Teacher mocks 'poor' essays by pupils in blog

fron http://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20080218-50182.html

A teacher has come under fire after his blog entry mocking his Primary 3 pupils was discovered and its URL passed to other netizens. The relief teacher had posted online four excerpts from different compositions written by his pupils and accompanying them, he had commented: "I have three terribly ridiculous compositions... a source of entertainment, I should say... I will type it out... no corrections or whatsoever... enjoy!" He later added a fourth composition.

A primary school teacher who only wanted to be known as Ms Wong, 28, felt the blogger was not professional. "If he puts it on his blog such that the children can improve, it's okay. If it's to amuse himself, then it's not," she said.

Parents my paper spoke to also had harsh words for the teacher. Madam Jearina Champion, a 36-year-old homemaker whose son is in Primary 6, said: "As a teacher, he has forgotten his role. If he thinks the compositions are bad, he should keep it within the boundaries of the classroom. As a teacher, he should care for the emotional well-being of the child." If her son had been one of the pupils whose compositions were criticised on the blog, she would "have a word quietly with him", if she is close to and respects the teacher. If not, she would "write to the teacher and send a copy (the e-mail) to the principal".

Madam Pee Hian Hwe, a 48-year-old mother of a Primary 5 pupil, agreed. "It's not up to me to say whether teachers have a right to do this on their personal blogs, but I guess the school should have rules as to what teachers can or cannot put online," she said.

Technology... love it or hate it but you never know how many people read your blog until something happens. I always thought of my blog was my outlet for my intellectual ramblings and doubted anyone would be interested in my otherwise mundane life. Until the day I posted an emotional problem I was overcoming...

For me, I had my problem worked out already and it was merely airing of my thoughts. Suddenly, all my friends started asking me if I was ok and it got me puzzled. I was wondering what they were refering to... turns out it was the blog entry. I was touched by the sudden outpouring of concerns. =)

I believe that as adults, you have to use your digression to decide what to blog and what not to blog. As a teacher, I do share about my life as a teacher, sometime good and bad. However, I'm not so insensible to post my kid's names, put up their personal information or their writings. Like doctors have code of ethics, so do teachers!