Miss Stacy Snyder, who is 27, has lost her teaching credential from Millersville University because the administration caught wind of drunken pictures of herself on Myspace. She will not be able to get her credential now because of a picture of her in a pirate hat drinking from a Goodbar Cup with a caption that reads "drunken pirate" and her favorite activity was listed as "dancing like an a**hole." The University also said that she would not have received it anyways because she had "unsatisfactory performance" and "unprofessional behaviour." Her father, however, claims that, "I don't think its fair...She could have been a good teacher."
Does her behaviour really warrant a withdrawl of her teaching credential? Becoming a teacher includes making changes in your life so that you become a role model and do not encourage questionable behaviour.She was young, however, and had not graduated yet, so is this an extreme example? Lots of college students have pictures of themselves partying on myspace, so was it just bad luck that she got caught? How justified is the school's reaction?
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4791295&page=1
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13 comments:
Just because you drink doesn't mean you cant teach -- or dance like an "a**hole" for that matter.
Although the university would probably not admit to it, finding this myspace page was probably the reason for her teaching credential withdrawl.
I've heard of a somewhat similar situation happening to a grade school teacher on facebook. His students found his page and saw drunken photos of their teacher. He was fired as well. Although this is unfortunate and sets a bad example for students, teachers are allowed to drink, party, and have fun. I really don't think the teacher should have been reprimanded. Maybe a slap on the wrist and a demand that she remove the picture but she shouldn't have been fired. Having lived briefly in another country, I think people in this country are too prude and conservative about alcohol. However Americas also use alcohol less responsibly than elsewhere.
Of course teachers should be allowed to have fun, just like anyone else; however, I think putting this kind of information on Myspace, a site which is used by many, many students, on an obviously public profile was not a good idea. Perhaps they should have just warned the prospective teacher instead of just denying a credential right away, but if her performance was not-so-good anyway I understand where they're coming from.
I think its pretty unfair that they took away her credential because teachers have the right to drink and do what they want. But it was pretty dumb of her to put those pictures up on myspace, especially because employers are now looking into people's online sites including facebook and myspace and other personal sites people may have. I've even heard that some colleges look into high school students' facebooks/myspaces...but that may just be a myth
I think that is a major overreaction. Is drinking illegal? why should she be punished for doing something that she has every right to do. i guess people should make sure to make their profiles private.
"Millersville University claimed it would have refused to give Snyder a teaching degree even without the Web page, alleging unsatisfactory performance and unprofessional behavior."
But in other cases I think that it would stupid to post these pictures, but I don't necessarily think a person should lose their credential over this.
I think that it is important decide whether or not the teacher was professional during her time at the school, not on her personal time. If she was not breaking the law she shouldn't be reprimanded for her actions. I don't think that the school had the right to take away her teaching credential based on solely the fact of her drinking while not on the job. It would be different if she was dancing on the tables drunk during one of her classes
as i read everyone's comments i just get more upset regarding this turn of events.
Just another invasion of privacy, whats next, warrantless wiretaps on our citizens?
I think it's ridiculous if the university withdrew her teaching credentials based on pictures. If that's the case, what invasion of privacy is next. Are employers going to search the homes of prospective employees to see if they have any incriminating pictures. This is terrible. If they had valid professional reasons as Angela stated then that's fine, but if it's based on Myspace pictures, the withdrawl is absurd.
I think that getting fired was a harsh punishment. They should have told her to take the pictures down or change her profile to private so no students could see it. Everyone should be able to have fun and have pictures of whatever they want on their page. However this is partly her fault, she should of known that high officials have nothing better to do.
Ok this is blown way out of proportion. Drinking isn't illegal and dancing like an a**hole isn't either. She was wrongfully stripped of her credential and she should fight this. The University should have just confronted her and told her that her Myspace page was inappropriate. They could have told her to erase it or make the correct changes to make the page more appropriate but not strip her of her credential. That seems way to severe for no crime at all. Teachers are people to right Mr. Silton.
I'd call it an invasion of privacy if she hadn't posted the photos on Myspace. Either way it was an unnecessary delve into her personal life. And if she was going to lose her teaching credentials anyway, they should have at least let her finish the semester, or quarter, or whatever.
I think that in this case, since the student was still young and not yet a teacher, the consequences should not have been so harsh. Many young people have pages like myspace or facebook, and she was doing nothing illegal that would merit losing her credential. I would understand if she was rejected or fired from a job because students were able to see this page, but there is no reason that she shouldn't be allowed to earn her credential. If she had "unsatisfactory behavior," then she should have lost her credential for this reason, not because there are pictures of her doing, irresponsible yes, but still perfectly legal things.
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