Teacher stands by personal blog despite media controversy

Good for you, Natalie Munroe.

Munroe, 30, is a full-time teacher and personal blogger, who candidly wrote of her experiences with other peoples’ kids all day long. Now she’s unsurprisingly suspended from her teaching duties because some students at Central Bucks East High School found her blog and complained that she’d characterized them less than charitably, even (gasp!) using swear words.

The case yet again brings up questions of how closely an employer can monitor your online activities outside of work, and whether certain kinds of speech are protected- particularly when an employee takes steps to cloak details of their personal and professional life from readers.

Munroe is admirably unapologetic when it comes to the content of her blog, and has replaced most posts with a lengthy explanation in the wake of the controversy. (You can read Natalie Munroe’s blog, “Where are we going & why are we in this handbasket” here.)

One of Munroe’s most quoted “pithy” remarks? The teacher opined:

“I don’t care if you lick the windows, take the special bus or occasionally pee on yourself. You hang in there, sunshine. You’re friggin’ special.”

What do you think? Should Munroe be axed from her teaching job due to the honest comments she made on her blog? Or is it more important to set a precedent that regardless of occupation, your time outside work is your own? Personally, I’m inclined toward the latter- if employers gain the ability to insinuate themselves into our online as well as offline lives outside work, let he who hath never been tagged in a questionable Facebook photo throw the first stone.