The costs of online presence are really starting to outweigh the benefits for me.
When I think about my past online, I was always under the mindset of not caring; I didn’t care what I posted or who saw it. They were just pictures and recycled “The Office” memes. What harm could they really do? Still, I think I was always subconsciously aware of the potential harm to an educator.
Teachers are held to a moral standing that the majority of careers don’t need to take into account (there aren’t many careers where you could be reprimanded for posing with a pint). And though I don’t agree with the degree to which teachers are discouraged from acting, well, human, I do understand why this expected morality is necessary. As teachers, we are responsible for how our students perceive us. When I was a high school student, teachers were mythic figures who although deep-down I knew had social lives, I never cared to think about. Any connection I made to a teacher was in context to my educationWe didn’t share personal details but that didn’t make our interactions inauthentic. Boundaries. I had them instinctively and so did my educators.
I think that boundaries are a large reason I am considering removing my online presence altogether. Though I didn’t ponder my teachers’ social lives, I know I would have gotten a kick out of stumbling upon my English teacher’s Instagram. Whether the quality of my online content is deemed appropriate or not, I wouldn’t want my future students to see my personal content. That’s a boundary I want to keep.