We hear a lot about online presence... last week NELMS friends hosted an excellent webinar on the topic, and we are all aware of the importance of helping students be safe online. Too often, however, they dismiss our message. "After all," they reason, "who really cares?"
Although the circumstances are a little different, the recent story of the CEO of Yahoo stepping down amid questions about the details on his resume seems to illustrate the point. What we say about ourselves in a public forum matters.
This may also be a reason behind the laws related to privacy. If teachers (or principals, or superintendents, or any other school employee) makes a statement about others (either students or colleagues), then those statements have an air of truth and they may be assumed to be true.
I suppose the lesson that we need to share with our students is to be truthful in your statements about yourself online. Also, be careful about what you say about others... they may not appreciate rumors being spread about them... and ethical educators model the actions they expect of their students.
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