Teaching Profession

Teacher Suspended Over Facebook Post (Round Two)

By Francesca Duffy — April 06, 2011 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Another teacher has garnered national attention as well as a suspension for posting a comment about her students on her Facebook page, according to the New York Times. In this case, the first-grade teacher from Paterson, N.J., wrote that she “felt like a warden overseeing future criminals.”

The post spurred negative reactions from parents, students, and the community. “It’s horrible,” said Irene Sterling, president of the Paterson Education Fund, a nonprofit group that supports the local school community. “And unfortunately, I don’t think she’s the only teacher in Paterson who thinks that way.”

Meanwhile, the teacher’s lawyer, Nancy Oxfeld, argued that the teacher, whose name has not been released, wrote the posts on her personal time:

“My feeling is that if you’re concerned about children, you’re concerned about what goes on in the classroom, not about policing your employee’s private comments to others,” said Oxfeld, as quoted in the Times.

Just this past February, a high school English teacher in Pennsylvania also was suspended for maligning students on her blog.

What are your thoughts? Should teachers be held accountable for their personal online activities?

Related Tags:

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teaching Now blog.