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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

in thinking that teachers should learn about privacy on Facebook?!

64 replies

mermaidgirl · 15/12/2010 10:48

I found one of my children's teachers on Facebook quite by accident (friend of a friend) and found out quite a lot about her as she had no restrictions with privacy, so basically anyone can look her up! She was also very rude about all the crap she gets from parents as Xmas presents (which she is entitled to of course but as long as it is done only to her friends) and criticising parents.

Since then I have found loads of teachers from the school who are on FB with no privacy settings at all. Shouldn't teachers have enough sense to restrict their profiles? Are they really so ignorant or just plain stupid! It's not that hard to do it!

OP posts:
piprabbit · 15/12/2010 10:50

Are you actively searching out teachers on FB.

Because that would be weird and stalkerish.

Original poster
mermaidgirl · 15/12/2010 10:51

Nope - found her by accident! Definitely not a stalker.

OP posts:
FrostyAndSlippery · 15/12/2010 10:52

YANBU. Bitching about the parents etc is just stupid.

I have a few of my old teachers on FB, but im assuming if I were still a pupil they would have ignored me on it! I sent them a message saying how well things were going now (I left school early due to breakdown) and it was actually they who added me as friends. A couple of them are SAHMs now anyway but the others don't seem to post about their teaching work.

piprabbit · 15/12/2010 10:52

"Since then I have found loads of teachers"
Hmm

LoudRowdyDuck · 15/12/2010 10:53

Primary or secondary? If the children she teaches are under 13, she surely wouldn't expect them or you to be accessing her information (though you are right it is dim to have no privacy settings).

If she teaches older children, it'd be an idea to send her a message letting her know she's so visible. The school will almost certainly not be pleased!

piprabbit · 15/12/2010 10:58

Can you send her a private message saying that FB 'suggested' her as your friend and does she realise that she has no privacy settings and all her details are visible to non-friends?

mayorquimby · 15/12/2010 11:01

I think you should stop snooping and leave them be

TrillianAstra · 15/12/2010 11:02

People in general should learn about privaxy on Facebook except for people I want to stalk

Original poster
mermaidgirl · 15/12/2010 11:07

Don't think there is anything wrong with a teeny tiny bit of snooping...I want to know what type of people teach my kids! The point is, teachers should know that in their profession, it is best to switch on the privacy settings. Never going to look them up again.

OP posts:
mayorquimby · 15/12/2010 11:14

yes well then if you go snooping be prepared to see stuff you don't like.
And while you might want to know the type of person who is teaching your kids it has F.A. to do with you once they conduct themselves in a professional manner when they are teaching.

NigellaPleaseComeDineWithMe · 15/12/2010 11:14

If they did have the privacy settings on you wouldn't know what they were saying!

mumto2andnomore · 15/12/2010 11:15

Im a teacher and my privacy settings are high, I also never accept pupils as friends and never gossip about school on there.Common sense.

faverolles · 15/12/2010 11:19

It's quite possible to find stuff on FB without snooping or stalking.
I am FB friends with a couple of teachers (genuine friends BTW), they are FB friends with other teachers. If one of my dc's teachers came up as a suggested friend, I don't think it's stalkerish to click on that.

I think piprabbits approach would work.

faverolles · 15/12/2010 11:20

Also wanted to say that no matter where anyone works, gossiping about people you work with is not a good idea at all.

mrsfudgely · 15/12/2010 11:21

Most schools have told their staff that if they use facebook they should be very careful about what they put on there. Staff at my school have been told that no one should accept any pupil or parent as a friend. However some people will always continue to ignore warnings.

staranise · 15/12/2010 11:27

I think it's common practice nowadays to google people you know and FB is ofen what comes up. I had an interview recently and Googled the person due to interview me - I work in journalism/research/publishing and wanted to see what they had written, what publications they had worked on. What I found was a FB page slagging off her job etc, detailing how hungover she was that morning etc. Totally unprofessional, especially in the area I work (very discreet and conservative).

Of course teachers etc can have a private life but keep it private and use privacy settings - it's common sense. It's bad enough parents finding teachers but exposing personal gossip to, say, teenage pupils can only be a bad idea.

Myleetlepony · 15/12/2010 11:43

If a complaint was made about this it would be a disciplinary matter. Quite significant in terms of her future career. You could be kind to her and warn her about this.
I have been involved in far too teacher's disciplinary hearings this year as a result of them being stupid about Facebook, and also emails.

KnittingisbetterthanTherapy · 15/12/2010 11:49

YANBU. I have my privacy settings set so high that not even my friends can find me Grin! I have just started at a new school and don't intend to add any staff (and definitely not pupils!) to my friends.

I also wouldn't mention any of my colleagues/pupils on FB, in case someone else knows them/reads my FB over someone's shoulder, etc.

May sound paranoid, but I think it's the most sensible course of action. I don't get this need to 'collect' friends on FB - the only people I have are people who are genuine friends and whom I have regular contact with anyway!

KnittingisbetterthanTherapy · 15/12/2010 11:49

friends can't find me! Blush

piprabbit · 15/12/2010 11:51

I think you were right first time Grin, knitting.

LisasCat · 15/12/2010 11:53

One of the teachers I did my PGCE with got fired a couple of years later, when she and a colleague were discussing 'chav parents' on their FB pages. It certainly put the frighteners up a few teachers I know for a while, but of course they slip back into complacency.

As staranise mentioned,it's not just teachers, but all sorts of professions. In fact everyone should google themselves and see what a prospective employer would find.

theevildead2 · 15/12/2010 11:57

The Op got curious-which I think is fair enough. Still the teachers who are posting shit should know better- not just hope that no one will read their profile. People have become way too lax about what they share since facebook

piprabbit · 15/12/2010 12:02

But we get these threads on MN quite regularly - and I don't recall any OP ever saying that they helpfully pointed the problem out to the teacher.
It would be lovely if that did happen.

DrSeuss · 15/12/2010 12:03

I'm a teacher and my profile is ungoogle-able, nothing is accessible to anyone but my friends and I never accept kids as friends. Any teacher who does otherwise is an idiot. But parents who check you out on FB are pushing it a bit, too. Why do you want/need to know about our private lives? We've already been CRB checked from here to eternity, you know!

chipmonkey · 15/12/2010 12:06

YANBU

Everyone should be careful about privacy settings but teachers, health care professionals and people who work with the public generally need to be more careful than anyone else. Common sense.