Ms. Mentor

Keeping a Lid on Your Blog

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Question: A very outgoing young man in my class ("Troy") keeps a blog (Internet diary) about his schoolwork, partying, and politics. As I read his entries, including his grousing about my class, I tell myself that I am not eavesdropping, and that he is entitled to write whatever he likes in a public forum. Yet his field is public-school teaching, for which I think his openness about his life might hamper his chances of getting a job. Should I advise him or let it go?

Answer: Ms. Mentor will begin by observing that Weblogs ("blogs") are modern wonders. They encourage fluid prose, creativity, gobs of writing, humor and gossip -- all the qualities that make words worth reading, and life worth living.

In fact, Ms. Mentor warmed up for this column by Googling herself, linking "Ms. Mentor" and "blogs" and finding herself in such venues as "Invisible Adjunct," "Defender of Mediocrity," and "A Frolic of My Own." She also found herself occasionally mocked and misunderstood. Because of her column on sullen spouses, it is evidently Ms. Mentor's fault that so many academics have to choose between the perfect job and the perfect partner.

She had no idea she had such power.

"Troy," too, is probably unaware of his power to disturb. No doubt he believes, with adolescent self-assurance, that his opinions are all correct, interesting, and valuable, and that he has a sacred right to express them (which he does). Though her ox is sometimes gored, Ms. Mentor cheers the bloggers' right to "be me," to synthesize their own spellings, fabricate their facts, even wear white shoes after Labor Day.

The only requirement is to grab people with your writing -- and what could be more sublime?

And yet -- what if curmudgeonly profs and future public-school employers are reading Troy's blog? Troy may consider himself a political animal, a judicious critic of his own education, and a bon vivant -- but less worldly souls may read him as a dangerous radical, a whiner, or an empty-headed party boy. Irony and satire are so often misunderstood, and public-school teaching is one of the few professions left in America where one's moral tone may be scrutinized.

Conservative educators could fear that lovable Troy will teach about political positions they disapprove of: legalization of marijuana, same-sex marriages, removing U.S. troops from Iraq (all good causes that Ms. Mentor supports, but definite feather-rufflers). If Troy writes glowingly about his own drinking and partying, many schools will wonder if he'll buy beer for students -- or drive drunk to a basketball game. If he mentions sex ... well, some communities are now engaged (Ms. Mentor twitches) in "Abstinence Education."

Troy may assume that he can erase his blog when he needs to. But as many a person who was photographed in illicit circumstances later learns, no good gossip is ever fully destroyed. It gives too much entertainment to too many people.

But what about Troy's professor, twiddling, swallowing dismay, and awaiting the next juicy installment of Troy's blog? While it is the responsibility of the old to protect the young from folly, it can be quite awkward to say, "I've been reading your diary, and I noticed ..."

Ms. Mentor wonders how his teacher even knows about Troy's blog. Has Troy bragged about it? Is his dissing his professor's class vindictive, sneaky, or (most likely) thoughtless?

Still, Troy's teacher needn't come out as snoop or meddler. Rather than an embarrassing tête-à-tetê ("I do not really assign 4,000 pages of boring reading" and "my lectures are not always snoozers"), it is far more tactful and educational to give the whole class a short lecture on "fitting the image of public-school teachers -- dos and don'ts." Even better, the professor can bring in a guest speaker to talk about job applications, self-presentation, and legalities.

Once he's informed about the consequences, Troy may decide not to be in a profession that requires him to be silent about some things dear to his heart. Or he may, like many a young rebel before him, move effortlessly into being a narrow-minded curmudgeon himself. But Ms. Mentor, who treasures free spirits, hopes Troy will not desist from blogging, and that his professor, if needed, will simply show him how to be more canny and pseudonymous. Ms. Mentor knows how to do that.

Question: How many recent correspondents about "dysfunctional" departments have spelled the word correctly?

Answer: None.

SAGE READERS: September seems to be the season for sages, for most of Ms. Mentor's recent mail has been from the senior sector of academe -- those who might be called the chronologically gifted, if Ms. Mentor countenanced such absurd language, which she does not.

Young correspondents continue to ask, "When is the best time to have a baby?" -- to which the answer is, of course, "the summer." The real question is, "What year?" -- High school? College? Graduate school? Postdoc? Pre-tenure? Post-tenure? And what about biological clocks, infertility, child care, breast-feeding, and campus climate? -- distressing and unresolved questions. For the moment, Ms. Mentor directs concerned readers to the best book on the subject: Constance Coiner and Diana Hume George's The Family Track: Keeping Your Faculties While You Mentor, Nurture, Teach, and Serve (University of Illinois Press, 1998).

As for aging readers -- more than a few report hearing some hostile comments: "Why would you want to get a Ph.D. at your age? You'll never use it."

Those reporting such comments to Ms. Mentor are all women, making her wonder if men just do not pursue degrees later in life (more's the pity) -- or if they do, are they lauded instead of patronized? As education budgets continue to shrink, Ms. Mentor also wonders why universities do not deliberately choose older people -- for a newly-tenured 60-year-old won't be holding a tenure line for 30 years and keeping out "new blood."

As always, Ms. Mentor begins a new school year with many and profound questions. She encourages readers to send queries, rants, and speculations, but reminds them that she rarely answers letters personally. She will not open attachments, no matter how tempting. Anonymity is guaranteed, and many a common query is answered in her tome (Ms. Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academia) or in her archive on The Chronicle's Career Network.