I'm planning on being a teacher for young children (my degree covers me for ages birth-8 though I may be able to teach other ages). Should I avoid coming out on social media so that I won't be discriminated against or get complaints from parents or coworkers? For those who don't know, teachers of young children are typically expected to keep their personal lives and political opinions to themselves in general. :dry:
Hmmm, tough question... Since you'll be a round little kids, the odds of discrimination are probably higher than if you were a teacher on a higher level. I mean, it's not like you have to come out to your students, which you probably aren't planning on anyway. But if it comes up on your social media, well, let it.
I am a 5th grade teacher in rural Ohio. I refuse to come out on Social Media under the simple fact that you never know who knows whom. If one of the parents of a student in your class knows one of your social media friends...then the cat is out of the bag. And I hate to sound like a cynic here, but being out as a teacher is not a wise choice. Should you be out as a teacher, of course. It is great being a model for students and not having to hide who you are 7 hours a day. It also is awkward getting the "are you dating or married?" question. But as to whether it is wise...until there are laws in Ohio to protect gay educators... I think it is a very poor career move. Just my personal opinion though. So long answer short, I'd not post it on a social media site, since anything that is that social will spread...
Thanks for the reply. I think that's good advice, I just don't really like confrontation but I also have a lot of friends that I only keep track of on social media. The only way I'd come out to them would be to post/ tweet. I also realized I'm already pretty pro-LGBT on my social media so I guess I already answered that part of my question hahaha
I agree. I had a teacher in high school who was gay. He never mentioned anything about his love life or if he was with someone. We all knew he was gay, and we loved him. No one said anything bad about him but sometimes its best to just leave your personal life out of the workplace, which thanks to social media is becoming harder these days.
Kasey - How do you deal with it? Also what kind of area do you live in (are they pretty accepting, homophobic, etc.)?
I guess it would depend on your area. Are people homophobic? I had a 5th grade teacher that was gay (how we knew he was gay as 10 year old kids I'll never know), but he recently moved up from 5th grade math teacher to principal, beating out a lot of other applicants. So, if you lived here, I'd say go for it. I just think it would depend on how homophobic your area is.
How do I deal with it? I'm trans in the closet to most (almost everyone) people. Despite laws protecting me should I come out... There are always ways around it even with tenure. The area I am in is actually one of the more conservative parts of the state believe it or not. So hence my conundrum.
