Statist insanity continues: Claremont teacher says she was dismissed for refusing to unfriend students on Facebook

A popular substitute teacher said she was dismissed Thursday from Stevens High School in Claremont after she refused to unfriend her students on Facebook.

"I will miss the daily contact. They have taught me as much as I have taught them," Carol Thebarge said. "Didn't want it to end this way."

Thebarge, who taught for more than 30 years in the Claremont school system, said a school administrator gave her an ultimatum to remove all students she was friends with on Facebook or be dismissed.

"Those of you who know me and my philosophy in life, that of marching to the beat of my own drummer, would assume I would choose the latter of the two choices.
And I did," Thebarge said in a Facebook post Thursday.

Thebarge said administrators first approached her four years ago about deleting her students as friends on Facebook before issuing what Thebarge called an ultimatum recently after a fellow teacher, 29-year-old Christopher LeBlanc, was accused of sexually assaulting a student in a classroom.

Thebarge vowed to keep in touch with her students despite her dismissal.

"Where do we draw the line? Do we have the right as teachers when we respect the students, and the students respect us, to have that relationship? I feel mine is very safe, and I have never been inappropriate," Thebarge said.

Thebarge posted a statement on Facebook.

"I will continue to stay in touch with all of them here. No man or institution will dictate my relationships here, or otherwise that are within the range of my own consciousness. This is not rebellion. It is standing up for my beliefs ... for silence and compliance is agreement," Thebarge wrote in the Facebook post.

Taylor Anderson was one of Thebarge's students. Anderson said if she hadn't had Thebarge as a friend on Facebook, she would not have graduated in 2013.

"Facebook is a great way to communicate with people when you are going through things at home. There are tons of kids in Claremont that are going through stuff that need someone like Ms. (Thebarge) to talk to," Anderson said.

Claremont Superintendent Middleton McGoodwin said Thebarge was an excellent substitute teacher, but she refused to follow written school board policy, so he had no choice other than to let her go.

McGoodwin said LeBlanc's recent arrest made the school take a harder look at its social media policies.

"One of the benefits of an unfortunate event such as the Chris LeBlanc matter is that it heightens our awareness of behavior in others that may be crossing lines established by policy," McGoodwin said.

McGoodwin said Thebarge's friending of students was brought to school administrators' attention by school district staff.

Thebarge said she will not fight her dismissal. She said the issue of Facebook and social media is bigger than her and hopes the school district will re-evaluate the policy.

http://www.wmur.com/news/claremont-teacher-says-she-was-dismissed-for-refusing-to-unfriend-students-on-facebook/25325064

Statist insanity continues: Claremont teacher says she was dismissed for refusing to unfriend students on Facebook

Statist insanity continues: Claremont teacher says she was dismissed for refusing to unfriend students on Facebook

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