to think a teacher shouldn't comment about their pupils on fb?

[Justholdthesmile]

Just that really.

And I'm talking about every kind of situation.

I deal with customers every single day - some are lovely and some even wish death on you, but I would never comment about them (or colleagues for that matter) even if I never mentioned their name over FB.

AIBU?

Why though billy? Teachers are human - they may want to be found on fb by old friends o/ distant family members etc (it's kind of what fb is for??) why the need for such secrecy? Do people really expect teachers to do this?

It is very easy to set your profile so you can't be searched for, and to be 100% private. You can have only your actual friends on FB and no need to have colleagues or parents or other random people on there. In that context I think it's ok to have things like 'OMG one of my Y7s asked me X'

Hmm at our school there seems to be a lot of crossover with several TAs and teachers also being parents at school and being 'friends' with other parents as well as members of FB groups for the different year groups. I have only ever seen them make quite generic comments such as 'great costumes at world book day'

I think anything negative written about a child (identifiable or not) is not expectable from anyonenot just teachers on FB.

I had a FB friend who was really nasty about children in her son's class. Her friends (who did not know the children) made comments which really weren't appropiate, made judgements about how the children were raised etc. I would of be horrified if I was a parent of one of these children, or even the child myself. As children use FB too not that I am saying this is right. Also the parent in this case was very blinkered and what she was saying wasn't true.

Teachers are allowed to have a life! I do post about work sometimes. Usually on results day or official league table day. Or after a play/ concert. I never post negative comments about students/colleagues. I am friends with one parent, but then I was friends with her before her children came to my school.

Any teacher who posts anything about school or anything at all really on Facebook is a knobhead and deserves to be sacked.

I post on fb to ask other teachers for resources/ideas and post proud comments when pupils perform well. Can't see anything wrong with that tbh.

I absolutely agree with you.
Why are you reading your DC's teacher's FB page? Strikes me as strange unless you are friends.

Last night I posted 'Friday night and I'm marking homework - what happened to my partying days?!'

Should I go pack up my desk now?

I am a teacher. Why would any intelligent person teacher or not want to plaster their private life all over the internet? And discussing school should and can be a dismissable offence.

Thanks - hope there are badges, a special hand shake and notes to hand to people saying 'don't add me on Facebook, I'm a teacher, don't you know!'

I'm a teacher. I do as BillyBanter proposed.

i'm still technically a teacher. we can't make any comments about pupils on social media, or about colleagues or the workplace.

DOn't forget that social media is quite a recent thing. I don't think I ever signed a code of conduct at all but if I did it certainly didn't mention Facebook or anything else.

Blimey Bobpat - I bet people really love reading your interesting posts. Kind of reinforces my argument really.

Sorry that was mean. Not meant personally but the whole Facebook thing is banal imo. No more banal than this, probably - and look at me on Saturday morning!

I Think some people and certainly some schools have really gone ott with so called social media policies. I'm in the process of updating ours as we are going for a far more common sense approach.

Teachers have a life outside of work. That is fine, encouraged even. And they should be able to use social media happily and confidently.
You never name a pupil, colleague or parent obviously and, even if not named, you never make it so anyone can identify them. And I would recommend never adding your workplace to FB etc. but really to refer to a nice day is in no way an issue at all. Even to say you had a challenging or not great day should not be with common sense. Obviously writing negative stuff about specifics is out.

But to say "really enjoyed a fab lesson with my pupils today" is not an issue at all. Even a little more specific shouldn't be a cause of concern.

But then some people who make up these school policies have never actually used social media and just don't have a clue. And some only think of the negatives or look for non existent problems.

Yeah - I'm a teacher though Flossy and therefore (according to some) am not entitled to a life you see ;-)

I'm off out to get pissed next Friday though - although that's a whole other teacher bashing thread asking to be written... Just imagine:

I saw my child's teacher in the pub on Friday and she was drinking. Wibu to report to the Head?

Yes, YWBVU and should go straight to CoG. Enjoy Friday. Not long till half term!

Teachers (and parents) should use social media to understand it. How can they talk to pupils about this aspect of esafety if they have no real idea of what it is and how it works? The children will catch you out. As with all things, there is a balance. Don't talk about school. Don't friend parents or pupils. Keep your privacy settings water-tight.

Thanks Flossy - it gets worse... I'm in FE so I'm in danger of seeing some of my underage students out too. Where's my wig?

Bubalub - I agree. Anyone teaching e safety and certainly anyone writing e safety policies should have a good understanding of how these things work. It's precisely because they often haven't got a clue that ridiculous ott policies come about.

My friend's little boy goes to a school where the Head is really into social media. He tweets pictures of excellent work, children playing etc. I think it's fantastic - my friend loves getting a glimpse of her son's school life. All with parental permission of course.

Am at some of the attitudes expressed on here. If I look up 'teacher' in the dictionary, will I get redirected to 'nun' do you think?

I have an army captain, a barrister, a vicar, a music teacher and several who are parents themselves now among my FB friends. Oh, and they're all ex-students. Should I defriend them now in case they're taking a moment out of their busy lives to contact my SMT to let them know what I'm posting on FB?

I use FB to keep up with friends and acquaintances whom I no longer see. Because at the end of the school day, I do actually turn back into a human being and don't just step into the book cupboard until morning.