Sunday, September 13, 2015

Is Teacher's Speech TOO Free?




"blog" by Kevin Lim
Creative Commons





This week a court ruled that a teacher's right to free speech can be limited. Read this article and then explain why you agree or disagree with the court's decision.










14 comments:

  1. I think Natalie Monroe should have restrictions placed on her, but not fired. Talking about another person especially students like that is wrong. It is understandable her thinking things like that, but the thoughts should remain in her head. It was very unprofessional. Teachers in particular need to be professional because they shape the lives of the future. Since she failed to be professional, I think is it right the court set new restrictions. I understand the schools reasoning behind firing her, but I think she should have more of a chance. The court involvement should have put her in her place. If she did not improve than she should be fired.

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    1. (I have posted a few comments but it wouldn't work, so I am now trying to "reply")
      I believe that the school had a legitimate reason to fire Monroe. Her comments on her blog were very inappropriate and unporofessional. As a student, I would be very embarrassed to read my teacher's blog when it blatantly talked about myself or my classmates. The blog was not used for any educational purposes, and would not help the students or school. In fact, it could acutally harm the reputation of the school. It makes sense that parents wouldn't want their child to have Monroe as a teacher, as the blog was humiliating to the students involved. Even though no names were mentioned, this was very inappropriate on Monroe's part.

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    2. I believe that it is wrong for the teacher to post diminishing and offensive comments about students. We as people do have a freedom of speech and I do not think there is a necessity to charge her legally. Although, with that being said, I do agree with the school's decision to fire her and I think that there should most definitely be consequences revolving the school environment. It is understandable that a teacher may have those thoughts about her students but there is no need for those thoughts to be expressed online where parents and students could see it.

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    3. I agree with the court that a teacher's right to free speech can be limited. I also agree with the school for firing Natalie Monroe. She abused her first Amendment right and now she is being punished for it. It is very unprofessional to tlak about a student on public media(even if no names are mentioned and that it was ment to be sent to just a friend). Now Mrs. Monroe and others can learn from her mistake and never talk about a student online. Students are punished when caught talking about a teacher on social media and teachers should follow this same rule. Mrs. Monroe represents the school and the school did the right thing by firing her because she was giving her and the school a bad reputation.

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  2. I completely agree with the court and the school's punishment for the teacher. She took advantage of the first amendment by commenting rude remarks about her students on a public site. I believe the first amendment is a great freedom we have, but when it hurts others, it crosses the line.

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  3. I definitely agree with the court on this case. The school has the right to fire Ms. Munroe because, although she was exercising her freedom of speech, it interfered with her teaching abilities. Parents asked for their children to not be placed in her class. What good is a teacher that nobody wants? It is acceptable for the school to fire her because she can no longer be a useful teacher. It is still acceptable even when you take into account that her comments were private and made outside of school, because even when hiring people, their social media are examined. Social media is a reflection of the person, and she acted unprofessionally and disrespectfully. It would be unconstitutional to demand that the school continue to employ a teacher that is not compassionate, unprofessional, disrespectful, and now unwanted by parents. I think that what the judge Robert E. Cowen stated sums up the case in a way that cannot be argued.

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  4. I agree with Judge Cowen when he said that when a teacher's rude comments cause parents to complain to the school district that it is appropriate to fire her. A teacher is a representative of the school and when she posts derogatory comments towards her students, it is not a good way to present her or her school. If I was a parent of a child in her class, I would not want her to say rude things about my child even if she didn't use his/her name. This issue goes beyond the First Amendment because she is invading a minor's privacy and twisting the words of the First Amendment. This is affecting her teaching ability and if no students want to be in her class then she does have a right to be fired. The school has the right to fire her because if they think that she is not portraying the image that they want people to see and she is turning away students, then she can be fired. Munroe even got a second chance after her leave of absence and blew it once more. Munroe did have the right to be fired, and she offended her students and twisted the First Amendment.

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  5. I agree with the court's decision to fire Natalie Munroe for her inappropriate blog against the children in her class. Her blog was extremely rude and offensive to the children in her class and the parents of the children had the right to complain and had the right to request for their children not to be in her class. If a student were to post mean and rude comments about a teacher, they would get in trouble and possibly expelled, so why wouldn't be the same for a teacher? What Monroe was saying is guarded by the first amendment which protects her from being arrested, but the school was right to fire her because she took her privileges of the first amendment too far and personally offended her students.

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  6. I agree with Megan, Natalie Monroe was rightfully fired. She posted hurtful and inprofessional comments about her students for no reason. Freedom of speech does not condone rude comments. If Natalie Monroe was frustrated about her class, then she should have either kept it to herself or ranted about it in PRIVATE. I understand that teaching is frustrating, but ranting about your students on a public blog is unacceptable. Calling a student 'weird' and a 'jerk' will affect their learning negatively. It hurt many student's feelings. While it is unconstitutional to arrest this teacher, she has violated the code of conduct for teachers, and should be punished by the school. Further legal action is not nescessary, but Natalie Monroe is not off the hook completely.

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  7. I think the school was right to fire her because even though dealing with younger kids who can be bratty is stressful, you shouldn't put your feelings online. She acted very immature by using social media to say rude things about her young students and their parents. Anyone can see what you write online so she should have known that her actions would have eventually gotten back to the school and the kids' parents. Even if she didn't think that what she was doing was wrong, the parents and school are obviously going to have different feelings. She basically just lost the trust of the school and parents of the students she disrespected.

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  8. My mom was a high school teacher at Romulus Public High school. From the stories I heard I know teaching is a very difficult and stressful job. Because of this i have first hand experience in understanding teachers and how much they do. I believe because of this i believe i can say that this woman has no right to be called a teacher. What she did was immature, disrespectful, and unprofessional. I think to be a good teacher, especially an elementary school teacher, you need to have a love for teaching and inspiring kids. I believe you need to be open to everything about the kids you teach including their problems. People act out for a reason, and i believe the job that no one ever tells teachers about is finding out what the problem is and helping that child as much as you can. The names that this teacher called her students disgust me, and i think that this woman should never be allowed to teach again.

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  9. I feel that Ms. Natalie Munroe shouldn't be fired, but possibly take down her blog. I feel a bit mad at her calling her students names like "obnoxius" a bit harsh, since it can be easily accessed. I feel that she should be able to speak freely, but within boundaries. Maybe in public or off school grounds, but her blog should definitely be removed.

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  10. I agree with the decision to fire Natalie Monroe. She does have the right to freedom of speech, but it is within reason and what Ms. Monroe said about her students crosses a line. Students should be able to trust their teachers, but this would break the trust of students and their families. These negative and hurtful comments create an unhealthy learning environment and students won't be able to learn as easily when their teacher has said rude things about them. Also, families were requesting to have any teacher but her. Even without her hurtful comments, there would be no reason to keep a teacher who had no students. I also think it is very immature for an adult to ridicule children on social media, even if she is frustrated.

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  11. I fully agree with the courts decision to fire Natalie Munroe. She is one of the many people who abuse our First Amendment. Sure, you are allowed to let off steam about work in discussion with your friends and family. But, making a blog about your student's and making degoratory remarks on them and their family is completely unprofessional and frankly immature. If i were a parent, I certainly would not want Natalie to teach one of my children.

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