How would you feel about this?

[KiKiKiKi123]

A teacher at my DD’s school came up as a suggested friend on FB. I looked at her profile. These are public posts. I’ll only upload the ones I could edit to hide identifying details but there are some that are MUCH worse. Her current profile picture is the #LEAVEHOME one. She has multiple posts about how this is all a ‘plandemic’ and Covid doesn’t exist. Makes me feel very uncomfortable that she has access to young impressionable minds. I saw her once at the shops and she wasn’t wearing a mask, I just assumed she was exempt. She is also VERY anti-vax and has posted about how dangerous the Covid vaccine is. Again, all public posts that anyone can see.

YANBU- this is dangerous and I would either talk to her or bring it to the school’s attention. Or at least tell her to change her privacy settings.

YABU- mind your own business.

Ffs. People like this are teaching our kids. Even if she isn't saying anything overt to them, how can you be sure she's following safety guidance fully if she doesn't believe in the virus?

I would definitely report. Don't people in these sort of roles have an obligation not to post extreme view like this?

In any case I'd be concerned about her teaching my kids as she's obviously either thick or unhinged.

Dangerous and I would raise it.

There have been more a few "breathe free, show yourselves" anti mask stickers and posters go up round here. I'm keen to know who is paying for their creation, the ones I have taken down are not cheaply printed.

Definitely report it to the school. She is entitled to hold whatever views she wants but posts like this should not be visible at all to the general public, as whether she likes it or not she represents the school.

It also needs to be raised to ensure she isn’t spouting any of this dangerous crap to this kids. She needs monitoring and pulled up on it. The school should have a social media policy and I’m pretty sure these opinions could be classed as detrimental to the school, so they should take it seriously.

Very very poor judgement on her behalf that she has a profile with her real name in the first instance.

Yes I would bring it to the school's attention, if they are not already aware.

If she's not discussing these ideas with your kids, which surely you'd know about. Then what's her personal life, opinions and beliefs should be irrelevant.

Shes obviously a bit dim, especially for posting them on social media but I wouldnt automatically assume she is teaching young kids this stuff.

Teachers are like anyone else, have their own views. Even if their views are batshit.

I wouldnt report her tbh unless there is proof of her teaching the kids the same views? I'm sure others will disagree, plus you'll play in to her hands of "being silenced" In general people are good at spotting bullshit.

[quote KiKiKiKi123]@OfTheNight on one of her posts she says she has made these posts public to reach a wider audience. I’m not too clued up on social media so I’m not too sure how the algorithms work but I’m guessing she came up as a suggested friend because she has looked me up at some point?[/quote]
No, it doesnt work like that, and I wouldn't mention it because it begins to sound a little paranoid and obsessive on your part.

MYOB. It's poor judgement, and the second post shows worse grammar (which for a teacher would genuinely concern me more), but it's her personal FB and she's entitled to her opinion as long as it's not brought into her professional life. She probably doesn't realize it's public.

I think I would be reporting this to the headteacher, as it raises questions about her judgment and her ability to process facts and information, both qualities that teachers need in spades.

@GreenlandTheMovie Huh? I literally said I have no idea how algorithms work. I said ‘I’m guessing’ that’s how it happened. Someone else came along and explained (nicely) how it actually works and I thanked them for explaining. No need to be so abrasive.

I'd raise your concerns with the school

You don't say how old your child is, but if you came across it on FB, presumably your children could I know they have minimum ages, but presumably children use it at a younger age than they should.
If she feels this committed, she may not be "teaching" this at school, but hard to believe it doesn't influence/flavour her responses to stuff.

I would probably land on the side of informing the school. Not to 'drop her in it' because she is entitled to voice her opinions (even if they are a bit wobbly), but if you can see this stuff whats to say a pupil won't? I suppose you also need to think about the outcome you want should you decide to report. Do you want her formally disciplined? Do you just want her to make her FB profile made private to protect students potentially coming across it? Do you want assurance from the school that she isn't drip feeding her views somehow to the kids? You need to be clear about WHY you are complaining.

@GreenlandTheMovie

It's pretty generic stuff and I don't see the problem as long as she remains neutral at work and is following the rules. It's not, and shouldn't become, a police state.

would you say the same thing if a teacher was advocating paedophilia?

@quicknamechange100 she expressly said she is making her posts public to reach a wider audience. She has also said it is her ‘duty to wake others up’. So it’s not just a personal opinion, she’s actively trying to spread this nonsense.

would you say the same thing if a teacher was advocating paedophilia?

Believing a very popular (at the moment) conspiracy theory is not the same as advocating paedophilia. One is against the law and one is just a bit, dumb.

[quote KiKiKiKi123]@GreenlandTheMovie Huh? I literally said I have no idea how algorithms work. I said ‘I’m guessing’ that’s how it happened. Someone else came along and explained (nicely) how it actually works and I thanked them for explaining. No need to be so abrasive.[/quote]
OK OP. I didn't mean to sound "abrasive". I just think teachers have a hard time enough without having their social media policed. This woman's career is at risk, and if she is otherwise a good teacher, I wouldn't be looking to get her in trouble just because of a few memes on FB in the middle of a pandemic where everyone is feeling stressed. There's a lot worse out there to be concerned about.

I don't personally think this reaches the standard of a disciplinary matter. Or if it did, technically it would be open to challenge. Its its not interfering with her work, she isn't contacting children on sm to share her views, it isn't threatening and it doesn't challenge basic morals or decency. It's just someone holding a different view on a major issue, but she's not suggesting that other people should follow suit.

*Should read one is advocating breaking the law the other is a bit dumb.

Jesus. This is worrying for two reasons.

1.) her militant stance on the pandemic.

2.) her punctuation and grammar is appalling.

I'm normally in the mind your own business camp but I have to be honest, it would make me feel a little unsettled if a teacher who was at my child's school was spouting such nonsense openly on a social media platform.

My mum is a teacher, she is under a fake name and her profile is completely private so anything she posts cannot be seen by anyone outside of her friends. The fact this teacher has it so open is what is worrying to me. They are obviously not particularly bothered about who sees this. Thing is, I'm not sure what the school could really do, even if you did report it.

All you can do in my mind, is continue to abide by the guidelines yourself in your home. Reinforce to your own children. You cannot control what others believe sadly.

@GreenlandTheMovie what part of ‘I know their evil plan, it’s my duty to wake up others...’ is not suggesting others should follow suit ?

I'm a teacher.
When I was on FB, I had a different name, and all the privacy settings.
We have to, our school insists on it, quite rightly.
I'd report and forward screenshots to the head. You could also ask the head about their policy regarding staff on social media.

Ours is watertight.

The problem is that you know about it now, as potentially do other parents and students with SM profiles. She isn’t being shy about it and is loudly advocating her (controversial and some might say damaging) views.

Ignorance would have been bliss if her private profile was indeed private as it’s supposed to be, and if she had decent security settings and enough brain cells to use a pseudonym.

I can’t see this not becoming an issue for the school. She really does sound pretty dim not to be aware of the issue and if she is and just doesn’t care, that’s even worse!

@Fangdrew you’ve raised a very good point. She has come up as a suggested friend before (months ago) and she used a different surname. When she popped up again last night she had changed it to her real name. Which makes me wonder why? When you go on to her profile you can only see her posts about Covid. Everything else is private which makes me think it’s intentional.

This is seriously concerning and suggests she's not following rules as she should in the school either. Send screenshots of the account to the school along with all the posts and express your concern.

I'd definitely tell the school. You have to be so careful about your social media use as a teacher and this is completely irresponsible