Teachers and MySpace – How far is too far?
If you have never heard of the 'social networking' site MySpace, then chances are you've had your head buried in the sand or have spent the past few years hiding in a cave. The social networking phenomenon has swept the globe at a rapid rate. There is no doubt that it can be a really useful tool for connecting with other people from around the globe that share similar interests with you.
I set up my own MySpace page when I launched this site, but from very early on I was wary. Reading the pages of others, particularly those in the teaching profession, I was surprised at how much information people were prepared to reveal about themselves, their thoughts and their private lives. This prompted me to ask the question, at what point should you keep your personal life private, particularly if your a school teacher. What happens if your students stumble across your profile and find something that may not look so good if you were asked to stand in front of a parents groups?
With MySpace you can control the content that you post, but it can be difficult and/or time consuming to control what others post on your page.
Don't get me wrong, I think MySpace has the potential for being a great resource to get in touch with people, I just can't help but wonder if it is best to approach MySpace with a degree of caution. Perhaps anonymity is the way to go. How long will it be until we see the headline, "Teacher sacked over MySpace incident"?
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This is all too true… I’ve known one too many teachers who have given out their screennames (for personal e-mail, but just to give students the opportunity to ask questions outside of class time), only to receive threats–even directed to their children. Teachers need to be VERY careful in this day in age about what the post. I think that is especially true when students are older and are on the internet more often and are more likely to come across their teachers’ pages…and that’s the age when students are most likely to have those hostile feelings toward their teachers. Please be careful…these things happen too often!