The Surfing Teacher

Thanks to this flickr-er

Welcome Mourners,

It is my humble honour to welcome you to the memorial service for our dear friend, Privacy. Many of us here today have fond memories of a friend whose life was cut to short. All of us, as teachers, will dearly miss our friend. The question for us today is; What can we learn from this tragic death?


Firstly, our live’s as teachers are always on display. Like fish in a bowl, people are alway looking in. This is nothing to be alarmed about. In fact it’s a compliment! The importance that society places upon teachers is great. Likewise, the expectations that are placed upon a teacher are also high. Just remember, our friend privacy would like us live in a way that reflects our place in society.


Secondly, teachers need to be careful about how much of themselves that they share online. With a lot of teachers having online profiles (facebook, twitter, blogs, etc.) there is now even more opportunity for people to look into our private lives. Sadly, privacy’s death was in part due to people not being careful with how much of themselves they share online. How about you check how much of yourself you are sharing on facebook right now at reclaimprivacy.org.


Finally, our friend privacy would like us to honour his memory by promoting online safety to the students in our care. With today’s ‘digital natives’, online profiles and proficiency are just part of everyday life. Online safety must be a part of our curriculum in today’s classroom. A great online resource for primary aged students can be viewed at cybersmart.gov.


Friends, as we leave here today, let us not feel that privacy’s life was in vain. Rather, lets us be hopeful that privacy’s memory will live on in the actions of those who maintain secure and  safe online profiles, and encourage others to do so as well.


What Do You Think?

Liam – The Surfing Teacher