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What harm caused to him? There's nothing in that article that suggesting anything like that. The article literally says that "people" were telling him that people in the group were saying negative things about him at some group. He tried joining the group to find out what people were saying.
Wonder how you would feel if you knew you were the topic of multiple posts in a group closed you but open to a large group of other people, some of whom you didn't even know. What is more, screen shots of those comments could be shown to your employer who might be more likely than not to decide that just the existence of those public posts is reason enough to non-renew your contract for the next year (also known as firing you). Principals don't have to tell non-tenured teachers, of which he was one, who they non-renewed why they are doing it. No proof is required. Once a teacher is non-renewed getting another job is very, very difficult. You keep saying no harm was coming to him, and what you don't understand is that their gossip could cause him great harm - as in destroy his ability to earn a living.
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Hmm, looks like a struck a nerve. Did I hit a little too close to home, maybe?
Oh I figured you'd play that card. It fits. Nope. you didn't hit close to home. In the same sense that I don't need to be personally affected by murder to know why murder is wrong.
Inappropriate use of school owned email, would be my guess, since he used his school email address to create one of the accounts. If the district has been given any kind of reasonable legal advice, part of their yearly "read this, agree to it, and sign it" mandates for teachers includes a technology policy, complete with a statement that school issued email is for the teacher's use but belongs to the school and misuse can result in termination.
Where did you read that she isn't a parent? The article says that she doesn't have a kid in any of the theater groups at the high school. How is that the same as saying she isn't a parent?
The article linked identified her as a "Kennebunkport resident." If she is a parent at that school but had no kid in the program, that's even weirder.
The guy screwed up, no doubt. But it sounds like he reacted in a very human way to being the target of small-town gossip and criticism. He hardly sounds like the Jack the Ripper type you're making him out to be LOL.
If he had used any other generic email address (and not his work email) to make the fake FB account, none of the kids would have figured it out and no one would have had a clue.
There's all kinds of well-like teachers. Such as those NOT LIKED by the administration, but loved by the students. And NOT being liked is not necessarily aligned with how well or how poorly you do your job as a teacher.
True, but I'm clearly talking about those well-liked by parents, in regard to those who are targeted by parent vendettas.
And teachers who are disliked by parents are typically those who are not perceived to do sufficient stroking in regard to those particular parents' children.
Teachers who coach sports and teachers who cover fine arts are particularly susceptible to parents behaving viciously when they feel (and/or their kids feel) that the student hasn't been showcased appropriately. Teachers whose responsibilities lie strictly in classroom instruction of traditional academics don't run into this as much.
The article linked identified her as a "Kennebunkport resident." If she is a parent at that school but had no kid in the program, that's even weirder.
It's definitely weird. It is super weird that a parent whose kid isn't even affected by the program would join in the dogpiling and blow the whistle. It definitely speaks to there being a weird vendetta. Why would you be the one to lead a charge when you clearly don't even have a dog in the fight?
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The guy screwed up, no doubt. But it sounds like he reacted in a very human way to being the target of small-town gossip and criticism. He hardly sounds like the Jack the Ripper type you're making him out to be LOL.
If he had used any other generic email address (and not his work email) to make the fake FB account, none of the kids would have figured it out and no one would have had a clue.
Totally agree. I definitely understand the reaction to being targeted, though I do think it was very, very foolish to sockpuppet. But I get the desire to have some voice defending yourself and your program against an angry mob of parents. Personally, I'd have taken the high road, but people do what people do. And using school resources (i.e. school e-mail) to engage with parents in that way was just dumb.
He wasn't just "finding out what was said about him." He was friending people under fake profiles and starting arguments with people under those fake profiles as well. There is something clearly wrong with him.
By those measures the same could be said of more than a few CD posters. Fictional ID's, no profiles or comic ones and lots of arguing.
So, "there is clearly something wrong" with most CD participants.
Kind of makes you wonder if there was something else going on if it got that many parents upset and a teacher worried enough about his job that he'd resort to something like this. Parents don't have that much power unless there was something strongly negative going on, enough so that would lead to a mid year termination.
Having been very involved in school fine arts, I would put money on the root of the discontent coming from stage parents whose kids didn't get selected for the participation of their choice in whatever performances were showcased.
The article noted that the teacher has been in the position a very short time...pretty much long enough to do, say, a fall play, perhaps a holiday production. Not a long-term educator in the district. The article very notably fails to note the nature of the parent complaints, so it's impossible to say, granted. If I were to spitball, it wouldn't surprise me at all if it were a case of "new theatre teacher doesn't hold to the same casting trends as a previous theatre teacher," and the kids who always get cast got their noses out of joint. Fine arts parent gossip ensues.
It doesn't make me wonder if "something else" was going on, because if it were a legitimate concern, such as inappropriate contact or interaction, unfair grading policies, etc., you can bet administration would have been contacted forthrightly (and rightfully so). The fact that it was a Facebook b!#*%-fest leads me very strongly to suspect that it was petty, stage mom, "my kid should have gotten the lead, it's his/her senior year, he/she paid her dues, who does this guy think he is" type" complaints that you'd be a nutbag to go to an administrator with. This is NOT uncommon. Somebody from the group complained to admin about the teacher's sockpuppet accounts, most likely, because they had NOTHING ELSE valid to complain about, or they'd have almost certainly already done so. If they had, they'd have very likely done so, given the way the sockpuppeting was (rightfully) jumped on.
I'm fairly sure the midyear termination probably occurred because of what was likely a violation of school social media policies, committed by creating sockpuppet accounts to interact in a hostile manner with parents while using a school e-mail address.
Overall, it sounds and smells a lot like a bad reaction to gossipy prima donna parents who had no real complaint, so they took to facebook until the teacher gave them a real complaint, served up on a silver platter. And the teacher should have known better. Rookie mistake to be baited into something so dumb.
Wonder how you would feel if you knew you were the topic of multiple posts in a group closed you but open to a large group of other people, some of whom you didn't even know. What is more, screen shots of those comments could be shown to your employer who might be more likely than not to decide that just the existence of those public posts is reason enough to non-renew your contract for the next year (also known as firing you). Principals don't have to tell non-tenured teachers, of which he was one, who they non-renewed why they are doing it. No proof is required. Once a teacher is non-renewed getting another job is very, very difficult. You keep saying no harm was coming to him, and what you don't understand is that their gossip could cause him great harm - as in destroy his ability to earn a living.
Yep.
But engaging them in a hostile manner was a dumb choice. Had he simply managed to access and obtain copies of whatever complaints were being made, and if they were invalid, he could have possibly gotten ahead of the gossip, so to speak, worked with union reps, etc. to address defamation if necessary. Clearly, responding in the way that he did was not the answer.
But, yeah, overall, when you've got a parent group that wields any kind of power gunning for you, particularly if you are a new hire, good luck.
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