I have been working for the past four months in a religious Jewish school in Brooklyn. I posted a video of my class to youtube and was fired for this. Everything is explained in the articles... THIS HAS MADE HEADLINES LOOK: LINK 1 LINK 2 HAS ANY LAW BEEN PASSED AGAINST THIS???
At my school we have to have parents permission to use their child's photo,or video image in a public setting. Anytime you post something on the internet you run the risk of someone taking that and twisting it into something terrible. No website is 100% secure. I'm sorry this happened to you, I don't know of any laws that you broke. But you did post pictures of minors without parents permission on the internet.:sorry:
I don't know about laws persay, but it is probably in your handbook or whatever you received. I am sure it is a school rule. I am sorry this happened to you, but I have to say, posting a video is a big big big no-no! Even though you didn't intend for it to become public, you still took a video of these kids without parental permission. Then you sent it to someone! Even if it was just to a friend, how does the community know that this person can be trusted? Sorry again. I hope they can forgive you and that this doesn't further hurt your career. It is good you apologized.
I'm sorry that this happened to you. I know that you didn't mean for it to come out, but like others have said, that is a chance you take when dealing with the internet and youtube. I read some of those comments OUCH!!
If you never received a handbook, the only thing you can really do is talk to your union reps if you have them. If not, short of hiring you own lawyer, there is nothing you can do.
Handbook or no handbook, children's photos (including videos) may not be publicized without parental consent. Yes, youtube is public. As far as I know, this is law. Minors are protected. I don't know if it makes any difference that their names were not released, but the name of the school and grade of the class were part of the video's title. Although I sympathize with your frustration because this was a mistake, the fact remains that people need to accept the consequences of all their actions, intentional or not. If there was a breach of policy or law, the school simply cannot retain you as a teacher.
As a mom, I would have a real problem with my kids' pictures being posted online without my permission. If it were done by a teacher, it would be a much bigger issue. Surely this must have been covered in some class along the way in your certification process?? Why on earth would you post a video of kids you're supposed to be supervising? We, as responsible adults, put a LOT of effort into teaching kids about internet safety-- never post a picture of yourself, don't let strangers know who you are or where you go to school, and so on, since we never know who is online. And you, one of their teachers, takes pictures of them and posts them? Are you kidding? You seriously don't think there's a problem with it? And that you should be retained on the basis of the good judgement you've shown so far? Sorry to come down so hard (and to be honest, I just toned down my response a bit.) But you were out of line, big time.
I feel bad for you, but..... I am sorry to hear that you lost your job. It is always terrible when someone loses their source of income. But your common sense as a teacher should have told you to get the parents permission or not even done the posting at all!! Sorry, just my two cents Mldouglas
It is my understanding that when he posted these videos he did not know that it was going to be open to the public. I think he assumed that he had to send someone the link for it to be seen (still would have needed parent permission to show the video). It was a mistake but one that is big enough to cost someone their job.
I hate to hear that you were fired. I have always heard that you must get some form of tangible permission to publicly use a child's photo or a video with the child in it. I think that since it wasn't in the handbook, they probably should have just given you a warning. I am sure everyone knows you would not have posted the video to put a child in harms way.
I can honestly say that NOTHING about photo/video/audio recording or posting was covered in any of my certification courses. Until two days or so ago, I had no knowledge of FERPA (would this be a violation of that?). I did, however, obtain parental releases for each of my 3rd graders so that I could photograph them during activities while I was student teaching. I just did that because I thought I should, not because anyone told me to. However, during my Girl Scout Leader training about 10-12 years ago, the instructor there told us to get releases for anything we did.
I guess you learned the hard way not to post online. Hopefully you will be able to still finding a teaching job. Best of luck to you.
Totally 100% agree - as a parent of teenagers this is one of my biggest fears. As a first year teacher, even if you didn't recieve any information from your employer, you should always ask admin. about doing things like this. My first few years teaching I bugged my admin. about everything . . . getting my movie list approved, speakers approved, class rules approved . . anything and everything I thought could be a potential conflict.
We aren't allowed to post pix online, and we can't even request permission from parents to do so. I think you jumped ahead a little too soon before inquiring about the school protocol.
I am Orthodox Jewish. That being said you should have checked with your principal before doing this. You used poor judgement and If I were one of the rabbis or the parents I would not have retained you either. I hope you have learned from your mistake and you will find another postion soon. You could probably sub with the New York Public Schools or Kelly Services in the meantime. You can contact your local Kelly Services offices for Kelly Educational Staffing. Good luck!
Terry, forgive my ignorance. What does being Orthodox Jewish have to do with it? Are there particular religious beliefs that come into play? I was just looking at it from a safety standpoint, not a religious one.
I'm sorry this happened. Everyone makes mistakes. Hopefully you will find a new job soon, and know next time what not to do. A hard lesson, I know.
I may end up in a fight with the school as they breached the contract which had no clause for dismissal. Not saying what I did was wrong however what they did violates the contact. Additionally they never gave me a manual and said this is a school policy.
I don't know of any situation where we teachers are permitted to post children on the internet without parental permission...especially on youtube. I work for a school system with a very strong union and we would probably be fired for this too.
I am sorry you were fired and I hope you find another job. But you used poor judgement, professional and as a protector to your students. I have permission from my district and parents to post pictures online on MY website and I still do not do it. It is not safe.
What was the video of? Was it part of some kind of project? I once had the idea of having kids make skits to post to youtube, but then I thought about all the possible legal issues/problems...
There is no religious standpoint here. Just to be concerned a lot of Orthodox Jews live among their own group and a video like this might pose some safety issues for them. I only mentioned this because the school involved was an Orthodox Jewish school. I looked at the link provided before posting. I work in a public school at this time.
Right to privacy is one of main legal rights students (and parents) have. As a teacher, handbook or not, you have to be aware of what your legal responsbilities are. By letting you go, they show the parents, who can very easily sue, that they took the situation seriously. They can also reasonably expect teachers to come in knowing these types of legalities. If they are smart, they will now decide to hold formal workshops instead of making this assumption. Our school has formal workshops on the main legal issues affecting education. I may not understand the depths of it all, but at least I know enough to be able to ask questions when needed. Formal training isn't required, it's definately a good idea for all schools to have. Will you have some help with looking for another job?
