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KEYS to Teaching Success: Appropriate Behavior in Online Settings

Google Yourself

Have you ever assessed your online presence? If not, take a few moments to Google yourself and examine the results. Anything you find from a general Google search is available for anyone else to discover. Are all your online images appropriate? Did you find any surprises? If so, are they surprises you can rectify or remove?

Image of person conducting a Google search on a laptop computer

Laptop Google Search by Panelxf has been dedicated to the public domain.

Let’s hope so. What many teachers (and teacher candidates) often overlook is that when they post comments and photos to their blogs or social media platforms–even when password protected–that digital information is accessible and can be spread without permission. Unfortunately, for some teachers, photos and comments have resulted in some pretty damaging headlines:

  • Charleston County school district employee fired over highly offensive social media comments (Way & Boozer, 2020).

  • A teacher was suspended for posting a video of herself pole dancing. But what are her rights? (Schwartz, 2018).

  • Former teacher forced to resign after bikini modeling photo resurfaces (McCormack, 2013).

  • Teacher files lawsuit after student exposes private pictures (Lyon, 2016).

In some of these instances, teachers suffered the consequences of posting their personal photos, opinions (or rants) in social media apps. In other cases, teachers’ integrity came into question after someone else released photos of them. When situations like these arise, teachers often claim their first amendment rights for protection against repercussions. Sometimes they are correct, and sometimes they’re not.

USA Today. (2021, Jan. 22) Why not everything you say or tweet is protected under free speech. [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/EnaOnqKGc6g.

Social Media Platforms

Social_media_icon, by Ibrahim.ID, is licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0.

This graphic represents several of the most commonly used social media platforms. However, new platforms are developed and get widespread use all the time. Whatever platform you use, be cautious of how you use it.

Working Within Your School's Parameters

Any educator's online communications, images and relationships are related to several standards of Georgia's code of teacher ethics:

  • Standard 2: Conduct with Students: An educator shall always maintain a professional relationship with all students, both inside and outside the classroom.
  • Standard 4: Honesty: An educator shall exemplify honesty and integrity in the course of professional practice. If an educator violates another ethical standard and then is dishonest about it, that's a violation of this ethical standard.
  • Standard 7: Confidential Information: An educator shall comply with state and federal laws and state school board policies related to the confidentiality of student and personnel records, standardized test material and other information.

Constitutional Protections

      Constitutional rights and employment rights are not the same things.

      To be clear, all American citizens are protected under the first amendment. USA Today has an informational video to help anyone understand their first amendment rights (see the video to the left) (Why Not Everything, 2021). Under the first amendment, you can say whatever you want, as long as it doesn't fall into one of the following categories:

Defamation

Threats

Enticement to imminent lawless action

Blackmail

Obscenity

Child pornography

Fighting words

Solicitations to commit crimes

Perjury

Plagiarism

     Of course, it would take another textbook to explain specifically what constitutes defamation or a threat or fighting words. This online resource is not the right place to dig into all those legal definitions. So if you have any questions about whether your thoughts or words are defamatory, threatening or obscene, you may ask your school's legal counsel, or, if you're a member of PAGE or GAE, you can consult one of the attorneys for that organization.

     For now, just understand that the first amendment grants you the right to speak your mind about anything that does not harm someone else or incite someone else to break the law. Furthermore, this amendment protects you from the government. In other words, you cannot be prosecuted for saying what you think.

     However, the first amendment does not grant you the right to a job. An employer, even a public school system, can put restrictions on what you say and write while you fulfill the role of their employee. Of course, public school is a government institution, and a government employer's ability to restrict a teachers words is a little muddy (Hudson, 2017). In general, though, if your communications violate your employer's ethics code or code of conduct, your employer would not be able to press charges against you, but the employer could restrict your work or terminate your employment (McGregor, 2010).

     So on this web page, we will examine the recommended ways teachers should behave and communicate online so that they can protect their own privacy as well as their colleagues' and their students' privacy.