High School Teacher Tweets Naked Pictures and Drug References

Social media is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives and how we interact with people. Because of this, there are more and more cases of social media being an issue in the workplace and in schools. Most recently, a 23-year-old was caught posting pictures of herself on Twitter while in the nude, doing drugs and consuming alcohol. Inappropriate messages were discovered on her account as well.

According to huffingtonpost.com, Carly McKinney, a math teacher in Aurora, Colo., was placed on paid leave last week. She is awaiting a meeting with the Cherry Creek School District officials later this week. Foxnewsinsider.com reported that some students are outraged, saying that McKinney’s actions are within her First Amendment rights. While McKinney’s tweets have been removed, a Google search of her Twitter handle, @Crunk_Bear, leads to the cached pictures and screenshots of the tweets in question,  as well as her public Twitter bio: “Crunker than most. Stay sexy. Stay high. Stay drunk. Stay free. Stay trippy. Mile High City.”

Whether or not McKinney had the right to post about her drug usage or tweet photos of herself topless, some of the things mentioned in her tweets imply activities that are most definitely against district policy. According to 9news.com,  one tweet said, “Watching a drug bust go down in the parking lot. It’s funny cuz I have weed in my car in the staff parking lot.” Another refers to a student as “jailbait,” and yet another mentions the fact that she was grading papers while high.

Radio talk show host Michael Graham told foxnewsinsider.com, “The issue is not the First Amendment. You are free to say what you want within obviously some parameters. There’s no such thing as consequence-free conversation…She clearly cannot be a public school teacher and be a public advocate of drinking, smoking and getting your party on.”

Graham was right. Everything you say or do, even on the Internet, is a reflection of your character. As a teacher, you are in the business of influencing young people to make responsible decisions. Your students are supposed to be able to respect you as a role model, and, like it or not, that responsibility to your students extends into the real world. You can’t do that if your students can read about your own irresponsible behavior.

In the age of social media, students can find and interact with their teachers outside of class time. There are ways you can avoid having your personal life available to anyone who Googles you, such as privacy settings on a Twitter account or Facebook page, but everyone, not just teachers, need to learn the difference between expressing yourself and providing incriminating evidence that an employer could potentially use against you. A post titled “10 Things a Teacher Should Never Do” on the job search engine, monster.com, makes a very good point: “If you wouldn’t post it on the board of your classroom, don’t post it on the Internet.” This is a rule I think everyone in a professional career should live by. If you don’t want your bosses or subordinates to see these things, don’t post them. Especially not on a platform where anyone with an Internet connection can find and read them.

Social media is quickly becoming an important part of the way people express themselves and connect with each other. Businesses are using them more and more often as platforms for customer feedback and promotional purposes, and teachers are using them to help connect with students on a more personal level. Within certain parameters, Twitter can become a useful classroom tool. But there needs to be a distinction between what is acceptable to post and what could be potentially incriminating information. Until a clear line can be drawn, situations like McKinney’s will become increasingly more common.