Blogging Teacher Guilty of Serious Oversharing
February 16, 2011 at 9:53 am 4 commentsA word of warning – teachers need to be extra careful online these days. We’ve questioned before whether or not students and teachers should friend each other on social networking sites, and by now you’ve probably heard about Natalie Munroe from Central Bucks East High School in Pennsylvania. In this bizarre case of cyberbullying, the newly infamous English teacher posted negative and profanity-laced comments about students and her fellow staff members. Munroe is now suspended from her job after the blog was discovered last week by students, parents and school administrators.
Munroe’s comments (which have since been removed from the Internet) described students as out of control, rude, lazy jerks and rat-like. An NBC report also notes the report card comments Munroe wished she could post, including:
- Has a massive chip on her shoulder.
- Although academically ok, your child has no other redeeming qualities.
- Two words come to mind: brown AND nose.
- Nowhere near as good as her sibling. Are you sure they’re related?
- Weirdest kid I’ve ever met.
- I hear the trash company is hiring.
Munroe is defending herself saying she didn’t think anybody directly associated with the school would see the posts. She also tried to remain as anonymous as possible by only calling herself “Natalie M.” and never identifying the school, administrators or students directly. However, she still used a picture of herself and the discovery has caused some serious damage to her online reputation. The comments were posted over a year ago, but, like most things put online, they were eventually found and associated with the correct person. Munroe is a perfect example of the seriously negative consequences that oversharing online can have, and the media attention has resulted in teachers all over the country deactivating their own blogs and Facebook pages.
What was your reaction to this story? Have you ever encountered anything online posted by any of your kids’ teachers?
At risk of negative comment: I will state that this is the type of mediocre professional that is protected by the abused power of unions. Regardless whether she thought anyone important would see her words, the mere fact that she was thinking them is reason to seek employment elsewhere. You guessed it- I am an unemployed educator who loves teaching and students and would give a lot if i actually HAD a teaching job right now. Rethink senate bill 5…? maybe.
As an educator I hate that Ms. Natalie is receiving so much backlash for her posts. Parents why be upset if your child is at school doing the best they can do and not a disruption. 85% of a students ACADEMIC learning starts at home. Nothing I can do as a teacher if you aren’t doing your part at home. Those that are complaining are probably the ones who felt the most sting from the comments, because they feel their children are guilty. Not saying students are all at fault, but what she posted isn’t a lie. That is the sentiment of children in America today. We are not raising or educating the brightest of the world, we are far behind when it comes to the children of today, academically, socially, etc.
Okay… I just wrote out a long-winded post on another site about an online privacy issue related to images, and I felt genuinely appalled at how she was being treated. The teacher in question was Ashley Payne, and was fired for having a picture of herself holding a wine glass and a beer glass on her Facebook, which was set to private. In that case, her behaviour had no direct connection to the classroom, and she should never have been penalized for what was posted. However, Natalie Munroe’s behaviour here is absolutely appalling. It is horrifying that a teacher would publicly post such comments in a way that could lead her students back to her, and by extension, back to themselves. It’s one thing to post such comments in a completely anonymous context, but regardless of how a teacher might feel about her students, insulting and completely inappropriate content like this has no place online with such an obvious link to the point of origin. @ Tish: I don’t think I understand the point you’re trying to make, nor do I understand how what you said is relevant to the article. The issue isn’t whether parents are parenting properly, nor is the issue whether or not Natalie Munroe had a point. The issue is that she is a professional in the workplace, and that she is – like it or not, and I certainly don’t like it – a role model for the kids in her class. I don’t believe anyone who would wilfully post such drivel should belong in a classroom, because with an attitude like that how can she possibly help or teach the very students she’s so blatantly criticized? She sounds as though she’s written them off, which is the last thing we need today’s teachers to do. However, that’s neither here nor there; she can believe and say whatever she wants of her students, but no teacher has the right to publicly air these kinds of comments in a form that can be seen by those about whom they are written. Not only are you bashing your students and thus potentially giving them self-esteem issues, or else reinforcing their belief that nobody cares about them, but you are also broadcasting a horrendous attitude that no parent in his or her right mind would want in a teacher. I’m very glad she was suspended.
Regardless of the words Natalie Munroe used to describe her students, we wanted to highlight this incident because of how public the negative commentary was made when posted online. While everyone has the right to air their opinions both online and in the real world, it’s important to be careful how one conveys certain messages. And if someone posts their thoughts online, they should understand that anyone can potentially see that information.