Parent complained about my FB

[Hyperion]

[John Galt]

that's pretty ridiculous hyperion. i don't eat fast food i eat entire containers worth of food

[Professor]

[Hyperion]

So what is the difference between firing someone for advocating legalization of drugs vs firing someone for advocating unrestricted gun ownership?

Would you be sympathetic towards parents who demand a teacher apologize for supporting gun rights?

I just made a FB status about drug legalization to rattle the cage. What's to lose? I've been contemplating jumping careers for awhile now. I'll sue the hell out of them if it goes any further.

[Professor]

Several years ago, we started getting these weird phone calls at the house. Unidentified caller. This lady/girl would call and ask for me by name. If I answered, she'd hang up. But, if my wife answered, she'd ask for me. When my wife asked who it was, she'd say, "His girlfriend." At first, my wife considered it a prank. Then, the girl started referring to my kids by name, and saying things about them being at the park the other week and stuff. She said that we'd met back in high school at St. Peter HS.

Of course, my wife started getting pissed. But, I had no idea what was going on. I didn't know this person. But, I was getting blamed for it.

So, I decided to see what I could find out on the internet about us. Turns out my wife's FB page had all kinds of stuff on it. Sure, it wasn't viewable to most people, only friends and family. But, there are ways around that. So, I was able to view pics of my kids, recent events, etc. I told my wife that all that info was out there and showed her how someone could access it.

Eventually the calls stopped. But, we're now more careful about what we put online.

[John Galt]

[Professor]

Just to be clear, I do think that this specific situation is out of hand. I think what you did, Hyperion, is well within the bounds of reason. You made a post about a relevant, newsworthy topic - a facetious post, at that. And, you "like" gin. Really, nothing wrong with either one of them. These parents probably are out for blood.

But, this reminds me of something that a cop told me once. If you are going down the road and someone is in your lane, you have a choice. Do you say, "I have a right to be in my lane" and hit him head on? Or, do you swerve onto the shoulder and sideswipe a tree to avoid him? The point being that sometimes being right has worse consequences than just avoiding the situation altogether.

Yes, you have a right to post personal stuff on FB. However, you know that there are these nutjob helicopter parents out there. Is it better to just not post potentially controversial stuff on FB, or to fight it when that stuff is leaked?

[Aaron]

The case history of FB status firings is becoming large and not at all in favor of the business. Not much to worry about, unless you live in a small pop. area with a moronic judicial system, in which case it will just take you longer to receive your damages.

[OGPhilly]

I know a very clever trick to keep unwanted people from viewing these kind of status updates so its never a problem for me.

[eynon81]