How to get fired from using technology?
It is not as hard as you would think….
It is 2019 and technology is a huge part of our lives. 10-20 years ago no one would have thought that they could lose their job from posting on social media but today it is becoming a common occurrence. Every case is very different from the next and not all cases I would agree with are necessary for the teachers to lose their jobs.
5 ways you can get fired for using technology are….
- Posting pictures- something as simple as posting a picture of you drinking alcohol can cause you to lose your job (check case #3 below). Some things you do on your own time should not be photographed and posted to social media, if these things land in to the wrong hands you could end up losing your job.
- Posting racial comments- being considered racist is absolutely unacceptable in all work places. Workers should keep their racial thoughts and comments to themselves and not on their social media. Anything posted that can be considered every slightly racist cant result in the loss of your job. (check post #2)
- Bad Mouthing People- talking badly about your boss, job, or friends on social media can result in loss of your job. Keep your negative comments and trash talk off of your social media pages.
- Sharing Confidential information- information about yourself or others that is confidential is not to be posted on social media or talked about. If you are found guilty of this your job could be on the line.
- Posting while at work- most jobs have a policy that states that you are not allowed to use social media during work hours. If you are caught posting on social media during these hours you could be at risk of losing your job.
Case #1
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/colorado-teacher-placed-on-leave-over-demeaning-tweet-aimed-at-covington-st
Friday January 25th, 2019
The headline reads “Colorado teacher places on leave over demeaning tweet aimed at Covington student.”
Michelle Grissom a history teacher and union rep in the Douglas County School District was placed on leave after a social media post that was linked to her caused furor. Michelle Grissom incorrectly identified a student depicted in a viral video of the January 18 encounter of Catholic students with a counter-protester at the March for Life in Washington D.C. Her posts on twitter misidentified a student as a member of “Hitler Youth.” Grissom posted on her twitter which was now deleted “His name is Jay Jackson,” “His twitter account is closed to non followers so we won’t interfere with his training #HitlerYouth.” The student who she identified in the video was not even in Washington at the time of the video.
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John Jackson the father of the wrongly identified student Jay Jackson began tweeting in his sons defense that this was not a video of his son. He claimed that because of Michelle’s tweet her son was bullied and harassed.
In this case twitter was the cause of this teacher being put on leave. Was it a honest mistake incorrectly identifying this student? I would say mostly like it was not intentional but she made the choice to put the students name on social media in a negative manner and now she is paying the consequences of her actions. My advice is to think before you tweet. What are your thoughts on this case? Should she lose her job completely? or return to work?
Case #2
https://www.nola.com/northshore/index.ssf/2018/09/slidell_high_teacher_fired_ove.html
September 11th, 2018
This head line reads “Slidell teacher no longer employed after posting Nike ad Facebook comments”.
Valerie Scogin who taught math at Slidell High School for 10 years lost her job due to a comment she posted on her facebook regarding the famous Colin Kaepernick ad that Nike released in 2018. Valerie posted a racially inflammatory comment on the comment stream of a Slidell High graduates facebook post regarding the Nike ad. Her comments read “They don’t have to live in that country. They could go back. But it was their own people selling them into slavery to begin with and tearing (treating) them even worse in those countries of origin.” “Want not to be stereotyped, tell people of that color to quit acting like animals and perpetuating the stereotype. Many are average people; the few ruin it.”
In this case this teacher made the mindful decision to post about her views of this ad on someones facebook feed. Her comments she made were very racist and insulting. The question remains, should you be able to lose a job over you social media posts?
Case #3
https://www.ajc.com/news/local/ruling-goes-against-barrow-teacher-who-lost-job-over-facebook-posting/yhQhGPbZiYkH5HYjb34byJ/
October 11th, 2011
Head line: “Ruling goes agains Barrow teacher who lost job over Facebook posting”
Ashely Payne was suing the Apalachee School District and trying to get her job back at Aplalchee High School after resigning in 2009. She was pressured to resign from her job as a teacher after someone claiming to be a parent of a student in the school sent an email complaining about “pictures of Payne smiling while holding alcoholic drinks during a trip to Europe” that were on her facebook. It also said that Payne had written on her facebook wall the “she was headed to a game of “Crazy Bitch Bingo” at a Midtown restaurant.”
This teacher was using social media the way any other person would. She was posting pictures about her fun time she was having in Europe involving alcohol. In the moment she was doing noting wrong, all she was doing was sharing photos with family are friends. This back fired to the point were she lost her job. Was is a harsh repercussion? Or was it necessary? What do you think?
What is FERPA?
FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. FERPA is a United States federal law that governs the access of educational information and records to public entities such as potential employers, publicly funded educational institutions, and foreign governments.