Teacher Disses High School Students on Blog

[Lasirius]

FEASTERVILLE, Pa. – A high school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia who was suspended for a profanity-laced blog in which she called her young charges "disengaged, lazy whiners" is driving a sensation by daring to ask: Why are today's students unmotivated — and what's wrong with calling them out?
As she fights to keep her job at Central Bucks East High School, 30-year-old Natalie Munroe says she had no interest in becoming any sort of educational icon. The blog has been taken down, but its contents can still be found easily online.
Her comments and her suspension by the middle-class school district have clearly touched a nerve, with scores of online commenters applauding her for taking a tough love approach or excoriating her for verbal abuse. Media attention has rained down, and backers have started a Facebook group.
"My students are out of control," Munroe, who has taught 10th, 11th and 12th grades, wrote in one post. "They are rude, disengaged, lazy whiners. They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."
And in another post, Munroe — who is more than eight months pregnant — writes: "Kids! They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy, lazy LOAFERS." She also comes up with a colorful list of comments that she felt should be available on student report cards.
Munroe did not use her full name or identify her students or school in the blog, which she started in August 2009 for friends and family. Last week, she said, students brought it to the attention of the school, which suspended her with pay.
"They get angry when you ask them to think or be creative," Munroe said of her students in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. "The students are not being held accountable."
Munroe pointed out that she also said positive things, but she acknowledges that she did write some things out of frustration — and of a feeling that many kids today are being given a free pass at school and at home.
"Parents are more trying to be their kids' friends and less trying to be their parent," Munroe said, also noting students' lack of patience. "They want everything right now. They want it yesterday."

One of Munroe's former students, who now attends McDaniel College in Westminster, Md., said he was torn by his former teacher's comments. Jeff Shoolbraid said he thought much of what Munroe said was true and that she had a right to voice her opinion, but felt her comments were out of line for a teacher.
"Whatever influenced her to say what she did is evidence as to why she simply should not teach," Shoolbraid wrote in an e-mail to the AP. "I just thought it was completely inappropriate. As far as motivated high school students, she's completely correct. High school kids don't want to do anything. .. It's a teacher's job, however, to give students the motivation to learn."
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association declined to comment Tuesday because he said the group may represent Munroe. Messages left for the Central Bucks School District superintendent were not returned Monday or Tuesday.
Sandi Jacobs, vice president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, said school districts are navigating uncharted territory when it comes to teachers' online behavior. Often, districts want teachers to have more contact with students and their families, yet give little guidance on how teachers should behave online even as students are more plugged in than they've ever been.
"This is really murky stuff," she said. "When you have a teacher using their blog to berate their students, maybe that's a little less murky. But the larger issue is, I think, districts are totally unprepared to deal with this."
Munroe has hired an attorney, who said that she had the right to post her thoughts on the blog and that it's a free speech issue. The attorney, Steven Rovner, said the district has led Munroe to believe that she will eventually lose her job.
"She could have been any person, any teacher in America writing about their lives," he said, pointing out that Munroe blogged about 85 times and that only about 15 to 20 of the posts involved her being a teacher. "It's honest and raw and a little edgy depending on your taste. ... She has a deep frustration for the educational system in America."
Rovner said that he would consider legal action if indeed Munroe loses her job.
"She did it as carefully as she could," he said about her blog. "It's so general that it applies to the problems in school districts and schools across the country."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_hi_te/us_teacher_suspended_blog

 

[Hotwire]

Good for her! Someone has to say it about these brats!

 

[Spider-Who?]

This reminds me of the issue posted last week about the cop being fired for signing a petition for the legalization of marijuana.

In both cases, I believe the employees have the right to express their opinions in the manner in which they did (signing a petition and a generic blog). Its now apparently a crime to express your thoughts.

Say hello to "Big Brother", everyone.

Oceania as always been at war with Eurasia!!!

 

[CelticPredator]

What if she's one of those incompetent teachers that do nothing all day, and make poor choices, which causes the students to not respect her?

I've had teachers like that. Although I personally wouldnt disrespect a teacher, but that's me. It's hard to fully respect someone who is not doing their job.


But i'm just throwin it out there. Maybe her kids ARE little ****s. Entirely possible either way.

 

[scifiwolf]

I have to say she's 100% right. I went to a high school that was 95% white, upper-middle class, and the students were just the same. I was in mostly honors and advanced classes junior and senior years, so my classmates were better, but the average to below-average students were very similar to what the blog describes. Hell, even I was considerably lazy and unmotivated, but at least I accepted all responsibility for action or lack-thereof.

I really hope she keeps her job, or lands on her feet with a better job somewhere else. Political correctness in the world today has completely rendered our teachers underpaid and impotent to defend themselves or voice opinions against the students they teach.

 

[The Geek Vault]

She has the right to say what she wants if it is out of school. Although I don't agree with her about students in general.

 

[CelticPredator]

^ Students get screwed for Facebook posts all the time....kids could get suspended over silly little Facebook posts about a teacher or student. It's ******ed.

 

[NHawk19]

It's going to become a 1st Amendment issue. She has a right to post thoughts and opinions. While this may not be the most eloquent way of doing it she still has the right to discuss it.

When you start thinking about whether or not she was out of line you need to ask "Would your comments be different if it was an editorial piece submitted to a newspaper instead of a blog?" Maybe but i'm also guessing she would have chosen her words accordingly. That's the problem with the internet. It's too easy to write a comment and put it out in the vastness. People think that no one unitended will see it.

 

[Spider-Who?]

^ Students get screwed for Facebook posts all the time....kids could get suspended over silly little Facebook posts about a teacher or student. It's ******ed.

But that's FACEBOOK. Facebook is entirely different that posting stuff on a private blog that doesn't specify the school or teachers/students in question. Not to mention that most of the suspensions you read about due to Facebook posts have to do with drugs and violence.

Reading the article, its very obvious the students who reported it had to hunt the blog down. They were looking for ammo.

What if she's one of those incompetent teachers that do nothing all day, and make poor choices, which causes the students to not respect her?

I've had teachers like that. Although I personally wouldnt disrespect a teacher, but that's me. It's hard to fully respect someone who is not doing their job.


But i'm just throwin it out there. Maybe her kids ARE little ****s. Entirely possible either way.

I totally get what your saying, but something tells me this is not the case. I think its obvious this teacher cares about her job (granted that doesn't make her a "good" teacher). In my scholastic experience, you can be the best teacher in the world, but if you got bad apples in your class, nothing can change them, and they'll hate you for trying to push them to be better.

 

[THE MR. TERRIFIC]

Cry me a river! If the brats are lazy call 'em out! She should be commended.

 

[CelticPredator]

But that's FACEBOOK. Facebook is entirely different that posting stuff on a private blog that doesn't specify the school or teachers/students in question. Not to mention that most of the suspensions you read about due to Facebook posts have to do with drugs and violence.

Reading the article, its very obvious the students who reported it had to hunt the blog down. They were looking for ammo.

Still. If they post it outside of school, it's not the school's business. Unless they're threating something...but that's a different matter entirely.

I totally get what your saying, but something tells me this is not the case. I think its obvious this teacher cares about her job (granted that doesn't make her a "good" teacher). In my scholastic experience, you can be the best teacher in the world, but if you got bad apples in your class, nothing can change them, and they'll hate you for trying to push them to be better.

I agree. I was mearly posing a different approtch to the situation.

 

[Norman Osborn]

Cry me a river! If the brats are lazy call 'em out! She should be commended.

This!

 

[Prison Mike]

I think she has a right to say her opinion but should be smart enough to know there'll be consequences.

 

[piccolo]

Anyone's who's ever met high school kids could have written that blog.

 

[The Incredible Hulk]

I live in Bucks County, PA and have many friends who teach locally, and they all pretty much agree with everything she says. The C.B. schools are filled with self-entitled, whiney, McMansion-living brats who have a silver spoon in their mouths and cant deal with any kind of failure or confrontation.

Although teachers will kill each other to get into that school district because of the pay scale and also because none of them want to get stuck teaching in the Philadelphia school system, where they get paid jack and you can add things like "violent" and "threatening" to the list of adjectives like lazy, disinterested, etc. So I guess, it's an occupational hazard you just deal with if you want the nice paycheck.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I see no problem with teachers venting on the web. As long as they don't identify specific students.

 

[Alex The Great]

I'm a teenager and yes, we are unmotivated and lazy. Some teachers just don't know how to motivate us, or even get us interested. Get us interested, have us do an cool, interactive, get-off-your-seats-and-put-down-text-book projects that allow us to actually enjoy what we're learning and we'll watch.

I don't really care that she used expletives and what not. We ***** about our teachers on Facebook and behind her back all the time

 

[kane9321]

she's 100% right..if she gets fired then, sue the Feasterville Pa school district

 

[Firm18]

I believe everyone has a right to express their opinion even if it will make things awkward.

 

[SuperFerret]

I still think teachers should be able to hit kids still. Especially if it's unnecessary.

 

[Alex The Great]

Do some schools still allow that?*

*Minus the south, because c'mon

 

[piccolo]

I still think teachers should be able to hit kids still. Especially if it's unnecessary.

ONLY if its unnecessary. And preferably when its the most uncalled for. Like if one of the kids gets an A+ on a test after studying super hard. "Great job, Johnny!" WHAM. Overhand right straight to the chin. That would keep the little bastards on their toes.

 

[SuperFerret]

ONLY if its unnecessary. And preferably when its the most uncalled for. Like if one of the kids gets an A+ on a test after studying super hard. "Great job, Johnny!" WHAM. Overhand right straight to the chin. That would keep the little bastards on their toes.

 

[Harls]

It's a teacher's job, however, to give students the motivation to learn.

Somewhat, yes. She can try all she wants, but ultimately if the kids don't want to learn or don't want to do any work, then it's futile.

 

[SuperFerret]

Hence the beatings.