School districts struggles with use of social media by teachers

In April, an Azusa English teacher found herself
placed on leave and pulled from a student trip to Europe after posting
vulgar comments and references to drug and alcohol use on her Facebook
account.

In August, a gay water polo coach at Charter Oak High School was
fired after a parent complained about photos of him online posing with
drag queens.

And last week, a preschool teacher in the United Kingdom was banned
from the classroom for two years after officials discovered she had
created an elaborate Facebook scam intended to fool her ex-boyfriend
into believing she had given birth to his child and gone to Australia.

Experts say conflicts such as these are becoming increasingly common
as more people embrace social media. And school districts are struggling
to produce policies on how to handle such situations.

“I think because of the personal nature of social media, it’s raising
new questions no one ever thought about before,” said Jane Ballinger, a
professor of communication at Cal Poly Pomona.

Read more in J.D. Velasco’s story Social.