Last class we had a very eye-opening talk about social media by Jesse Miller a public speaker, social media consultant and educator at Mediated Reality. It made me feel that entering into schools as teachers we are 
walking into a lion’s den. I was left with the impression that teachers’ online presence from anytime and anyplace in their lives could be brought against them by a parent. As an older student, I personally have no worries as social media was not a thing until long after any wild days I might have had. But it really made me feel for those in my class whose wild days might have been captured on social media and how unjust it is. It raises the very real issue of teachers not having the right to their own private lives and how far does it reach.
The Guardian printed an interesting debate about whether or not a teacher whose students found out he was a porn star in his private life should be allowed to be a teacher. The two most interesting points that I found in the article were:
- It is legal for an adult to earn money by exposing their body. (So the teacher has the same legal right as any adult).
- This mentality is the same that used to force gay teachers to hide their “unnatural” sexuality, lest they be persecuted and lose their jobs.
So if teachers should have these same rights as others and if we want to learn from history and not force teachers to hide what some might find “unnatural”, should we not protect teachers private lives as their private lives?!
