Although everyone has the right to freedom of speech, I believe that professionals should be treated at a higher standard. In both of these cases, the men and women were fired because they didn't act the way a reasonable employee would in there specific situations. Rather than venting about Houston's on Myspace, the woman should have either confronted her boss about her issues, or better yet, found a new job. The teachers who didn't like working in the "ghetto" school and who hated their students should have tried to search for a job at a different school rather than venting on Facebook. Because these employees didn't act professionally, the employers had a right to fire them.
Part of an employer's job is to protect his business and to better his customers. If someone were to simply copy and paste the information on the private Myspace blog and make it public, the business might potentially be destroyed. In addition, I also believe that people's attitudes toward their job affect their performance. If the teacher went the extra length to say that he hated his students on facebook, we are led to think that he was probably acting just as unprofessional in the classroom. A teacher who enjoys his working environment is more likely to do his job better than one who does not. The same goes for the woman who got fired from Houston's. Because she hated her job so much, she probably wasn't working as well as she should have been. Miserable workers can never improve a business; they can only harm it.
I believe that everyone is entitled to the right to privacy and to have freedom of expression. However, in terms of the Houston’s employee case and in general, the right to freedom of expression in the workplace is something that at times depends on the contractual relationship between employee and employer. When an employees right to freedom of expression comes into conflict with the business’ well-being and financial goals then I think an employer has a right to take necessary action against that employee. For example, in the Houston’s case, the employee had written negative things about the company’s managers and customers as well as gave secrets away about the company. The company had the right to dismiss the employee because they were not contributing to the benefit of the company by portraying it in a negative way that could cause Houston’s to lose customers. The employer has a moral responsibility to the company to dismiss someone who is causing potential harm to the welfare of the company. Rose brings up an interesting point that someone could have easily copy and pasted what was written on the MySpace blog and the information could have greatly harmed Houston’s. This brings up a further point that while the employee was arguing that she was in a secure chat, she needs to realize that even though it was secure, internet chats always run the risk of being hacked into. I found the comment made by the video that “the problem is that the Internet is growing at too fast of a pace for the laws to be made” very interesting. I strongly agree with this because the Internet is growing so fast and new innovations are coming out daily and the law just cannot keep up. One of the problems often discussed in our textbook, is that sometimes we look to the law for answers, but there are no laws that apply, which is why we need to have a strong moral sense to be able to make decisions. It will be interesting to see what laws are created in the future for controlling the Internet.
Andrew Yacyshyn- I completely agree with Rose on this case. A teacher is a professional who is expected, when hired, to act professionally and do their job to the best of their ability. This includes educating their students, helping them, and treating all students equally and fairly. How is one student supposed to feel if his teacher refers to him with a racial slur on the internet? I know I wouldn't feel comfortable going to that teacher for help, and I couldn't help but feel that the teacher I something against me which could affect my grade and my overall experience in the class. Also, for a teacher to say that they work in the "most ghetto" school is just unnecessary. Lastly, a teacher that writes "I hate my students" should not have not be able to work with those students, in my opinion. The students deserve to get the most out of their classes, and a teacher that feels that way probably would not work to the best of their abilities as a teacher to those students. Overall, teachers are professionals and those who act unprofessionally give their school a bad name and reputation, so the school deserves to fire those teachers that negatively affect the school and its students.
This is not a case of freedom of speech or privacy at all. The employees in the group were making bad comments about their customers and workplace, which is bad advertisement. Placing things on the Internet doesn’t make it private at all. The Internet is a place for information sharing. In this case the group had a snitch, which was working in the best interests of the business. The snitch did a good thing by revealing the group before they could have been disruptive to the business.
In the case of privacy it was clearly not a private matter whatsoever. When employees discussing the business they’re in it actually removes the question of private matter to the business involved. The employees were not using the proper channels to express their disparity in the workplace. The business had the right to know. The plaintiff also argued about a sacred space, which is not MySpace…“A sacred space is where you talk to someone face to face and not where there is a record of it”
The thing that really sealed the deal is the mentioning of the product knowledge test. They essentially formed a cheat group and revealed privileged information. The employees were the unethical ones. Finally its bad just business to make written records of bad publicity against your work place.
On the case of the school teachers I see where saying that you hate your students can be disparaging to class attendance however it has no real effect at all on the students. In many cases the students are the monsters, which drive the teachers mad. However, when the teacher commented on how he/she worked at the ghetto school was inappropriate. Its not nice to call people poor and marginalized even if they are. It’s a very race related line and the teacher crossed it even though the statement was truth.
I absolutely believe that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. Yet, when it comes to employees of a company, I feel as though the issue of freedom of speech should be treated a little differently. Employees act as representatives of a company. They portray and ultimately are the image of the company. Saying or doing something negative against their respective companies yields a negative image. In the case of the Houston’s employees, they were very wrong to post things about the customers online as well as private things about the restaurant. They had every right to be fired. They threatened the reputation of the company by speaking negatively about paying customers, and revealing inside information about the company. Because of this threat, I believe that they had every right to be fired. I agree with Jennifer in that the company did have a moral responsibility to the company to fire anyone who is threatening the company in any way. The case of the teachers boggled my mind. First of all, while the teacher referring to the “ghetto” school may not have intentionally been trying to hurt anyone, the fact of the matter is that people who are categorized as living in the “ghetto” live in slum areas and have very little to no money. People in this category are aware of this and it is probably a major insecurity and disappointment for them. There is no need for a teacher to reiterate the point that children in this school come from the “ghetto.” For the teacher who wrote that she hates her students, this is extremely inappropriate and wrong. If I got wind that one of my professors hated all of his or her students, I would lose respect for that professor. I would be afraid to go to class. I would feel angry and hurt all at the same time. My grades would most definitely reflect this. One woman interviewed said, “It’s very, very important to maintain that professional credibility, when you are in a position of authority and you are taking care of someone else’s children.” I completely agree with this statement. The teachers are in charge of other peoples children. Their job is to help these children learn and to teach them new experiences. What kind of lesson are they teaching if they are using potential demeaning terms (ghetto) or if they are saying that they hate someone (in this case, the students)? There is no such thing as privacy on the internet, especially on social network sites such as Myspace and facebook. Everyday, news articles come out about how dangerous these sites are due to the fact that people can hack onto your name or learn all of this private information about you. For the women working at Houston’s to claim that this was an invasion of privacy is absurd. The minute you write something on the internet, it is recorded and can be found by anyone, especially those looking for information. I do believe that everyone should be able to express their true feelings. But, I do believe that it is important to do so in a respectful and professional way, such as a face-to-face, private talk with a boss. Or a sit down in a private location with a friend to vent. Social networks on the internet are definitely not private, nor are they professional. Additionally, no one was holding a gun to either one of the waitresses or to either of the teacher’s heads. If they wanted to leave Houston’s because they were not satisfied, they could. If the teacher did not want to work at a school in which the students are from the “ghetto,” he or she could move locations. And finally, if the teacher really disliked his/her students that much, it is probably not a great environment for the kids to be learning in.
I absolutely believe that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. Yet, when it comes to employees of a company, I feel as though the issue of freedom of speech should be treated a little differently. Employees act as representatives of a company. They portray and ultimately are the image of the company. Saying or doing something negative against their respective companies yields a negative image.
In the case of the Houston’s employees, they were very wrong to post things about the customers online as well as private things about the restaurant. They had every right to be fired. They threatened the reputation of the company by speaking negatively about paying customers, and revealing inside information about the company. Because of this threat, I believe that they had every right to be fired. I agree with Jennifer in that the company did have a moral responsibility to the company to fire anyone who is threatening the company in any way.
The case of the teachers boggled my mind. First of all, while the teacher referring to the “ghetto” school may not have intentionally been trying to hurt anyone, the fact of the matter is that people who are categorized as living in the “ghetto” live in slum areas and have very little to no money. People in this category are aware of this and it is probably a major insecurity and disappointment for them. There is no need for a teacher to reiterate the point that children in this school come from the “ghetto.” For the teacher who wrote that she hates her students, this is extremely inappropriate and wrong. If I got wind that one of my professors hated all of his or her students, I would lose respect for that professor. I would be afraid to go to class. I would feel angry and hurt all at the same time. My grades would most definitely reflect this. One woman interviewed said, “It’s very, very important to maintain that professional credibility, when you are in a position of authority and you are taking care of someone else’s children.” I completely agree with this statement. The teachers are in charge of other peoples children. Their job is to help these children learn and to teach them new experiences. What kind of lesson are they teaching if they are using potential demeaning terms (ghetto) or if they are saying that they hate someone (in this case, the students)?
There is no such thing as privacy on the internet, especially on social network sites such as Myspace and facebook. Everyday, news articles come out about how dangerous these sites are due to the fact that people can hack onto your name or learn all of this private information about you. For the women working at Houston’s to claim that this was an invasion of privacy is absurd. The minute you write something on the internet, it is recorded and can be found by anyone, especially those looking for information. I do believe that everyone should be able to express their true feelings. But, I do believe that it is important to do so in a respectful and professional way, such as a face-to-face, private talk with a boss. Or a sit down in a private location with a friend to vent. Social networks on the internet are definitely not private, nor are they professional. Additionally, no one was holding a gun to either one of the waitresses or to either of the teacher’s heads. If they wanted to leave Houston’s because they were not satisfied, they could. If the teacher did not want to work at a school in which the students are from the “ghetto,” he or she could move locations. And finally, if the teacher really disliked his/her students that much, it is probably not a great environment for the kids to be learning in.
I absolutely believe that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. Yet, when it comes to employees of a company, I feel as though the issue of freedom of speech should be treated a little differently. Employees act as representatives of a company. They portray and ultimately are the image of the company. Saying or doing something negative against their respective companies yields a negative image.
In the case of the Houston’s employees, they were very wrong to post things about the customers online as well as private things about the restaurant. They had every right to be fired. They threatened the reputation of the company by speaking negatively about paying customers, and revealing inside information about the company. Because of this threat, I believe that they had every right to be fired. I agree with Jennifer in that the company did have a moral responsibility to the company to fire anyone who is threatening the company in any way.
The case of the teachers boggled my mind. First of all, while the teacher referring to the “ghetto” school may not have intentionally been trying to hurt anyone, the fact of the matter is that people who are categorized as living in the “ghetto” live in slum areas and have very little to no money. People in this category are aware of this and it is probably a major insecurity and disappointment for them. There is no need for a teacher to reiterate the point that children in this school come from the “ghetto.” For the teacher who wrote that she hates her students, this is extremely inappropriate and wrong. If I got wind that one of my professors hated all of his or her students, I would lose respect for that professor. I would be afraid to go to class. I would feel angry and hurt all at the same time. My grades would most definitely reflect this. One woman interviewed said, “It’s very, very important to maintain that professional credibility, when you are in a position of authority and you are taking care of someone else’s children.” I completely agree with this statement. The teachers are in charge of other peoples children. Their job is to help these children learn and to teach them new experiences. What kind of lesson are they teaching if they are using potential demeaning terms (ghetto) or if they are saying that they hate someone (in this case, the students)?
There is no such thing as privacy on the internet, especially on social network sites such as Myspace and facebook. Everyday, news articles come out about how dangerous these sites are due to the fact that people can hack onto your name or learn all of this private information about you. For the women working at Houston’s to claim that this was an invasion of privacy is absurd. The minute you write something on the internet, it is recorded and can be found by anyone, especially those looking for information. I do believe that everyone should be able to express their true feelings. But, I do believe that it is important to do so in a respectful and professional way, such as a face-to-face, private talk with a boss. Or a sit down in a private location with a friend to vent. Social networks on the internet are definitely not private, nor are they professional. Additionally, no one was holding a gun to either one of the waitresses or to either of the teacher’s heads. If they wanted to leave Houston’s because they were not satisfied, they could. If the teacher did not want to work at a school in which the students are from the “ghetto,” he or she could move locations. And finally, if the teacher really disliked his/her students that much, it is probably not a great environment for the kids to be learning in.
Like others mentioned earlier, I believe that every individual has the right to freedom of speech; however while part of a workforce, freedom of expression should be held to a higher standard. These two teachers who posted on Facebook, a public site, were wrong for saying negative things about their school. When a person is part of a workforce, he/she should not publicly downgrade aspects of it, such as saying this is the "most ghetto school in Charlotte" or "I hate my students". Statements like these are inappropriate and should not be tolerated while dealing with a professional. These two women who posted on Facebook are teachers are acting in an unprofessional manner. They should be setting an example for their students that they teach. People or students who read this material may feel uncomfortable or uneasy coming to school then, knowing what kind of comments their teachers have made. However, in the case of myspace. I don't think that the business should have entered the group where a password was needed because that is an invasion of privacy. They are violating the employees rights. However, I do not think that the employees should have been posting there in the first place, but rather they should have discussed the material face to face if it was in fact that important. - Kevin Linnane
I agree with Rose and Kevin that although people have the right to freedom of speech, a person's professionalism in their career has a high standard that needs to be met. I think it is incredibly unprofessional and immature of the school teachers in Charlotte to be putting complaints such as "I hate my students" and "I work at a ghetto school" online. When employers enter into an employment contract with employees, there is a degree of faith that the employer puts into the employee in terms of professionalism. It is inexcusable for the teachers to put obscene complaints on the Internet, which is NOT a private place. As Rose stated, those teachers should have confronted the administration about their concerns instead of venting to the unknown cyber world. These teachers should be fired. I feel the same way about the Houston's restaurant workers who posted on MySpace. Despite the fact that everyone has a right to free speech, people need to be aware of their duties in their careers and other aspects of their lives that are important to them when speaking out. When you have a professional role in society, you are expected to behave in a professional manner, no matter what. -Claire Smith
James Murtha I think one of the bigger issues in the Houston’s story is the debate over what is considered public and what is considered private. In my opinion I think that everything put on the internet is public. There’s a way to get to everything. At one point someone on the program says that the internet is a place to blow off steam off the record. However, the internet is an eternal record of everything you’ve ever posted, clicked, or blogged about. If something that you put on the internet can harm your employer’s reputation and affect their business, you aren’t acting as a responsible employee. I acknowledge that this is a case where technology is a step ahead, but I don’t see how the internet can be considered a private place for free speech. Of course it would be a different case if the account was hacked, but the implication is that it was not. This means someone in the group gave the password to the manager, which goes to show you that you have to be careful as to whom you can trust. In the other case, the teachers are undoubtedly in the wrong. I didn’t know that teachers of all people could be so ignorant in a situation like this. Then, the people who always preached for me to owe up to my decisions, are making excuses for their mistakes. I realize I was more fortunate to grow up with teachers who practiced what they preached than these teachers. However, these teachers are the reasons the educational system receives so much criticism. It is their job to see hope in each student, no matter how poor, and bring out the best of them. Any teacher who proclaims that she hates her students, obviously isn’t putting forth her best effort.
Although everyone has the right to freedom of speech, I believe that professionals should be treated at a higher standard. In both of these cases, the men and women were fired because they didn't act the way a reasonable employee would in there specific situations. Rather than venting about Houston's on Myspace, the woman should have either confronted her boss about her issues, or better yet, found a new job. The teachers who didn't like working in the "ghetto" school and who hated their students should have tried to search for a job at a different school rather than venting on Facebook. Because these employees didn't act professionally, the employers had a right to fire them.
ReplyDeletePart of an employer's job is to protect his business and to better his customers. If someone were to simply copy and paste the information on the private Myspace blog and make it public, the business might potentially be destroyed. In addition, I also believe that people's attitudes toward their job affect their performance. If the teacher went the extra length to say that he hated his students on facebook, we are led to think that he was probably acting just as unprofessional in the classroom. A teacher who enjoys his working environment is more likely to do his job better than one who does not. The same goes for the woman who got fired from Houston's. Because she hated her job so much, she probably wasn't working as well as she should have been. Miserable workers can never improve a business; they can only harm it.
I believe that everyone is entitled to the right to privacy and to have freedom of expression. However, in terms of the Houston’s employee case and in general, the right to freedom of expression in the workplace is something that at times depends on the contractual relationship between employee and employer. When an employees right to freedom of expression comes into conflict with the business’ well-being and financial goals then I think an employer has a right to take necessary action against that employee. For example, in the Houston’s case, the employee had written negative things about the company’s managers and customers as well as gave secrets away about the company. The company had the right to dismiss the employee because they were not contributing to the benefit of the company by portraying it in a negative way that could cause Houston’s to lose customers. The employer has a moral responsibility to the company to dismiss someone who is causing potential harm to the welfare of the company. Rose brings up an interesting point that someone could have easily copy and pasted what was written on the MySpace blog and the information could have greatly harmed Houston’s. This brings up a further point that while the employee was arguing that she was in a secure chat, she needs to realize that even though it was secure, internet chats always run the risk of being hacked into.
ReplyDeleteI found the comment made by the video that “the problem is that the Internet is growing at too fast of a pace for the laws to be made” very interesting. I strongly agree with this because the Internet is growing so fast and new innovations are coming out daily and the law just cannot keep up. One of the problems often discussed in our textbook, is that sometimes we look to the law for answers, but there are no laws that apply, which is why we need to have a strong moral sense to be able to make decisions. It will be interesting to see what laws are created in the future for controlling the Internet.
Andrew Yacyshyn-
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Rose on this case. A teacher is a professional who is expected, when hired, to act professionally and do their job to the best of their ability. This includes educating their students, helping them, and treating all students equally and fairly. How is one student supposed to feel if his teacher refers to him with a racial slur on the internet? I know I wouldn't feel comfortable going to that teacher for help, and I couldn't help but feel that the teacher I something against me which could affect my grade and my overall experience in the class. Also, for a teacher to say that they work in the "most ghetto" school is just unnecessary. Lastly, a teacher that writes "I hate my students" should not have not be able to work with those students, in my opinion. The students deserve to get the most out of their classes, and a teacher that feels that way probably would not work to the best of their abilities as a teacher to those students. Overall, teachers are professionals and those who act unprofessionally give their school a bad name and reputation, so the school deserves to fire those teachers that negatively affect the school and its students.
This is not a case of freedom of speech or privacy at all. The employees in the group were making bad comments about their customers and workplace, which is bad advertisement. Placing things on the Internet doesn’t make it private at all. The Internet is a place for information sharing. In this case the group had a snitch, which was working in the best interests of the business. The snitch did a good thing by revealing the group before they could have been disruptive to the business.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of privacy it was clearly not a private matter whatsoever. When employees discussing the business they’re in it actually removes the question of private matter to the business involved. The employees were not using the proper channels to express their disparity in the workplace. The business had the right to know. The plaintiff also argued about a sacred space, which is not MySpace…“A sacred space is where you talk to someone face to face and not where there is a record of it”
The thing that really sealed the deal is the mentioning of the product knowledge test. They essentially formed a cheat group and revealed privileged information. The employees were the unethical ones. Finally its bad just business to make written records of bad publicity against your work place.
On the case of the school teachers I see where saying that you hate your students can be disparaging to class attendance however it has no real effect at all on the students. In many cases the students are the monsters, which drive the teachers mad. However, when the teacher commented on how he/she worked at the ghetto school was inappropriate. Its not nice to call people poor and marginalized even if they are. It’s a very race related line and the teacher crossed it even though the statement was truth.
I absolutely believe that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. Yet, when it comes to employees of a company, I feel as though the issue of freedom of speech should be treated a little differently. Employees act as representatives of a company. They portray and ultimately are the image of the company. Saying or doing something negative against their respective companies yields a negative image.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the Houston’s employees, they were very wrong to post things about the customers online as well as private things about the restaurant. They had every right to be fired. They threatened the reputation of the company by speaking negatively about paying customers, and revealing inside information about the company. Because of this threat, I believe that they had every right to be fired. I agree with Jennifer in that the company did have a moral responsibility to the company to fire anyone who is threatening the company in any way.
The case of the teachers boggled my mind. First of all, while the teacher referring to the “ghetto” school may not have intentionally been trying to hurt anyone, the fact of the matter is that people who are categorized as living in the “ghetto” live in slum areas and have very little to no money. People in this category are aware of this and it is probably a major insecurity and disappointment for them. There is no need for a teacher to reiterate the point that children in this school come from the “ghetto.” For the teacher who wrote that she hates her students, this is extremely inappropriate and wrong. If I got wind that one of my professors hated all of his or her students, I would lose respect for that professor. I would be afraid to go to class. I would feel angry and hurt all at the same time. My grades would most definitely reflect this. One woman interviewed said, “It’s very, very important to maintain that professional credibility, when you are in a position of authority and you are taking care of someone else’s children.” I completely agree with this statement. The teachers are in charge of other peoples children. Their job is to help these children learn and to teach them new experiences. What kind of lesson are they teaching if they are using potential demeaning terms (ghetto) or if they are saying that they hate someone (in this case, the students)?
There is no such thing as privacy on the internet, especially on social network sites such as Myspace and facebook. Everyday, news articles come out about how dangerous these sites are due to the fact that people can hack onto your name or learn all of this private information about you. For the women working at Houston’s to claim that this was an invasion of privacy is absurd. The minute you write something on the internet, it is recorded and can be found by anyone, especially those looking for information. I do believe that everyone should be able to express their true feelings. But, I do believe that it is important to do so in a respectful and professional way, such as a face-to-face, private talk with a boss. Or a sit down in a private location with a friend to vent. Social networks on the internet are definitely not private, nor are they professional. Additionally, no one was holding a gun to either one of the waitresses or to either of the teacher’s heads. If they wanted to leave Houston’s because they were not satisfied, they could. If the teacher did not want to work at a school in which the students are from the “ghetto,” he or she could move locations. And finally, if the teacher really disliked his/her students that much, it is probably not a great environment for the kids to be learning in.
- Alyssa Marino
I absolutely believe that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. Yet, when it comes to employees of a company, I feel as though the issue of freedom of speech should be treated a little differently. Employees act as representatives of a company. They portray and ultimately are the image of the company. Saying or doing something negative against their respective companies yields a negative image.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the Houston’s employees, they were very wrong to post things about the customers online as well as private things about the restaurant. They had every right to be fired. They threatened the reputation of the company by speaking negatively about paying customers, and revealing inside information about the company. Because of this threat, I believe that they had every right to be fired. I agree with Jennifer in that the company did have a moral responsibility to the company to fire anyone who is threatening the company in any way.
The case of the teachers boggled my mind. First of all, while the teacher referring to the “ghetto” school may not have intentionally been trying to hurt anyone, the fact of the matter is that people who are categorized as living in the “ghetto” live in slum areas and have very little to no money. People in this category are aware of this and it is probably a major insecurity and disappointment for them. There is no need for a teacher to reiterate the point that children in this school come from the “ghetto.” For the teacher who wrote that she hates her students, this is extremely inappropriate and wrong. If I got wind that one of my professors hated all of his or her students, I would lose respect for that professor. I would be afraid to go to class. I would feel angry and hurt all at the same time. My grades would most definitely reflect this. One woman interviewed said, “It’s very, very important to maintain that professional credibility, when you are in a position of authority and you are taking care of someone else’s children.” I completely agree with this statement. The teachers are in charge of other peoples children. Their job is to help these children learn and to teach them new experiences. What kind of lesson are they teaching if they are using potential demeaning terms (ghetto) or if they are saying that they hate someone (in this case, the students)?
There is no such thing as privacy on the internet, especially on social network sites such as Myspace and facebook. Everyday, news articles come out about how dangerous these sites are due to the fact that people can hack onto your name or learn all of this private information about you. For the women working at Houston’s to claim that this was an invasion of privacy is absurd. The minute you write something on the internet, it is recorded and can be found by anyone, especially those looking for information. I do believe that everyone should be able to express their true feelings. But, I do believe that it is important to do so in a respectful and professional way, such as a face-to-face, private talk with a boss. Or a sit down in a private location with a friend to vent. Social networks on the internet are definitely not private, nor are they professional. Additionally, no one was holding a gun to either one of the waitresses or to either of the teacher’s heads. If they wanted to leave Houston’s because they were not satisfied, they could. If the teacher did not want to work at a school in which the students are from the “ghetto,” he or she could move locations. And finally, if the teacher really disliked his/her students that much, it is probably not a great environment for the kids to be learning in.
-Alyssa Marino
I absolutely believe that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech. Yet, when it comes to employees of a company, I feel as though the issue of freedom of speech should be treated a little differently. Employees act as representatives of a company. They portray and ultimately are the image of the company. Saying or doing something negative against their respective companies yields a negative image.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of the Houston’s employees, they were very wrong to post things about the customers online as well as private things about the restaurant. They had every right to be fired. They threatened the reputation of the company by speaking negatively about paying customers, and revealing inside information about the company. Because of this threat, I believe that they had every right to be fired. I agree with Jennifer in that the company did have a moral responsibility to the company to fire anyone who is threatening the company in any way.
The case of the teachers boggled my mind. First of all, while the teacher referring to the “ghetto” school may not have intentionally been trying to hurt anyone, the fact of the matter is that people who are categorized as living in the “ghetto” live in slum areas and have very little to no money. People in this category are aware of this and it is probably a major insecurity and disappointment for them. There is no need for a teacher to reiterate the point that children in this school come from the “ghetto.” For the teacher who wrote that she hates her students, this is extremely inappropriate and wrong. If I got wind that one of my professors hated all of his or her students, I would lose respect for that professor. I would be afraid to go to class. I would feel angry and hurt all at the same time. My grades would most definitely reflect this. One woman interviewed said, “It’s very, very important to maintain that professional credibility, when you are in a position of authority and you are taking care of someone else’s children.” I completely agree with this statement. The teachers are in charge of other peoples children. Their job is to help these children learn and to teach them new experiences. What kind of lesson are they teaching if they are using potential demeaning terms (ghetto) or if they are saying that they hate someone (in this case, the students)?
There is no such thing as privacy on the internet, especially on social network sites such as Myspace and facebook. Everyday, news articles come out about how dangerous these sites are due to the fact that people can hack onto your name or learn all of this private information about you. For the women working at Houston’s to claim that this was an invasion of privacy is absurd. The minute you write something on the internet, it is recorded and can be found by anyone, especially those looking for information. I do believe that everyone should be able to express their true feelings. But, I do believe that it is important to do so in a respectful and professional way, such as a face-to-face, private talk with a boss. Or a sit down in a private location with a friend to vent. Social networks on the internet are definitely not private, nor are they professional. Additionally, no one was holding a gun to either one of the waitresses or to either of the teacher’s heads. If they wanted to leave Houston’s because they were not satisfied, they could. If the teacher did not want to work at a school in which the students are from the “ghetto,” he or she could move locations. And finally, if the teacher really disliked his/her students that much, it is probably not a great environment for the kids to be learning in.
-Alyssa Marino
Like others mentioned earlier, I believe that every individual has the right to freedom of speech; however while part of a workforce, freedom of expression should be held to a higher standard. These two teachers who posted on Facebook, a public site, were wrong for saying negative things about their school. When a person is part of a workforce, he/she should not publicly downgrade aspects of it, such as saying this is the "most ghetto school in Charlotte" or "I hate my students". Statements like these are inappropriate and should not be tolerated while dealing with a professional. These two women who posted on Facebook are teachers are acting in an unprofessional manner. They should be setting an example for their students that they teach. People or students who read this material may feel uncomfortable or uneasy coming to school then, knowing what kind of comments their teachers have made. However, in the case of myspace. I don't think that the business should have entered the group where a password was needed because that is an invasion of privacy. They are violating the employees rights. However, I do not think that the employees should have been posting there in the first place, but rather they should have discussed the material face to face if it was in fact that important.
ReplyDelete- Kevin Linnane
I agree with Rose and Kevin that although people have the right to freedom of speech, a person's professionalism in their career has a high standard that needs to be met. I think it is incredibly unprofessional and immature of the school teachers in Charlotte to be putting complaints such as "I hate my students" and "I work at a ghetto school" online. When employers enter into an employment contract with employees, there is a degree of faith that the employer puts into the employee in terms of professionalism. It is inexcusable for the teachers to put obscene complaints on the Internet, which is NOT a private place. As Rose stated, those teachers should have confronted the administration about their concerns instead of venting to the unknown cyber world. These teachers should be fired. I feel the same way about the Houston's restaurant workers who posted on MySpace. Despite the fact that everyone has a right to free speech, people need to be aware of their duties in their careers and other aspects of their lives that are important to them when speaking out. When you have a professional role in society, you are expected to behave in a professional manner, no matter what.
ReplyDelete-Claire Smith
James Murtha
ReplyDeleteI think one of the bigger issues in the Houston’s story is the debate over what is considered public and what is considered private. In my opinion I think that everything put on the internet is public. There’s a way to get to everything. At one point someone on the program says that the internet is a place to blow off steam off the record. However, the internet is an eternal record of everything you’ve ever posted, clicked, or blogged about. If something that you put on the internet can harm your employer’s reputation and affect their business, you aren’t acting as a responsible employee. I acknowledge that this is a case where technology is a step ahead, but I don’t see how the internet can be considered a private place for free speech. Of course it would be a different case if the account was hacked, but the implication is that it was not. This means someone in the group gave the password to the manager, which goes to show you that you have to be careful as to whom you can trust.
In the other case, the teachers are undoubtedly in the wrong. I didn’t know that teachers of all people could be so ignorant in a situation like this. Then, the people who always preached for me to owe up to my decisions, are making excuses for their mistakes. I realize I was more fortunate to grow up with teachers who practiced what they preached than these teachers. However, these teachers are the reasons the educational system receives so much criticism. It is their job to see hope in each student, no matter how poor, and bring out the best of them. Any teacher who proclaims that she hates her students, obviously isn’t putting forth her best effort.