1st-Grade Teacher Suspended For 'Derogatory' Facebook Posts About Her Students

PATERSON, N.J. — A New Jersey school district suspended a first-grade teacher after parents complained that she had posted derogatory comments about her students on her Facebook page.

The Record newspaper reports that the teacher wrote about feeling like "a warden" and referred to her 6- and 7-year-old students as future criminals.

The teacher, whose name was not disclosed, was removed from the classroom this week after several parents who saw the posts came to Paterson School 21 and asked that their children be removed from her class.

Superintendent Donnie Evans confirmed the suspension on Friday and said the district was investigating. He declined further comment because it was a personnel matter.

Board of Education President Theodore Best told the newspaper that the teacher was suspended "because the incident created serious problems at the school that impeded the functioning of the building."

He added: "You can't simply fire someone for what they have on a Facebook page, but if that spills over and affects the classroom, then you can take action."

The flap comes just weeks after a high school English teacher from outside Philadelphia was suspended for a profanity-laced blog in which she called her young charges "disengaged, lazy whiners."

And Chicago Public Schools officials are investigating a teacher who apparently posted a photo on her Facebook page of a student who wore Jolly Rancher candies in her hair. The 7-year-old girl's mother complained to school officials after she saw negative comments written about her daughter's picture on the page.

___

Information from: The Record, http://www.northjersey.com

Comments

[Marvin Hinton]

08:20 PM on 04/04/2011

is it even worth being a teacher anymore...... at some point in time before Reagan they used to be respected.

[red-dress]

05:40 PM on 04/04/2011

Any "professional" who disparages their customers, clients or constituents should not be suspended, they should be immediately terminated. If you argue that teachers should not be subject to this rigor, than you are arguing that they are not professionals.

[brothers3]

11:35 PM on 04/04/2011

I would prefer that the little brats in class who have not learned courtesy and discipline be suspended until their parents learn how to properly teach them before sending them to school.

[ruolivert]

10:57 PM on 04/10/2011

No your arguing that students are not customers, clients, or constituents. The student is not always right. The student does not get to have it their way. The student is not being represented by the teacher nor was the teacher voted into their position by the students. The teacher is supposed to be respected the same as a parent is. Over time students and parents have both lost respect for the teacher.

[Andman0121]

04:58 PM on 04/04/2011

I'm a teacher myself (high school, predominantly 9th grade) and I can't agree more with these teacher's opinions regarding the absolute laziness of kids today as well as the incessant whining/entitlement issues. I have never seen such disengaged kids in my entire life. I feel like im pulling teeth when assigning the most basic homework. I have kids who refuse to take notes because "their fingers hurt". THEIR FINGERS HURT.

That being said, you have to be smart about what you post on facebook. Parents nowadays will see that and do their customary blowing the situation out of proportion.

[perlin]

07:51 PM on 04/04/2011

Their fingers hurt from texting too much. LOL
They are texting under the desks all the time . No wonder their fingers are tired.

[Andman0121]

09:40 AM on 04/05/2011

Sadly....yes.

[brothers3]

11:37 PM on 04/04/2011

When I taught Junior High, I actually had 7th grade students threaten to kill me after school.

[Andman0121]

09:40 AM on 04/05/2011

I just don't get it. Lazy, irresponsible and dangerous. And everyone blames US for THEIR poor grades.

[janeinmia]

02:12 PM on 04/04/2011

I so agree with this quote from the Dalai Lama:

Whatever the intellectual quality of the education given our children, it is vital that it include elements of love and compassion, for nothing guarantees that knowledge alone will be truly useful to human beings.

In order to teach love and compassion, we must display it to our children in every situation. This is why we can NOT have teachers who call their 6-year-old students "future criminals."

[brothers3]

11:41 PM on 04/04/2011

Dear Mr. Lama: If they ARE future criminals, and it's obvious in class, then the teacher should publicly call them out on it:

First-grad­er shot dead by classmate in Michigan school:

http://en.­wikipedia.­org/wiki/S­hooting_of­_Kayla_Rol­land

Dear Mr. Lama,

The more "love and compassion" you give to "some children" the more they will use that "love and compassion" against you to get what they want. They learn it at home, where their parents would rather spoil them rotten with material rewards then take the time to introduce them to the real world.

[Beckel411]

07:41 AM on 04/11/2011

Dear Brother, No child who has been raised in a climate of love and compassion could possibly shoot and kill another human being on purpose.

[dusky-hued lady satan]

01:12 PM on 04/04/2011

Professional teaching is an extremely difficult career suited for only the most kind-hearted, well-meaning, well-informed, and self-less individuals in our society. I wish that our society recognized this, and compensated truly excellent teachers accordingly.

I have been teaching for the past three years in a low-income, predominantly Hispanic community (I am Hispanic, please don't go there). I like my students, and I like teaching; I HATE being a teacher. The kids need more than I am capable of giving them. I should have quit a year ago, but my school begged me to stay an extra year because I'm "good" at teaching even though I hate it [read "good at getting passing scores"].

I sympathize with this teacher - I vent every day to family, friends, and on Facebook (with very stringent privacy settings). I figure it is much better for me to vent in (semi-)private, then to take out my boredom and frustration on students and colleagues. Teachers should be able to vent, but in a responsible manner. That particular teacher, like myself, probably should not be a teacher. But she will likely better serve her students by finishing out the year, than by quitting (or getting fired) and being replaced by a subsistute who is even less likely to be able to control her students.

By the way, a second grader's reading level is a pretty accurate predictor of future incarceration...it is just a sad reality of our broken educational system.

[Highlulu]

01:10 PM on 04/04/2011

yeah... hi, i'm the first amendment... please respect me.

you don't have the right to not be offended, if you don't like the way the teacher perceives your child why not... (this is a tough one) change the impression your child is giving out!

[brothers3]

11:45 PM on 04/04/2011

Bingo!

[lamomma2]

09:30 AM on 04/04/2011

Here is an idea: don't friend parents of your students! don't have your facebook open to the public. Don't talk about your students. Problem solved.

[squat6971]

09:25 AM on 04/04/2011

Why would a teacher have a facebook page under her own full name? Stooooopid.

[brothers3]

11:46 PM on 04/04/2011

Sure. The teacher is better of being underground, ashamed of herself and deceptive.

[Phong Le]

03:40 AM on 04/04/2011

So we can suspend a teacher for exercising her 1st Amendment rights?

[poeticjustice4all]

08:37 AM on 04/04/2011

Teachers are subject to the same rules as everybody else in America.

[Phong Le]

11:01 AM on 04/04/2011

What rules are those concerning the 1st Amendment?

[Gepids]

12:42 PM on 04/04/2011

There are consequences to all actions, even those protected by the Constitution.

[Phong Le]

01:43 PM on 04/04/2011

Yes, in a metaphysical way, there are consequences to all actions. But the 1st Amendment of the Constitution protects a citizen from getting fired for what s/he says, don't you agree?

[pphhrogg]

12:54 AM on 04/04/2011

Why are these people even teaching? It's rather obvious that they don't like children.

[U-S Patriot]

12:55 AM on 04/04/2011

I see nothing obvious except the generalization of your statement.

[Fran Jaime]

01:21 AM on 04/04/2011

I think pphhrogg is refering to teachers who make derogatory remarks about their students.

[brothers3]

01:25 AM on 04/04/2011

pphhrogg - is that what you were "refering to"? Is Fran Jaime right about what you were "referring to"?

[brothers3]

12:06 AM on 04/04/2011

IF grade school children are behaving disrespectfully...
IF grade school children have become lazy and whiny...
IF grade school children are so conniving that they make a teacher feel like a warden...
IF grade school children are displaying clear signs indicating possible present and future criminal behavior...

Then I would appreciate it, and even encourage all teachers everywhere who are feeling frustrated by their inability to do their jobs because parents have not done their jobs to post their frustrations on Facebook and any and every other social networking site they can find.

We need to know these things, IF they are in fact escalating problems.

My experience teaching grades 7-8 as long ago as 1970 tells me there is a very serious problem with too many children - not all, but too many.

We need to understand why parents are failing, and try to help correct course.

[Fran Jaime]

01:19 AM on 04/04/2011

...and if you do, don't be surprised if you get suspended or fired, because that is what you will deserve.

[brothers3]

01:23 AM on 04/04/2011

I'm really glad we don't know each other, aren't you?

[TresJolie7]

11:49 PM on 04/03/2011

Unfortunately, there are evil teachers like this in every school. They need to be weeded out and disposed of immediately! If you don't like kids, then DON'T BE A FREAKIN' TEACHER! Capiche?

[brothers3]

12:12 AM on 04/04/2011

I disagree. I've met many "kids" I don't like because they are spoiled brats. That doesn't make me evil in the eyes of those who know me. It simply means there are rotten "kids" out there, and they can cause a problem.

Why not just begin a zero tolerance policy with children who don't behave themselves and deliberately disrupt classrooms because they are accustomed at home to being the "center of attention"?

Why not shift the focus back to parents, where it belongs? Or are we all just perfect parents whose children can do no wrong?

"Everybody's children are so special. It makes you wonder where all the ordinary grown-ups come from."

~~Maria Gonzales, Code 46

[jmundstuk]

10:59 PM on 04/03/2011

Before you get out the stones, walk a mile in the shoes of these teachers.

[timotay89]

11:50 PM on 04/03/2011

I will be a high school teacher in a few years, but I can't imagine posting stuff like this about a class. If I complain about my students, it will be to my family, close friends, or a journal or something else private. Students lose all respect for a teacher when he/she pulls something like this.

Teachers (especially at the elementary school level) are looked up to by their students. While they may have normal lives, normal lives does not involve posting in public about how bad your students are. I would sooner homeschool my students then let someone who acts immature like this teach them.

[brothers3]

12:15 AM on 04/04/2011

I agree 100%. Teaching begins at home, at it seems in too many cases children are not being taught the rules of common courtesy and team work.

[pphhrogg]

12:56 AM on 04/04/2011

Exactly HOW do you know that any of the comments by the teachers were even true?

[Pembrokelib]

09:07 PM on 04/03/2011

This is the third teacher I have read about in the last few weeks who was dumb enough to post derogatory remarks publicly. When will they learn? Anyone with no little sense, judgement and empathy does not belong in the teaching profession. In the business world you would be fired immediately if you posted criticisms about your boss. She should be fired now.

[Euryalus]

11:54 PM on 04/03/2011

I agree... teachers "dumb enough" to publicly post derogatory comments about their students probably ought not be in the classroom. But, when will "they" learn, you ask? Who is "they"? There are more than 3,828,000 school teachers out there, and the vast majority of them are not bad-mouthing their students online. Isn't it interesting though how the press jumps all over a few outlying negative stories? How often do you read about the many positive things that countless teachers do every single day?

Stories like this one, and the miniscule numbers of others like it are incendiary, and I am heartily tired of readers interpreting them as representative of an entire profession. Besides, I wonder if these venting-online teachers are even slightly aware of how easy it is for this stuff to travel the internet, or how teacher-bashers are eagerly watching for these types of missteps. I'd suggest these posters exhibit a kind of ignorant trust about their online activities, learning some tough lessons the hard way. You'd think people would just know better, but if they are digital novices, they simply don't.

[brothers3]

01:07 AM on 04/04/2011

"I am heartily tired of readers interpreti­ng them as representa­tive of an entire profession­. "

I wish they WERE representative of the entire profession. Parents might then learn to be held accountable for their lack of good parenting.

[Fran Jaime]

01:23 AM on 04/04/2011

I totally agree with you.

[Renee Hargrove]

08:15 PM on 04/03/2011

1st graders? Really?
Now study hall makes me feel like a warden--not because the kids are bad but because the list of things that I am not allowed to let them do is soooooooooooo long. Thank goodness that I do not have one this year.