The Electric New Paper :
OH, TEACHER BEHAVE
Should teachers bare all in blogs?
She wants to sell dildos
She writes thoughts on blog
She teaches primary school kids
SHE poses demurely in the photograph, holding three dildos.
Above the picture is the caption: Business Venture.
14 November 2005
SHE poses demurely in the photograph, holding three dildos. Above
the picture is the caption: Business Venture.
The post on the blog, owned by this young woman, reads: 'No price
(sic) for guessing what kind of business we are talking
about.'
A click on one of the numerous links on the drop-down menu on the
right side of the blog takes you to other pages.
In one, there are pictures of a school excursion to the zoo.
It is here that the identity of the blogger is revealed: She's a
teacher with a primary school.
Joey (her blog name), chronicles details of her life - from
accounts of school life to saucy descriptions of her sexuality,
including her intention to start a business selling sex toys.
DIRTY TALK
On the cover page of her blog, the slim, attractive-looking woman
lists the things that get her 'hot': Dirty talk, kissing, lip
biting, bites on body, firm butt, kissable lips...
She even reveals her 'favourite sex position'.
Even the title of her blog is eyebrow-raising: 'It's Not Normal To
Be Straight ... It Is Just Common.'
On the same page that has Joey posing with the sex toys are
pictures of her in school uniform (as part of Children's Day
celebrations) and a picture of her pupils taken on the same
day.
The New Paper on Sunday met the teacher blogger on Tuesday in a
restaurant near her school.
Her response to the zoo outing: 'I thought I had disabled the links
to the zoo trip. I honestly did not think of the
consequences.'
Asked about the questionable content of her blog, Joey insisted:
'It's a place (where) I vent all my thoughts and my memories.
'I'm just blogging about my own life. It is separate from my work
in school.'
Nevertheless, after our meeting, she removed all links and
questionable content from her blog.
Joey's case comes in the wake of a series of controversial blogging
and Internet-related school incidents.
With more students, and even teachers, taking to blogging, the
incidents raise questions about whether schools should set
guidelines for their staff and students on blogging, and what's
appropriate content.
Joey's principal said he does not condone what his teacher has
done.
He said that he was aware of the online blogging trend, including
teachers joining in.
However, he added that there should be boundaries to teachers
blogging.
'Teachers are expected to conduct themselves in a manner which
upholds the integrity of their profession.
'So they should be professional in their dealings with parents,
students, members of the public and other stakeholders,' he said in
an e-mail response to The New Paper on Sunday.
'This is true whether through face-to-face contact, on the phone,
or over the online medium.'
He said he advises teachers to uphold their decorum when posting
blogs and encourages them to share positive teaching
experiences.
'I would also discourage my teachers from starting or engaging in
private businesses, since I believe that a dedicated teacher should
be totally committed to his or her job.'
When contacted, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said it is fully
supportive of the school's position on the matter.
Similar sentiments were echoed by other principals.
The principal of CHIJ Kellock, Madam Tan Lee Choo, agreed that what
Joey has done has pushed the limit too far: 'I think it's most
inappropriate for the teacher to post such pictures. What if a
parent or teacher or a Net-savvy student sees it?
'She should not advertise the other aspects of her life.'
She added that she does not have specific guidelines for teachers
who blog.
'I've told my teachers to uphold themselves as role models and to
be professional in whatever they do.'
REMIND STAFF
Other principals interviewed either did not have a position on the
issue or said that they remind their staff of the guidelines
governing all civil servants.
One of Joey's close friends insisted that while Joey's blog is up
on the Net, it's not easy to locate it.
But a secondary school teacher, who declined to be named, said:
'Students are very Net-savvy. They know how to find out their
teacher's blogs even when they are in Pri 6.'
Indeed, if Joey had kept her blog personal and not linked it to her
profession or her school, she may have avoided attention.
Or she could have avoided revealing that she's a teacher, said one
'appalled' parent, Ms Karen Chan, 33, who has two young
daughters.
It's a view avid student blogger Jasper Chen, 17, shares.
'I have my personal blog, but I'm careful not to name people. There
is a limit to everything. You can express yourself but don't reveal
who you are,' he said.
Added a secondary school teacher in her late 20s: 'There should be
guidelines set by the school or Ministry because there are teachers
like this who don't know any better. I'm sure there are others like
her.'
Another 22-year-old trainee teacher said there are many like Joey
who lead double lives, on- and offline: 'Of course, we have a
private life, which we try our best to keep separate from our work
life.
'We can't tell our students' parents about our nightlife and how we
party and get drunk sometimes.
'This teacher shouldn't have mixed the two together on her
blog.'
She admitted that part of the dilemma of these 'bold, new teachers'
are that there are no guidelines set by their superiors.
Another teacher in his 30s who also saw the blog said: 'She is not
blogging by the day but by the hour. That means she is blogging
during school time. How much time is she leaving for preparing for
classes? It takes a lot of time to plan lessons and prepare for
your students.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Other case: Student caned for hacking
A STUDENT at a top boy's school was publicly caned for hacking into
a teacher's iLearning account - which is used to post homework and
other information for students.
He made defamatory comments about a teacher on the school's online
forum. The comments made were highly visible as the forum is
accessible by all the school's students and teachers. Several other
students at the same school were reprimanded about offensive blog
posts about the schools' teachers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't TEACH what i PREACH on my blog
HER private life was for the world to read.
From inconsequential details like what she has for dinner, to more
personal explorations of herself and her sexuality, like her
attraction to her ex-girlfriend, the blog was, typically,
detailed.
A posting on 20 Oct read: 'Sometimes, I tried to visualise the
times together once not long ago with G.. but yet nothing conjure
(sic) up in my mind and it is being replaced by her.'
Is it carelessness or boldness that induced her to post such
thoughts and pictures, which link her professional and personal
lives so closely?
The New Paper on Sunday spoke to the pretty teacher blogger last
week.
She said she didn't think of the consequences of linking her daring
blog to the school zoo trip.
'I'm a person who takes risks. I want to pen down my memories and
my life,' said Joey, who's separated and a mother of a young
child.
But curious Net-savvy students might chance upon the site and see
her posing with sex toys, and even find out she is a teacher.
Didn't it cross her mind that it's inappropriate for a teacher to
pose with such toys on her blog?
Her answer: 'It's not porn.
'I think it's okay as it's like sex education (for the
students).'
She pointed out that other teachers have blogs, where they show a
more brazen side.
So does she feel responsible for what she's done?
'Every person is responsible for their own actions in life,' she
answered.
On the sex toy business, she insisted: 'I'm not going to sell
them.
'I'm helping a friend who wants to sell dildos by putting a link to
her website on my blog to publicise the business.'
But when contacted, her friend, Ms Calen Chen, creative director of
Channels 360, said she's not involved in the business.
Said Ms Chen: 'I'm a web developer and a customer wanted to start a
sex toy business and Joey got very excited about it and took
pictures and posted it on her blog.
'But after calculating the cost and everything, my customer decided
not to go into the business.'
SEXUAL IDENTITY
One account on Joey's blog, posted on 9 Oct, which looks like an
article copied from another source, has tips on finding out your
sexuality.
It read: 'I think I might be a lesbian, what do I do?'
Just above this is a picture of two models in bed kissing.
Another posting on 21 Oct read: 'At last, a pic with (name). Last
time round, can't take a pic with her cos she has a gf. Now, she is
unattached. So can take picture liao.
'She is so cute cute cute.'
But why link the blog to another site on a school trip?
And why did she post pictures of herself in the school uniform,
which can be identified by parents of her students or even her
colleagues or principal?
'You can't see the school badge from the pictures,' she said.
'It is part of the whole fun of the day and I want to remember that
day as well by putting it on my blog.'
She said no one has told her that the content on her blog is
inappropriate since it was set up in April this year.
Joey said she regrets what she's done as it has attracted media
attention.
'I'll be more careful in my blogging the next time round as I don't
know how people will perceive it,' she added.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Double lives? Why not? TEACHERS NEED TO RELAX TOO
A GROUP of teachers went on an overseas trip last year. No students
were present.
To hang loose and relax, they ordered a jug of beer.
The shocked travel organiser said: 'But you are teachers. How can
you do this?'
One of the teachers, who declined to be named, told The New Paper
on Sunday: 'I was angry at what she said. We might be teachers, but
it doesn't mean we can't relax when we are out of school.
'It wasn't a school day the next day. And neither were we in the
presence of our students.'
So the question: Can teachers lead a double life which is unrelated
or completely different from their roles as educators?
'Of course,' said the same teacher.
'Teachers are humans too and we need to relax sometimes.'
However, he added that one has to be aware of the image one
projects because teachers are often in the midst of students.
'During the holidays, if I want to dye my hair. I'll have it at the
back of my mind that a student may see me.'
Another teacher in her 30s said: 'It isn't against the law if we go
bar-top dancing.
'It's some parents and people in society who set these restrictions
on us. If we keep it separate from our life in school and we don't
involve our students in our outside life, it's fine.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Teacher makes fun of student's errors
A JC teacher took a collection of her students' mistakes, combined
them into a parody and posted it on the Net.
The GP teacher put them in her blog under the title, Bad Engrish,
saying she did it to help her students in a fun way.
But students and teachers told The New Paper that they felt it was
mean.
A straw poll of 20 JC students and 20 teachers who read the entry
showed most found it offensive and discouraging to weaker
students.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2005 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. Co. Regn. No.
198402868E. All rights reserved.
Privacy Statement and Conditions of Access
