Hello and welcome to Mike’s Random Thoughts. I’ve been lost for topics to write about recently, but something fired me up yesterday. Read this article and then come back. I’ll wait…
You back? Okay. For those that want the TL;DR, a substitute teacher quit after she was given an ultimatum, delete all the students that she’s friends with on Facebook, or be fired.
I’ll never really understand what the big deal is. I’m sure that both she and the students understand the boundaries between “friend” and “professional relationship”. And really, being Facebook friends isn’t the biggest thing. Facebook friends isn’t really friends anyway, I don’t really even know half the people in my friends list, but I can’t be “friends” with a teacher? I think that just because some (a very small amount I hope) teachers use their position for evil and immoral acts, doesn’t mean that the rest of them should be penalized for just being Facebook friends. That woman, who taught for years wants to be Facebook friends with her students, past and present, should be allowed to!
35 years of substitute teaching without incident, but because another teacher did something, she is being penalized. I don’t like it when general punishments are given out because someone might commit a crime, that’s like Phillip K. Dick’s “Minority Report”, (which I reviewed, here) where people are arrested and incarcerated because they might commit a crime. It’s not how we as logical humans should go about things, preventative measures are good, but seriously, this is a bit extreme. Delete the students or be terminated, is a bit harsh, no?
Also, just so no one thinks that I’m just a kid who’s angry that I can’t be Facebook friends with my teachers. I don’t care that I can’t. I don’t even use Facebook enough to justify it. Teachers are teachers, students are students, I’ve never attempted to friend a teacher on Facebook, because I know the rules. And frankly, I don’t want to be friends with them on Facebook, but to have the option denied to all because of a select few, is wrong.
I’m Michael and those were my random thoughts.
RT Gomer Productions 