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Teacher Fired b/c FaceBook

In a community near where I live just outside Atlanta, GA, a teacher, Ashley Payne was recently fired from her position at the high school where she taught English because of her FaceBook page. When I saw this on the evening news, I didn't know what to think, and it's become a colorful topic of conversation between myself and my girlfriends.

Appartently, this young woman posted pictures of her European vacation on her FaceBook page. In two photos, she is pictured holding an alcoholic beverage: she has a glass of beer in a photo taken in Amsterdam, and a glass of wine in a photo in Italy. In addition, she used the word "bitch" in a post someplace on her page. The story goes that a parent from the school saw her page and complained to school administrators about it, leading to her dismissal.

According to Payne, she doesn't know how a parent could have seen her page because it is set to private. She claims she never accepts a friend request from a student.

My knee-jerk reaction is here we have yet another example of Southern holier-than-thou attitude condemning anyone who commits such sins as drinking or cursing. And shame on them for working with God-fearing children being raised to walk the path of Jesus. (My cheeky explanation stems from the ridiculous hypocracy that I see every day where these types of people are concerned.)

Then, since I am a Libra who must examine each side of the coin, I think about my own children in school and I wonder if it isn't good to insist that the teachers interacting with them uphold a certain standard of behavior. I wouldn't want a teacher to say "bitch" in class, so how is that different from reading they said it on FaceBook?

Even as I type this, I'm shaking my head. After all, this teacher has a right to a life outside her job. I wouldn't blink an eye if I saw a teacher in a restaurant sipping a glass of wine! (If she was stinking drunk, I'd have a problem with it, though!) She had her FaceBook page set to private, so if she didn't invite this parent or any students to view it, why should she be fired for someone seeing it?

I don't have a FaceBook account, so when I asked my friends who do how someone can view a private page when they aren't accepted as a friend, I was told someone must have "tagged" the photos, making them accessible to any of that person's friends. Sheesh...that's why I won't open a FaceBook account. No guarenteed privacy!

This situation is still in limbo. Ashley Payne is suing the school district to get her job back. Her attorney is going at it from the angle that the school violated Georgia's Fair Dismissal Act when they fired her. If I were her, I'd try to get my job back and once I did, I'd quit!

The whole thing brings up the question whether your job should dictate the kind of private life you lead. Celebrities have to deal with the public scrutiny of their private lives, as do politicians. Where we should draw the line is debatable, for sure.

Word to the wise: be careful what you put out there about yourself. Information you offer on FaceBook, MySpace, or a blog can definitely bite you in the ass in more ways than one.

For anyone interested, here is the news story of Ashley Payne as reported by Atlanta's local Fox network:


{link:http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/facebook+causes+barrow+teacher's+firing+111009}