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Sitting in Chili's with your friend having a margarita is not comment-worthy, or usually, photo-worthy. OTOH, being photographed sitting in Dirty Joe's (featuring All U Can Drink Night!) wearing what's almost enough clothes for a Barbie Doll and enough makeup to bankrupt Mary Kay, and hoisting your mug o' whatever, shows a certain lack of discernment.
I don't care if Miss Bell, fifth grade teacher (or pediatric nurse, or occupational therapist, or tax attorney), is a party girl (or even a complete ho) on her own time. But little Mikey and Isabella-- and their parents-- don't need to be confronted with the evidence.
"A normal life" doesn't have to include behavior worthy of Girlz Gone Wild. A little discretion doesn't kill people.
It's to bad if Mikey and Isabella don't want to know that their teacher is having a drink. It is quite simply not anyone else's business. Having a drink is not against the law, neither is wearing skimpy clothes or having a life that is worthy of Girls Gone Wild. People just want way to much control over teachers' lives.
Whether or not one actually AGREES that educators should live in a fishbowl or be upheld to a higher standard than people who don't work intensively with youth, the fact remains that both are true, fair or not. It's just one of those things that goes with the territory, and if you choose to enter into that type of a profession, it's best to be aware of it, and either adhere to it or not...but if you choose not to adhere to it, it's more or less at your own risk.
If you go ahead and sign a contract that incorporates standards you don't agree with or have a philosophical problem with, that's also something you do of your own free will and with the knowledge that it could bite you in the ass. Don't like the terms of your contract/find them unfair? You don't have to work there.
I have never heard of a public school teacher contract that prohibited teachers from consuming alcohol.
How many of you would defend this guy? Now remember what he was doing was on his on time and is LEGAL. This is NOT the only case on what this guy was doing..
And before you Yell But Smoking is bad for your health.....I know people that drank them selves into an early grave.
These are different cases entirely. Legal or not, companies have been firing, or refusing to hire, smokers over the last ten years. The only motivation in doing so is purely financial. Simply put, HMOs charge more for smokers. Whose next? Those with lupus?
These guys would not have been fired if their companies did not offer employee insurance or if they had there own private coverage. It's all about profit, not health.
These are different cases entirely. Legal or not, companies have been firing, or refusing to hire, smokers over the last ten years. The only motivation in doing so is purely financial. Simply put, HMOs charge more for smokers. Whose next? Those with lupus?
These guys would not have been fired if their companies did not offer employee insurance or if they had there own private coverage. It's all about profit, not health.
Sadly, when I was interviewing for teaching jobs at private schools, there were actually some who asked me about my "health." Needless to say, I did not pursue those jobs, even though I am perfectly healthy--I just thought that it was a little creepy, and that I would not want to work for an institution that might discriminate against someone who was "unhealthy." I know that many times it is simply about the bottom line but even so, it struck me as a bit fascist.
These are different cases entirely. Legal or not, companies have been firing, or refusing to hire, smokers over the last ten years. The only motivation in doing so is purely financial. Simply put, HMOs charge more for smokers. Whose next? Those with lupus?
These guys would not have been fired if their companies did not offer employee insurance or if they had there own private coverage. It's all about profit, not health.
Like I said, I know a couple of people that have drank themselves to death and they were covered by insurance...
Drinking kills several thousand people in this country every year and I'm sure most or a lot them are covered by insurance at work...
Why should teachers be held to any different standard than anyone else? That's ridiculous.
I agree. What I do off the job has nothing to do with what I do on the job. If a teacher wants to moonlight as a stripper, that's her decision as long as she comes into her room and does her job every day.
I think it's terrible, and I hope she wins her suit. Teachers are adults, should have the same full rights that everyone else has, and there's nothing wrong with an adult (teacher or not) having a beer, assuming it's not on school property or during work hours.
I agree. I see a disturbing trend where people are beginning to have absolutely no personal life. We complain about family's falling apart, yet in this 24/7 world, nearly everyone has to work all the time. Give Education time. Kids will be going all year long. I'm sure the stocks in anti-anxiety pharmecuticals will go through the roof.
My DH has flatly refused to carry a blackberry or a cell phone when he's not at work. If they can't reach him after hours, then they need to leave a message and wait for him to call back, or call another superior if it is emergent. He works like a dog at his job - often giving "110%" and he'll be damned if he's going to throw his family and/or personal life under the bus for the job.
It would be a different story obviously if her students were in the picture drinking with her!
Location: Jonquil City (aka Smyrna) Georgia- by Atlanta
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Quote:
Originally Posted by golfgal
When I was in college it was stressed to us that ANYTHING we do will be under the scrutiny of students, parents, administration, etc. We were advised to not go out to the bars in the towns where or near where we were teaching, etc. All it takes is one vindictive parent or student to ruin your career. This was before the days of the internet and PC's so I am sure they now talk to prospective teachers about what they have on social networking sites. Right or wrong that is just the way it is. Heck, look at all the posts here about how a teacher did this and that to their child-never considering that just MAYBE it was the student that did something wrong. Teachers are expected to live up to an impossible set of standards and this is just one more case of that.
That is what the hell is wrong with this country. People just say "that is the way it is" and let themselves be stepped on and abused. Let me tell you, there is NO FUGGIN WAY I would EVER allow my employer to nose into my personal off-the-clock life. If they tried I would go so ape sheet that they'd never forget it. If more people let it be known that they were not going to tolerate being treated like a 5 year old, it would stop.
In no other country in this world would teachers put up with such BS. If they tried that non sense in Europe, Australia or even Canada, the teachers would go bonkers. You would have riotous protest and nationwide strikes.
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We complain about family's falling apart, yet in this 24/7 world, nearly everyone has to work all the time. Give Education time. Kids will be going all year long. I'm sure the stocks in anti-anxiety pharmecuticals will go through the roof. 
