Ep 135 This Can Get You Fired, Even Outside of Work

In this episode, I delve into the challenging world of teachers' off-duty actions and their digital footprint, uncovering a real-life case that rocked a Kansas school and led to a teacher's dismissal. I explore how a series of TikTok videos had far-reaching consequences, including classroom content creation that crossed boundaries, all while dissecting the school district's social media policy and its implications for personal responsibility, discretion, and professionalism. The bigger picture is that this issue extends beyond teachers; it touches on the wider world of employment and social media use. If you're a teacher interested in the intricacies of professional conduct, this episode is for you.

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the Teachers Need Teachers Podcasts, the podcast for teachers who don't want
to just survive teaching, but actuallythrive. I'm Kim Laprie. If you
were new, I am eager todiscuss today's episode with you because it's one
that was actually inspired by a questionfrom a longtime listener. And I love
getting messages from you guys. Andthis is from Derek. Let's just imagine

(00:25):
this scenario. Imagine a teacher fromKansas who's passionate about his work being let
go from his job because of somecontroversial tiktoks. These TikTok videos raise objections
from the board, and in onevideo, he made some lighthearted jokes about
farting in his classroom and they werehumorous to him and to his students.

(00:49):
But I didn't start there. Actually, it escalated when it was discovered that
some of these videos were actually filmedin his classroom, and that was actually
something that the board used in theircase against him. Now, the school
district has a policy about social mediaand maintaining professionalism and responsibility on platforms such

(01:11):
as TikTok, so even on personalplatforms, they stress that anything that's said
online on a teacher's account should besomething that they would say in a public
meeting or to the media representing theschool district. As a result, the
teacher had to make a difficult choice. He had to either take down the
videos or resign, and because hewanted to hold true to his principles,

(01:33):
it ultimately led to his termination.So this story is a stark reminder that
a lot of the things that wedo outside of the classroom can actually have
ramifications on our jobs. But italso makes me wonder what are the ethical
and legal boundaries for teachers and howdo they vary from state to state?
Can teachers truly separate their professional livesfrom their personal lives in this profession?

(01:57):
And what are the potential consequences forour actions outside of work. Now,
it goes without saying that we areentitled to our personal and private lives.
Teaching should not encroach on that becausethat's basically our time outside of school.
We are off duty, and honestly, we should be able to do what
we want to do because it's afree world, and just like any profession,
we have the right to engage inany lawful or frankly unlawful activities When

(02:23):
we're off duty. But the thingis, some people see us as role
models because of how impressionable our studentsare than the influence that we have,
and so they think that that influenceand maybe the morality of being a teacher
should translate outside of the classroom aswell. And because of this, some

(02:44):
people do view our behaviors outside ofthe classroom as something that they can scrutinize
in, something that can be heldunder a microscope, and we can be
fired for things that maybe the communityand society don't necessarily approve of. But
I definitely think that what we dooutside of the classroom should be protected because
it is our lives to a certainextent. Though, so I'm going to

(03:07):
dive into some of that gray areabecause let's be real, there are things
that if we do them outside ofthe classroom, we probably shouldn't be allowed
to teach. So let's talk aboutlegal considerations. Now. Let me promise
this by saying that I am nota lawyer, I am not a legal
expert, and what I know isbased on what's available on the internet,

(03:28):
what is googleable. So don't comeback at me and say you said I
can get fired for this, ButI wasn't, or you said that I
cannot get fired for this, andI was, because really it varies i
state to state and district by district, so let's start there. So in
general, pretty much most states areat wal states, which means that you
can be fired for any reason aslong as your employer is not discriminating against

(03:53):
you, retaliating for being a whistleblower, or engaging in other protected activities like
being part of a union. Butunless it's illegal, they do have the
right to fire you for whatever reason. I hate to say that, and
some of you have experiences too.If you saw my video about non renewal
notices, they could come up withwhatever reason they want to not running your

(04:14):
contract and not have you come back. So what are some things that you
can get fired for as a teacher? Public intoxication where you're drinking to the
point that it's leading to fights,you're like passed out in public. That
can get you firing. But thisisn't the same as like going and having
some beers with your friends or goingto a winery. That is acceptable,
but when you take it to anextreme and you're drawing attention to yourself and

(04:38):
getting arrested for it, that couldbe grounds for letting you go. But
the laws vary from state to statein terms of what is and isn't protected.
Well. California has some of thestrictest laws for firing employees at bill
Employers cannot fire employees for drinking inpublic unless drinking in public can show that
it had a negative impact on theemployees' performance. That employers are more likely

(05:01):
to fire employees if it's disruptive inthe workplace or damaging to the reputation of
that particular employer or company. Imean, some of it's really obvious.
You might have heard recently of athird grade teacher who came to school intoxicated,
and of course that teacher was fired, because let's be real, they
should be fired for that. Alsoposting inappropriate material on social media, California

(05:27):
protects employees from being fired for theirsocial media posts. There are a few
other states that are also in thatrealm where employees are really protected for things
that they do during their personal time, but in most states, employers can
fire employees for what they put onsocial media. Kind of shocking, and
again it's because most states are atwill states, and so whatever reason they

(05:49):
can come up with, or whateverpolicies they have, they have the right
to establish those or use those asreasons to fire you. So if you
have social media posts that maybe arecriticizing the district or your administrator or something
like that, apparently that could begrounds for letting you go. In this
case, what I would do isread up on the policies that your district

(06:12):
has. So your district may havea policy or maybe it's just sort of
like a blanket policy about whatever yousay or do in public, but I
would definitely look up on that becauseyou just never know engaging in illegal activities.
If you're convicted of a serious orviolent felony, you're going to be
out of a teaching job. Andafter doing some research, I realized that
there are actually a lot of factorsthat play into whether or not you would

(06:36):
get fired for doing something illegal,and these activities would definitely affect your ability
to get another job, because asa teacher, we have to disclose if
we've ever been convicted of a crime, even if it's something like a d
line. So that's something to takeinto consideration if you're going to be doing
something that's not on the up andup another thing that you can get fired

(06:58):
for. Obviously having a physical orromantic relationship with a student. I mean
enough said, also making discriminatory oroffensive statements. Again, this should be
self explanatory, and let's not getcaught up in the whole free speech First
Amendment deal because in many districts andin the changing political and educational landscape,

(07:20):
it really doesn't take much to offendsomeone, So you just definitely want to
steer clear of making any kind ofcomments that could be perceived as offensive.
It kind of sucks because we neverreally know if something that we say in
our classroom is going to set someoneoff or make a student run home and
tell their parents, And it's reallyhard to feel like we can do our

(07:43):
jobs to the best of our abilities, but still we're being looked at under
a microscope. So this made mewonder, what is that line that you
can toe in terms of something thatyou do during your personal times. For
example, if I live in Californiaand I want to go buy marijuana,
I get fired for that gnome becauseit's legal. But if you are out
and about smoking marijuana and getting highsomewhere, then that could be a reason

(08:07):
why your employer fires you because you'redoing that in public. My recommendations,
so first, when you're in public, you definitely want to exercise discretion.
So this doesn't mean that you can'tgo out and drink with your friends and
your family, and that you can'tsmoke marijuana if it's legal in your state.

(08:28):
But what it does mean is tojust be mindful when you're in public.
So you definitely don't want to gethammered because that could be seen as
questionable. And you want to thinkabout the conversations that you're having with other
teachers, especially you don't want tobe talking about a particular student or a
parent or a colleague, administrator district. You don't want to be naming names

(08:52):
in public because that could get backto you and buy chewing the butt.
And also be mindful of what youpost on social media. If you post
things that could in any way beperceived as questionable, then you want to
put your accounts in lock down andhave them be private. And I don't
care what you post, honestly,I'm not going to judge those, but

(09:13):
we can no longer use the excuseI didn't know to justify the things that
we put on social media. It'sout there, it's public, and a
lot of employers even look at yoursocial media account before even deciding whether or
not they want to hire you.So just really be mindful about And that's
something that I think about too,and why I honestly don't post a lot

(09:33):
on social media. It's not thatI'm doing anything that would be questionable,
but I just tend to be privateand I don't want a lot of people
to know too much about me,because not only are those of you that
are listening or watching my YouTube videos, I'm sure that you want to connect
with me, but so do mystudents and their parents, because a lot
of them have found me online,or they've found me with my YouTube channel,

(09:58):
or they google me and they findpictures of me. I'm fairly googleable,
so I try to curate what Ido put out on social media and
on the internet so that what theyfind is not questionable. I'd also avoid
illegal activities. I mean, it'syour life. Just know that if you
do decide to do something illegal,it could definitely catch up with you,

(10:20):
whether it's something that gets you firedor something that prevents you from future employment,
not just teaching, just future employment. In general, just think twice
about that. I'm not saying thatyou have to be goody goody and that
you have to constantly obey the law, but just know that when you're making
those decisions that again we're not sayingI didn't know that we are doing them

(10:41):
knowing full well as adults that itcould lead to consequences. I would also
learn about your district's policies, whetherit's conduct in public or social media.
Knowledge is power, and it canprevent you from doing something that will later
be regrettable. There are some districtswhere it's impossible to fire a teacher.
It seems like teachers get away withcoming to school drunk or they do things

(11:03):
that in a normal workplace they wouldhave been fired for. But at the
same time, teachers are also beinglet go for some of the stupidest things.
So, unless you have the powerof tenure and you're in a district
with a strong union, you definitelywant to take the time to look up
the district's policies, be in theno so that you're not sidelined if you

(11:24):
do something now someone's coming after youfor it. Now. I'm not telling
you guys that you need to bea saint because we're humans. There's good
people in all professions, and thenthere's just some rotten people everywhere too.
I don't think that we should beexpected to be the moral compass for students.
In fact, many parents would preferthat we not be the moral compass
and that we just stick to teachingthe content, but just use common sense

(11:46):
in terms of the things that youdo inside and outside of the classroom.
Because, as weird as it mightsound, you are somewhat of a mini
celebrity because you encounter so many studentsin your life. I have one hundred
and semi students every year for thepast twenty two years. You do the
math on that. That's how manystudents and their families know who I am

(12:07):
and who recognize me when I'm outand about. It doesn't mean that I
don't get to be who I wantto be and who I am, but
it does mean that I am thoughtfulabout what I put out there and how
I am when I'm in public,and it's just something that I know that
I kind of signed up for.So bottom line, yes, of your
lives how you want to, butat the same time, do it with
the knowledge of the possible consequences,and it's up to you whether or not

(12:31):
it's worth it, whether or notthose consequences are worth the actions. And
if living this way in terms ofhaving to censor the things that you do
and say, doesn't align with yourvalues, just know that these laws don't
apply just to teaching. A lotof employers also have these types of policies,
and so you're not necessarily going tobe in the clear if you quit

(12:54):
teaching. I mean, if youthink about it, when companies get a
celebrity to represent them, like ina commercial or on an advertisement, if
that celebrity does or says something thatgoes against the values of that company,
a lot of times that celebrity islet go. So it's not just teachers
that have to worry about what theysay and how they act. It's kind

(13:18):
of everybody, and there could berepercussions no matter what job you have.
So thanks for hanging out with metoday, you guys. I hope that
this was helpful for you. I'dlove to hear your take on this and
what you think, and maybe ifyou have any horror stories or any stories
about things that have happened to youor your colleagues. Because of this,
please let me know. You canDM me at Kim Laprie on Instagram or

(13:41):
you can email me at kimat teachersnadteachersdot com. Thanks for hanging out with
me you guys today and I willsee you next time.