Sometimes I want to cancel my Facebook account and never look back. I mean it can be such a pit of all the worst things in the world. I am not talking about political rants (those suck) or even stalking exes to see if they are fat yet. I am only referring to seeing those things that people post that just make you cringe. The most cringe worthy moments in my life always come from my former students.
Facebook and teaching can be a wonderful combination. For example I was able to share this gem of a haiku with all my friends because of "The Book"  |
| I really hate birds which made this poem the most beautiful one I have even heard. |
I know that teachers being friends with their students is a crazy idea and I agree. I work at a small private school and for like a year I didn't mind if they were on my Facebook under restricted. However, I could still see their rants, pictures, and unkind status about my friends and me. I went on a binge and deleted any current student. I also have become extremely picky about who I add upon graduation. I know the big reason teachers and administrators do not add kids on Facebook is because they want privacy and a level of respect that you lose if kids see everything on your page. Personally, I have been working with teens since I was in college and started using Facebook. I have nothing to hide on there. The reason I have made my Facebook-student rules stricter are because I just don't want to see some of the junk that they feel the need to share.
Yesterday I was reminded of this as I hid several former students from my newsfeed, sorry if you randomly found this blog. It got me thinking about all the reasons I never wanted to see when I went to Facebook to see my friends cute new engagement photos. Things I never wanted to see on Facebook
Pictures of you shirtless with targets drawn on your nipples Yes this happened. The kid was in my English class and I never want to know what any of those yahoos look like without a shirt. I threw up a little in my mouth when I saw this. That bottle(s) of booze you "pounded" before you were 21Where are your brains? Who posts a picture of their terrible decisions that you are making as a 19 year old? It makes me sad because I know you are worth so much more than the party life you are chasing after. Photos of you and your girlfriend/ boyfriend kissing in bed - actually you and your girlfriend/ boyfriend kissing. Period. TEENAGE LOVE IS DISGUSTING! I actually wrote a post about this here. I just don't want to see it. The truth is you don't know what love is, you don't know what you are doing, and when I see your pictures promoting your promescuity it breaks my heart. You may not understand that you are shaping your life in a way that can cause extreme pain. The funny gay porn you post when you hack your friend's FacebookWhy? I just don't get it or want to see it. Your terrible grammar! I taught you ENGLISH for crying out loud. I know you are capable of so much more. Stop looking like an uneducated bug. Your rants about the homework you were assigned in high school, how happy you are to be gone, or how much you hated one of my coworkers friendsSave the drama for your mama! I remember you being sweet and kind and when you go off like this it makes me want to write the college I recommended you to and let them know how you are presenting yourself to the world and revoke my recommendation. All these things being true there are a few times where I just love having former students as my Facebook friends.
Reasons Why I love the Book Sweet emails from students on a random Tuesday afternoon I just got one this week that said,"I just miss you so much!" Photos from when they were in school with sweet captions "I miss high school. Why did I want to leave so badly?"
When they post nerdy ecards or gifs on my wall related to something they learned.One time a girl posted this gem on my Facebook and it totally made my day.  |
| You remembered something I taught you and related it to your life! |
The occassional post that asks a question related to something I taught them "Ms. T can you remind me of the history of theater?" Or even when they write a haiku that and post it on my wall.
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| Clearly I am influencing the future generation of leaders for the better. |
When a previous student will write something on your wall that looks a little like this:  |
| I miss this kid! |
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That is great! I teach Jr. High students, so many of them don't even have Facebook. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about them stalking me on it or my blog just yet. My favorite teacher in high school has the same standards as you--befriends you after you graduate and is very picky about whom she befriends.
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Oh man I wish mine didn't have Facebook! They can be so creepy when they want to look for stuff on you! They had it in for one of my coworkers last year and they scoured the internet for anything they could find on him. One of them told me about it and my friend changed all his settings to private. Kids these days! :)
ReplyDeleteI had one of my high school teachers who became friends with a lot of students after we graduated. However, we were all freshman in college and probably didn't post things he really wanted to see. I remember him making a status asking us to put him on a restricted view so that he could keep in contact with us but not have to worry about "seeing things he didn't want to see". Of course, this was before you could hide people from your timeline.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree - I'm not a teacher, but I work at an Italian restaurant where all the phone girls are still in their teens (seniors in high school, freshmen in college, etc) and they constantly tweet/instagram/facebook pictures and statuses about their bad decisions ("I am so high right now") and I yell at them...WHY ARE YOU PROUD OF IT? You could get arrested for sharing these things! Drives me nuts. I'm only 26, but I feel so old when I yell at them about it haha
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