This is NOT my son's teacher. This is just for illustrative purposes.
As my son prepared to start school this year, I did a little research. I checked out the school, after-school program, school activities, lunch program, bus schedule, etc. I felt informed and confident I had done everything I could to prepare for the day.
I got to work and discussed all the preparations that had gone into sending my son to kindergarten. As I told one of my colleagues about all of the research, he reminded me I will still not covering all of my bases. I had totally forgotten to look up my son’s teacher on social networks.
I quickly did so and found her on Facebook. There was not a lot of information beyond her photo and hometown. It would have been nice to see her friend list or if she was a member of “I love torturing my kindergarten students’ parents with college level homework.” Yet I think she was responsible in ensuring the appropriate privacy settings were enabled.
We all say things to our friends that are inappropriate, and don’t have to explain them or provide a frame of reference. We are usually coming from the same place and have shared experiences to weigh comments, links, photos, etc. against.
I am sure my colleague and me are not the first overly protective, neurotic parents to “research” their kids’ teachers. And, to tell the truth, it did feel a little like spying or even as if I were being a peeping Tom, but I am glad I did it.
Social media is a powerful tool and it has the ability to hurt or help us. Just with other aspects of our life it is up to us to be responsible for how we use it and what we put out there.
Image from Getty Images.
