What was an American mother’s first instinct when she learned the name of her son’s second-grade teacher earlier this month? She went through all the comments and photos from the teacher’s social media accounts to find out as much as possible about her private life.
Posted on August 21
She discovered that it was her first year of teaching (first take), that she had misspelled a word (second take) and that she had released a video where she described herself, with her friends, like a “Trader Joe’s hoe” (a “bitch from Trader Joe”, an American organic supermarket). Third take.
Failing to be able to shout “You’re out! to the teacher, she tweeted, which went viral when it was reposted and commented on ironically by another Twitter user who asked, “Why are all the teachers quitting?” »
This latest tweet got 125,000 likes. The mother in question deleted her comment, then her Twitter account. Karma is a “hoe”, as they say in the country of Nicki Minaj.
But the question remains: is there an obligation for teachers to be more Catholic than the pope in their private lives and on social networks?
If I am frank, I was especially challenged by this tweet not because I’m a father and it’s back to school, but because I immediately recognized myself in the expression “Trader Joe’s hoe”. I never go to the United States without shopping at Trader Joe’s. So much so that right now in my kitchen are no less than 25 jars of Trader Joe’s spices purchased from branches in New York or Vermont.
If the pandemic prevents me from crossing the border again, I will be ready! Chili Lime, Lemon Pepper and Green Goddess will keep me company. I have several copies. enough to be recognized as a push out of stock spices from Trader Joe’s at the office.
Back on topic. I understand that schools are warning teachers against the pitfalls of overexposure and disclosure of privacy on social networks, in Quebec as elsewhere. As they have a duty to set an example, it is normal for them to exercise restraint.
Teachers who have spread racist or hate speech on social networks have lost their jobs. An employee of a secondary school in the Quebec region who had participated in pornographic filming was also fired.
But do reasonable teachers have the right to exist outside their class? Do they have the luxury of a modicum of social life outside of school, which could eventually end up on Facebook or Instagram?
A decade ago, a young public school teacher in Georgia, USA, had to quit after a parent complained about a photo of her taken during her summer vacation in Europe, then broadcast on Facebook. She held in her hands a glass of beer and a glass of wine. Ashley Payne, 24, sued the school for what she believed was constructive dismissal and was never able to return to her job.
Of course, I understand the teacher’s obligation of loyalty to his employer, well established by case law, particularly in Quebec, which makes him a model of probity. I understand that being a teacher is not like being a waiter in a bar, that it comes with other responsibilities and that caution is particularly important on social networks.
But does this mean that teachers have to display irreproachable behavior, as if they were in perpetual representation, in class in front of their primary or secondary school students? In other words, do teachers have the leisure to unleash their madness in a beer garden Berliner, one summer evening on vacation, without risking jeopardizing their career for a photo published on Facebook which reflects the banal daily life of any 24-year-old person?
Since when did teaching become a priesthood? Perhaps since the parents-kings, here as elsewhere, watch on the Internet for the slightest potential missteps of those responsible for educating their children. And that some parent-kings mean by misstep the simple fact that a teacher is in his first year of teaching. You have to start somewhere !
This is where we are. Parents stalk teachers on social networks as if they were repeat child criminals. They make them public targets to be collectively wary of, as no one in the next ten months will spend more time with their child. And we wonder why a quarter of young Quebec teachers drop out after five years…