Social Media

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Ashford University *

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100

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Communications

Date

Feb 20, 2024

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pdf

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5

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Social Media Anna Leebeck Department of Education and Liberal Arts, University of Arizona Global Campus EDU 100: Issues in Education Deborah Carpenter August 15, 2022
Social Media Social Media has become a part of society that does not appear to be lessening its impact anytime soon. As a result, educators need to be even more cognizant of what is posted or allowed to be seen by colleagues, employers, and community stakeholders. We teach children to assume ownership of what they say and do, both in the real world and the digital. Posting personal or professionally damaging information will rarely escape repercussions. Direct or indirect interactions with community stakeholders must be accomplished with the six pillars of character in mind. These are the standards by which teachers should be held accountable for providing role models for the children and families they serve. The following scenario of a new teacher who posts about the age preference of the people they would like to interact with socially is a prime example of how personal information can be damaging professionally. This new teacher, within the first ninety days of his employment with the district, invited colleagues to follow him on social media. What the colleague found was some potentially disturbing information posted on his site. While the scenario does not give the teacher's age, if he is moving from one district to another, neither of this information is overly critical to the situation they would be telling of where the teacher is in his overall career. If he has many years of experience in another district, this could be a reason for the change in employment. Suppose this is his first place of employment within education. In that case, it might indicate that he is young and or inexperienced in how his social media footprint is providing a perception of him. Most employers now scour prospective employees' social media footprint, likely in the scenario given; the reviewer did not view this information during the process. It is also possible that the teacher's account settings are such that one must be friends with him to see it. Regardless of the teacher's settings on social media, when adding coworkers
to social media platforms, also one must be aware that any content could potentially affect employment at any time resulting up to and including termination. (Turley, 2012) The pillars of character (Josephson, 1992) broken in this scenario are citizenship, fairness, and responsibility. Whether this teacher teaches in an elementary or secondary school, he is in a position of power. The implication of wanting to spend time socially with someone who is "the younger the better" implies that the safety of others may be in jeopardy. At a minimum, it suggests this teacher could consider being inappropriate with someone close to the students' ages, thereby making it the safety of others concern. This concern also bleeds into fairness because, in a position of authority, this would be perceived as being willing to take advantage of someone, particularly someone who may be too young to understand what they may or might not be a consenting party. The third most important pillar in this situation at risk is responsibility; educators must think before acting and, as with the community, be accountable for attitudes, words, and actions. Without proof of actual impropriety on the part of the teacher, it would not be easy to do more than to suggest that the teacher refrains from posting anything publicly about the age of any potential suitors. Removing the offending post from the social media site(s) he may have listed would also be recommended. Educators are held to seemingly impossible standards all while dealing overwhelmingly with a multitude of issues from all fronts: administrators, coworkers, parents, students, and society at large. Opening oneself up to scrutiny on social media is like opening a Pandora's box; as such, one should seriously consider whom they allow access to viewing their information, as well as what they choose to post. It does not take long to search any news outlet to find a story about social media seriously impacting or ending an educator's career. Applying the six pillars of character to every aspect of an educator's career and personal life should, in theory, be
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