Teacher wants to stab you

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/29/krista-hodges_n_5739554.html

NEWARK, Calif. (AP) — A teacher in Northern California has been disciplined for making threatening and explicit remarks about students on her Twitter account.

The Newark Unified School District gave a written reprimand to Newark High School teacher Krista Hodges, who tweeted between April and June that she wanted to stab and pour coffee on some of her students, according to the Oakland Tribune (http://bit.ly/1Cb0beT ).

In one tweet she said some students "make my trigger finger itchy."

Interim Superintendent Tim Irwin says he consulted state education law, the Newark school board's policy and the teacher's union contract before disciplining Hodges.

Newark police are also investigating.

Hodges, who continues to teach at the school, says she deeply regrets sending the tweets and never expected anybody would take her seriously.

She has since deleted her account.

Being a teacher, what do you think about her conduct on twitter?

 

[Dee]

As an educator myself, I think she's a complete and utter idiot for even "joking" about this kind of stuff. Seriously? She honestly didn't think anyone would care about what she posted or think it was just some hilarious joke. Yeah, it might've been a laugh to her, but she is authorized by the state to teach children in a classroom. And to joke like that is absolutely uncalled for, even in jest. She either needs to be disciplined or removed from the classroom because those words are highly inappropriate.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

As an educator myself, I think she's a complete and utter idiot for even "joking" about this kind of stuff. Seriously? She honestly didn't think anyone would care about what she posted or think it was just some hilarious joke. Yeah, it might've been a laugh to her, but she is authorized by the state to teach children in a classroom. And to joke like that is absolutely uncalled for, even in jest. She either needs to be disciplined or removed from the classroom because those words are highly inappropriate.

I agree, harmless internal thoughts are one thing, but when you take the time to make them public and for all eyes to see, be ready for people to judge the shit out of you! Lesson learned for her: keep it to yourself.

 

[Dee]

As an educator myself, I think she's a complete and utter idiot for even "joking" about this kind of stuff. Seriously? She honestly didn't think anyone would care about what she posted or think it was just some hilarious joke. Yeah, it might've been a laugh to her, but she is authorized by the state to teach children in a classroom. And to joke like that is absolutely uncalled for, even in jest. She either needs to be disciplined or removed from the classroom because those words are highly inappropriate.

I agree, harmless internal thoughts are one thing, but when you take the time to make them public and for all eyes to see, be ready for people to judge the shit out of you! Lesson learned for her: keep it to yourself.

I wonder honestly what goes through some people's heads. She is an educator who comes in contact with hundreds of people throughout the year, if not more than that. SOMEONE is going to have access to her social media pages, and someone--as made evident by this situation--is going to find what she said to be horrible. Was she that ignorant as to think everyone would play it off as a joke? I just don't think she was truly considering the ramifications of her stupidity.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

She probably wasnt thinking. Teachers seem to forget that they are public figures and role models, maybe not on a large scale but to a small group of the population.

 

[DrLeftover]

She has a bright future at Wal-Mart.

 

[Nebulous's iconNebulous]

She has a bright future at Wal-Mart.

Who said she's getting fired? They might keep her. We'll see.

Hodges, who continues to teach at the school, says she deeply regrets sending the tweets and never expected anybody would take her seriously.

 

[DrLeftover]

Homeschooling.

If you want your kids to be able to THINK:

The answer is Homeschooling.

 

[Dee]

xD

I agree that homeschooling, in SOME cases, can be better, but it is most definitely not always the case.

I know plenty of teachers who are simply amazing people and who would never post inappropriate comments on a social media site because they are not idiots. It's as simple as that. This woman is an adult and should have known better than to make a joke about wanting to shoot children, especially in the wake of so many school shootings just in the last year. There was obviously a disconnect in her head, and she is one lucky lady to have kept her job. Maybe they thought that the humiliation she may be feeling was much more appropriate a punishment than firing her.

 

[Bluezone777]

It could easily be seen as just an expression to illustrate high stress rather then actually wanting to kill someone. It all winds down to how you interpret as it's clear she read it as an expression of stress and didn't think of how someone could interpret it as being a threat of violence. I'd say it's a poor choice of words( her tweets) but that's really all it is. I think you would need to know the person and any behavior if any is to be found that would fit in context with these comments to suggest she is or will acting out in violence against her students.

I read all the tweets she made before she deleted her account and it suggests to me that she should be fired not because of what she said but to me she sounds like she would benefit from being forced into getting a new profession as it seems she isn't able to handle the stress of teaching well and is probably sticking to the job because of a fear of being without one rather then actually wanting to do the work. I would want a person to teach because they want to and not just because of the paycheck.