Have you Googled yourself lately?

Googling yourself can be scary. As educators we constantly have to be on the prowl to protect ourselves, our livelihoods, and our families. The Internet can be a scary place, especially when you aren’t sure whether or not a photo, possibly taken out of context, can be detrimental to your future. With that said, I was relieved to see see the search results when I typed “Derrick Pacheco” into Google, pipl.com and other personal search engines. I didn’t find anything that would lead me to question the possibility of teaching in the future, although I did find quite a few links to experiences in my professional life. Before I ventured into graduate school and the prospect of teaching, I was the sports editor at the Columbia Basin Herald in Moses Lake for 18 months. When I searched for my name on the aforementioned Web sites, I was pleased to see a plethora of links to the Columbia Basin Herald pop up. Additionally, when I searched through Google Images for my name, numerous photos I took while I worked at the Columbia Basin Herald popped up. I was both surprised and relieved to be so lame.

While I noticed my personal life was rather vacant from the realm of the Internet, I did notice I still had a current Myspace.com page. I was surprised I had a Myspace page because I distinctly recall deleting the account the moment I realized I didn't want a social networking site. I changed my stance on them when I was introduced to Facebook. When Facebook debuted, it was geared solely to college students. In fact, I remember distinctly that you needed an e-mail address that ended in "edu" to activate the account. However, after I noticed my Myspace account was still active, I quickly went to Myspace to permanently delete my account. This process was a huge ordeal. As I tried to navigate to the stale and outrageously outdated page, I quickly learned I no longer remembered the e-mail address linked to the account, I couldn't remember my user name, and I couldn't remember the password. Actually deleting my Myspace account was more work than creating it. However, I am satisfied with the end result.

With social networking at an all-time high and sites such as Facebook everyday, teachers need to be increasingly guarded with what they say, do, and post on the Internet, let alone how they act in real life. Teachers live their lives with different standards than anyone else. We are expected to live, act, and respond in a professional and respectful way under all circumstances. While I believe teachers should live up to a higher professional standard than most people, I don't believe their personal lives should be held up to these standards. I believe a teacher should be able to do and say what they want when they find themselves off of school grounds.

The most interesting part of the required readings, was reading that some teachers have social networking sites, allow their students to be their friends, and then post frustrations they have with the school, faculty, classes, or students. I couldn't believe this. This part of the article was ridiculous and reprehensible. I understand there will be days when I, as a teacher, will become infuriated by what happened on a particular day, but I would never stoop to posting it for all so see. This is ridiculous and incomprehensible. Even now, I have a facebook page and coach track at a local high school. I will not accept a "friend invite" from a student until they have graduated, or unless I have known them for an extended period of time outside of the school environment and before I started coaching them. This is a rule I have set forth for them and this is non-negotiable.

In the future, I am going to refrain from posting anything on Facebook, my blog, my Web site, or any other electronic site for that matter, that I wouldn't readily show my principal or superintendent. Why take that risk if it could cost me my lively hood? I understand we are living in an increasingly technological society and we need to take the necessary precautions to protect ourselves from possible sanctions. I am going to think twice before I hit the post button on my post. I am also going to reserve a period of time before posting anything. I think if I think clearly about what I am going to post and give it some time to settle in, I can protect myself from posting anything I could possibly regret in the future.