Social Media

Running head: SOCIAL MEDIA 1

Social Media

STUDENT NAME

EDU 100: Issues in Education

Dr. Newton Miller

DATE

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Introduction

As a new teacher in a school district Mr. Y should be on his very best behavior and

working to do everything to make sure his fellow colleagues feel comfortable around him as well

as his new students. It is his duty to make sure he is a responsible member of the school district

and the community as well. As a teacher he is not only representing himself, he is now

representing his school and the district. His actions should be those of a well-respected,

upstanding member of society. Unfortunately, Mr. Y has started off on the wrong foot and

portrayed himself in a negative light. His social media presence is one that reflects poorly on him

therefore it could affect his job and those around him. The social media account could raise

many issues for Mr. Y and have many potential consequences. He has violated many of the “six

pillars of character” as an educator and proactive measures need to be taken to rectify the

situation.

Issues and Concerns

By Mr. Y posting that he is attracted to younger girls and stating, “the younger the

better”, he is bringing much negative attention to himself. This statement would make one

wonder if Mr. Y was safe to be around girls at the school. After all, girls in school are young and

Mr. Y has already stated he likes younger girls. This scenario could have many people concerned

about just what he means by his statement. While he may only be referring to adult women that

is not what he states in his social media and unfortunately what people post on social media can

often be misconstrued. Social media is something that once you put it out there it cannot ever be

taken back. It can be seen by anyone, not just your “friends” or those who “follow you”. In the

article, “Twitter Use and its Effects on Student Perception of Instructor Credibility,” the authors

discuss how students perceive their teachers after reading tweets put out by them and how it

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effects the teacher’s integrity. Social media is so prevalent in our society that it has a huge

impact on today’s educational environment. “Effective communication between instructor and

student is vital to the student’s learning experience; however, outside of the classroom setting,

communication can take on many forms. Informal communication with instructors can positively

influence student perceptions of trust and feelings of instructor immediacy, as well as student

motivation” (DeGroot, Young & VanSlette) If positive interactions on social media effect

students in a motivational way, then the opposite goes for negative interactions or negative

portrayals of someone on their social media page.

Potential Negatives

Some potential negative consequences we may see for the teacher in this instance could

be job dismissal, being shunned by the community if he is allowed to continue teaching and this

“gets out” and negative interactions/feedback from his students. Negative consequences for the

students could be if Mr. Y is dismissed and he turned out to be a wonderful teacher who meant

no ill will or harm toward any of the young female students and they missed out on learning from

an amazing teacher. The school community could face negative consequences if the social media

issue is brought to light and he is still working at the school. Many parents of young females and

males would likely have an issue with a man working with their children who broadcasted that

he was interested in young females. This could put many people’s job at risk.

Six Pillars

As a teacher, by posting that he was attracted to young girls “the younger the better”, I

feel Mr. Y violated many of the six pillars of character. The pillars I believe were violated were

trustworthiness, respect, responsibility and citizenship. Trustworthiness was violated because

Mr. Y cannot truly be trusted by staff, students or the community. After reading what he posted

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on social media how could anyone truly trust him to work with young females. Respect was

violated because it is very disrespectful of Mr. Y to even write that on his social media page and

then even worse when he is supposed to be a teacher of young people. Responsibility was

violated because Mr. Y has a responsibility to be an upstanding member of the community and

he broke that when he decided to post on social media. Finally, I chose citizenship because this

pillar has to do with making your school and community better and obeying laws and rules. I

really feel that Mr. Y was clearly not thinking of anyone but himself when he posted and he may

be in violation of district rules or laws by his statement as well.

Responses/Actions

I feel Mr. Y needs to address the situation and apologize to the principal as well as the

colleagues whom he invited to visit his social media page. He should also publicly, on his social

media page, apologize and even go as far as explaining himself whether that means he is looking

for a girlfriend (of legal age) or even a wife. He cannot just sit back and not do anything. Mr. Y

definitely needs to take full responsibility for his actions. That may also involve turning in a

letter of resignation if he feels he has taken things too far.

Conclusion

Social media is an amazing way to stay connected with family and friends from all

around the world. It can truly be an amazing thing. At the same time social media is final. Once

you post something it has gone out to the world and no matter how many times you delete what

you have posted or try to “take it back” you cannot undo what has been done. Mr. Y needs to

keep that in mind for the future.

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References

DeGroot, J.M., Young, V.J., & VanSlette, S.H. (2015) Twitter Use and its Effects on Student

Perception of Instructor Credibility. Communication Education, 64(4), 419-437.

Retrieved from http://doi-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1080/03634523.2015.1014386