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[merce]

This story of a teacher (not uni prof) who is criticized for writing seems a bit sensationalized but it still gets my goat.

Apparently writing romance novels makes her (morally?) unfit to teach youngsters.
Also, she should not spend time writing because time spent writing is time not spent being a teacher.  I guess teachers should have absolutely no time to be themselves.

While this story and the fact that K-12 teachers are being discouraged or even prohibited from having facebook pages may seem removed from the college campus I can't help but think the society that makes these demands on their children's teachers see us as teachers and so will expect to have a similar hold on our doings. I don't think that's a far stretch. I think we see that mentality already, right?


PS- I'm not the only one who posts non-Chron articles here I think. If they should go somewhere else let me know.

[hegemony]

The article and the poll that accompanies it certainly do not provide full information.  "Her subject matter is inappropriate and distracting"?  Romance novels?  As if some other kind of novel would be fine, but romance novels are more distracting (to her? or to the kids?) than others?  The whole thing is baffling.  It sounds to me as if one parent has a bee in her bonnet and is trying to work others into a state of objecting.  But considering that only 5% or so of writers earn their living from writing, that means all the others are going to have daytime jobs.  Furthermore, what better testimony to the fact that this woman can write a good sentence?  Goodness gracious.

[lost_angeleno]

How would they feel about her tweeting on the past pluperfect subjunctive?

[scheherazade]

This reminds me of a couple teachers that got into trouble a few years back in a neighboring district from the one in which I taught. They were married to each other, taught at the same school, and had a student petsitting for them. The student rummaged around through drawers, including the bedroom, and found homemade sex tapes that the couple had made. Student proceeds to show them to all their friends, predictably. The teachers were forced to resign.

While one could make the argument that it is not wise to have a student in the same house as your sex tapes, the teachers certainly shouldn't have been the ones punished there. I'm fairly careful with the line between my personal and professional life, but I don't feel I gave up the right to a personal life by choosing teaching. Yes, we have to be a bit more careful with our public behavior, but we are still private citizens. If a school wants to control my behavior 24/7, they can pay me for all those hours.

[chaosbydesign]

While one could make the argument that it is not wise to have a student in the same house as your sex tapes, the teachers certainly shouldn't have been the ones punished there.

Absolutely. I employ a petsitter (not a student, but that's probably irrelevant) when I go to places I cannot take my cat, and it's kind of an unwritten rule that petsitters don't go through the person they are petsitting for's belongings!

I can't access the article for some reason, but from what Merce has written in her OP, this seems ridicuolous. Teachers are people as well as teachers and should be allowed to do things such as write romance novels if that is what they want to do. It's hardly going to affect their teaching. (Maybe if the teacher was writing explicit BDSM novels under their real name, that might cause an issue, but it doesn't sound like that is the case here.)

Things are going too far with the 'protecting children' thing. I agree entirely that teachers should not act inappropriately with students, but I know quite a lot of high school teachers and they (particularly the one employed under the state school system in the UK) could lose their jobs for physically restraining a student who attempted to attack another student/member of staff because they are not allowed to touch students. It's ridiculous.

[icicles]

Icicles tossed her flowing mane and pouted, her lips a shiny glossy rose in the cool ivory of her face. She waved a delicate finger at the naysayers and spoke in the sultry yet clear tone of her voice, "I doubt anyone would care if the teachers were writing crime thrillers about misogynistic serial killers." With that, she turned on her heel and sashayed out of the office, her hips swaying gently.

[octoprof]

This story of a teacher (not uni prof) who is criticized for writing seems a bit sensationalized but it still gets my goat.

Apparently writing romance novels makes her (morally?) unfit to teach youngsters.
Also, she should not spend time writing because time spent writing is time not spent being a teacher.  I guess teachers should have absolutely no time to be themselves.

While this story and the fact that K-12 teachers are being discouraged or even prohibited from having facebook pages may seem removed from the college campus I can't help but think the society that makes these demands on their children's teachers see us as teachers and so will expect to have a similar hold on our doings. I don't think that's a far stretch. I think we see that mentality already, right?

So, what extra-curricular activities are banned for teachers?  Shouldn't students be given a list of these unacceptable [even in private life] activities before they choose to become teachers? Where is the line? Is it that she writes romance novels?  Is it that she might have sexual thoughts during her private time?

Egad! People aren't supposed to think about sex and surely no other teachers ever think about sex or write about it or, horrors, actually have sex. That would be so wrong!  Beware teachers, if anyone ever finds out you've had sex, you are going to be fired because surely having sex is much worse than writing about it.

[hegemony]

The photo accompanying the article showed a lot of novels by Anita Stansfield.  I don't know if this is the teacher's pseudonym (she'll certainly have a pseudonym if she's writing in this genre, as her real name isn't easily memorable) or if it's a randomly chosen pile of books.  I'm guessing the latter, as Stansfield is a well-known Mormon novelist who's published a number of novels with Covenant House.  A less racy/objectionable romance novelist you'd be hard put to find.  It's a strange choice for an illustration of books that are offending parents.

(You may wonder how I know so much about Mormon romance novelists.  Google is my friend.)

[torshi]

Google "Judy Mays."

[scheherazade]

If she's been teaching for 25 years, she has tenure. I'm hard-pressed to find a way in which the district can legally fire her. The only possibility is the morality clause that more teaching contracts have, but since she wrote under a pseudonym and didn't introduce it to the students herself, that's a tough sell. Firing her would likely bring a First Amendment challenge.

[merce]

The quotes from parents in this article about Judy Mays are just unbelievable!

'It's unethical, totally unacceptable. Period.

'Now my son knows, so how is he thinking when he's sitting in her class knowing what she does on the side.'

[spyzowin]

The only thing that I'm really sure about in this case is that the poor dear desperately needs a makeover.  Other than that, I'm not entirely convinced that "writing" is the right word. Perhaps, as Truman Capote suggested, this is more of a case of "typing."

[scheherazade]

I was just coming back to post the same thing, Merce!

"It's unbeliveable... I can't even imagine someone would write such stuff... And I don't want my son sitting in her class thinking, is she looking at him in a certain way..."

[merce]

The only thing that I'm really sure about in this case is that the poor dear desperately needs a makeover.  Other than that, I'm not entirely convinced that "writing" is the right word. Perhaps, as Truman Capote suggested, this is more of a case of "typing."

Amnirov, I want to see your picture.
I'm afraid I haven't imagined you as very different in style from the talented Miss Mays.

[scheherazade]

I just have to share this link, since the writing will make you all cry:

http://www.contentenique.com/parents-shocked-after-finding-judy-buranich-teacher-at-midd-west-high-school-in.html

Perhaps this person should take a class with Ms. Buranich?