Wait, some schools still allow teachers and students to be Facebook friends?!
That was my first thought after hearing this story about the outrageously homophobic Facebook comments made by a Kansas middle school teacher. Then I read the actual comments and thought, Whoa, this is one seriously messed-up individual. Some school is allowing him to teach children?!
Jack Conkling, a teacher at Prairie Middle School, was apparently none too pleased by Obama's move to support same-sex marriage. Okay, already I have a problem with this guy. But then he went on Facebook and things got much, much worse ... especially because many of his FB friends also happen to be his students.
Ugh, I barely even want to repeat any of Conkling's hateful rant here, but just so you get the idea:
“All this talk in the news about gay marriage recently has finally driven me to write. Gay marriage is wrong because homosexuality is wrong. The Bible clearly states it is sin. Now I do not claim it to be a sin any worse than other sins. It ranks in God’s eyes the same as murder, lying, stealing, or cheating. His standards are perfect and ALL have sinned and fallen short of His glory. Sin is sin and we all deserve hell. Only those who accept Christ as Lord and daily with the help of the Spirit do their best to turn from sin will enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
Close-minded, judgmental and oh so subtle! And it goes on, too!
Here's the thing. I went back and forth a bit with this one, because while my initial reaction was one of "And THIS is why teachers and students shouldn't be FB friends," as a mom, part of me wondered if maybe the parents of Conkling's students aren't grateful for his Facebook comments -- without them, how would they have ever known what kind of a man was teaching their kids? Maybe a behind-the-scenes look into the lives of the adults shaping my kids' lives ain't such a bad thing.
But then I had a couple of realizations. First of all, how many teachers would be stupid enough to post something this controversial on a public Facebook page? I can't imagine the average educator's FB profile is this much of tell-all.
And chances are even Jack Conkling would know not to go on a rant like this in the classroom, so if he never friended those students in the first place, they never would have been exposed to his backwards way of thinking. Schools need to ban teacher/student FB relations, no exceptions.
And THIS is why teachers and students shouldn't be Facebook friends.
Do you think teachers and students should be Facebook friends?
Image via Dan Taylor/Flickr
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Comments 18
Teachers and students should not be friends on facebook. Now, as far as your rant about him being closed minded and judgemental...I believe you also fall into that same category. If this man believes what he wrote to be his truth, then it's his truth. As more and more people come to accept ssm, they will always be those who don't for many of reasons and they should still be respected even if they have a difference of opinion.
No one in a position of authority like a teacher or employer should be FB friends with the people over whom they have authority. However, this is his page and his opinion, he is allowed to express his opinion on his page. I do not happen to agree with his opinion. Since his pupils are friends with him on FB, and he presumably knows it, that would be grounds for seeing what he is telling the kids in class. If he is sticking to his subject matter or not straying far from it, well and good. If he is getting this personal in the classroom, he needs to be at least reprimanded so he understands the boundaries. BTW, it is not the anti-gay marriage stance that bothers me as much as the extreme religious stance.