Yesterday a big news item was about Natalie Munroe, a teacher, who posted comments on her blog about some of her students.  The posts were anonymous, that is to say, the students were not named.  None the less, some of her comments were considered rather mean, and this has created quite a stir.

Natalie, who is a 30-year-old teacher at Central Bucks East High School in Doyleston, Pa., described some of her students as “out of control, rude, lazy, disengaged whiners,” even calling one of them a “complete and utter jerk in all ways.” Perhaps the most dramatic of all her posts was when she said, “There’s no other way to say this, I hate your kid.  Although academically okay your child has no other redeeming qualities.”

That seems pretty harsh, although I can sympathize to the extent that no doubt it can be very frustrating teaching and dealing with over a hundred students.  Probability says you’re going to have to deal with some that just aren’t the most pleasant.

And I get that most of her eighty-nine posts, at least sixty of them, had nothing to do with her students.  So it probably does feel like much of this was taken out of context.  But that’s just the news media, always zeroing in on the dramatic to increase ratings.

Natalie doesn’t think she did anything wrong, stating that it was a private blog that only her husband and eleven other people knew about.  Okay – I get that too.  I’ve become a little uneasy over the past few years with all the blog police and how that might relate to our freedom of speech.

Still, I think it’s more a function of good leadership in this case.  In the educational world, the teacher is a leader.  And good leaders wouldn’t make these kinds of comments about their organizations in any way that might get back to them, although I’m sure much of this goes on.

So it’s probably not a good idea to blog about you “organization,” particularly these days, unless it’s full of praise.

So Natalie, I totally support your right to vent – I’m sure I would if I was in your situation.  Maybe just do this in private e-mails to you trusted friends.

Or better yet, chill out over a glass of wine with your husband after hours, and tell him what the little hellions were up to this week.

What do you think about Natalie’s blog?  Click the blog title and tell us your opinion in the comment box that appears below.

Have a nice day – J. Daniel