Online Ethics

Last week, I had you to read an article from the Huffington Post about people who were fired over facebook posts.  I was interested to know what your opinion is of people who post things online and are then fired or arrested for those things.  There is a fine line between sharing your life and the things in it and being unresponsible or unreasonable.  I think that people who are arrested over facebook, twitter, and other social networking information deserve everything they get.  If you don't have enough common sense to know that you shouldn't post illegal things online for everyone to read, then I'm glad that you got caught. 

I also wonder about people who don't realize that they shouldn't post personal things online when they have a high profile job.  The interesting article to me was the one about the guard from Buckingham Palace that was calling Kate Middleton bad names online.  Did he really think that it would be okay to ridicule her in such a public way?

Teachers and other school officials have also come under fire lately about friending students online in social networks and sharing cell phone numbers with students.  As a teacher, sometimes it is crucial that students have my cell phone number (such as during an FBLA trip).  I realize that all communications between myself and my students should remain absolutely professional, and that is what I strive for every day, no matter what the interface is, be it in person or in cyberspace.  Here is the bottom line for me:  common sense and professionalism are two of the most important things in the life of any teacher or anyone who works with the public.  A lack of those two things could easily get anyone fired (or arrested)!