I read where some school district suspended a high school student when the student wrote on his Facebook page that some teacher, whom he called by name, was a "fat ass." The ACLU defended the student stating that away from school the student has 'freedom of speech' exempt from any school codes.
My first inclination was to defend the school district just because it is obvious the student is disrespectful. I stopped abruptly with that feeling and immediately went to the side of the student's Facebook freedom of speech postings. Look, it's time for teachers to stop this nonsense of always swimming upstream. I believe this Facebook interaction has great promise to circumvent the problem of eroding parent-teacher communications.
Ask any public school teacher in your town what percent of parents actually attend 'open house,' that traditional call to parents to engage their child's teachers in the noble attempt to maximize the child's educational experience. The pitiful percentage number underscores one of the reasons G.W. Bush had it wrong thinking 'no child left behind' has a snowballs chance in hell.
I believe teachers should embrace this Facebook form of communicating with parents. Finally, teachers can stop 'cutting bait' and 'begin fishing.' On Facebook, the teacher can state, "Johnny Doe is a disrespectful pain-in-the-ass." "Suzy has social issues because of her body odor and dirty fingernails." "I teach at Taft Middle School...Our parents are affluent and our students are spoiled self-centered brats."
This Facebook communication with 'no holds barred' is a coach's dream. "Our players are nice kids but have little skill and we can't make chicken salad out of chicken poop."
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