Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Misinterpreted OCT Advisory on Social Media

Reading the media and public response to the Ontario College of Teachers' advisory on social media is an exercise in frustration. It's so easy for facts to get twisted and misinterpretations to be made.

One teacher in Idaho pleads guilty to engaging in sexual conduct online with a 14-year old girl after impersonating a teenage boy and now Macleans wants us to blame it all on social media? Obviously, the Idaho teacher is a sick man who needs help. It’s bizarre to insinuate that teachers would start behaving this way just because of the technology. A person’s social ethics and morality are what dictate the use of technology.

Social networks set up in a professional manner between students and teachers actually help both parties to behave in the same way they would in any public place such as a coffee shop or a mall. Teach proper use through education.

The author needs to be corrected in stating “the College is making sure the rule is hereby carved in stone”. This is an incorrect assumption. An advisory is advice; a policy is a hard and fast rule. The main purpose of this advisory is meant to protect teachers from potential misinterpretations, leading to costly and embarrassing lawsuits. It wasn’t meant to cause alarm to the public by warning parents to lock up their children and cause general mistrust of teachers. Too bad Macleans interpreted it that way. Thanks for doing your part to set the teaching profession back a little further, as well as the integration of technology in education.

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