ she said. “I have a lot of background with technology, and yet I still get caught with my pants down.’’

It just goes to show that no matter how web savvy you are, you can still make a mistake that can cost your job. So be extra careful how you chose to vent your frustrations because the price for trusting the privacy of you online profile can be too high.

But it makes me wonder about how much control our employers should have on our private life, and also makes me ask, why are we as a culture such tattletales? The comments she made on her Facebook, while the are offensive to some, weren't unforgivable. There was no singling out of a student, no planning illegal activity. In the larger view, her comments were frustrated and snippy. I think everyone has been frustrated at one time or another and said something as insulting or perhaps even more insulting toward the “powers that be” at their job. The only difference is that they either didn't say them on Facebook or they were kept private.

Facebook has a comment feature that allows users to comment on the status of others, and I think that perhaps it would have been better handled if the offended parent or parent had just commented the teacher to say that they were offended and upset. By directly dealing with it, it would have provided the teacher the opportunity to explain her remarks and apologize and allowed everyone to move on. Instead, they took it to the highest authority in the school hierarchy and demanded the teacher's job.

Good teachers are hard to find, and although she made a bad choice about what to post of Facebook, I am not sure that I think it ought to cost her not only her job but even her chances to find another teaching job. We all make mistakes and we expect to be called out on them, but losing your career because someone was offended by a comment you made on your Facebook seems a little too high.

But the lesson still remains.

So here we go, one more time, say it with me-

Do Not Post Anything On the Internet that You Don't Want Everyone to See

By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a freelance writer and regular contributor to several websites and other publications, a volunteer, a full time mom and an active job seeker.