Imagine this:

Your high school football coach is being attacked on social media by parents for not playing the senior players. Attitude issues and efforts in practice are at the root of the decision, but of course, the rants on Facebook don’t go into that.

Nothing is put on the formal Facebook page for your school, but the words are definitely heard throughout the community. The coach is getting personal messages and public posts made on his own Facebook page, and he finally decides to respond. Things don’t go well…

Some of you didn’t have to imagine too much on this, did you? You’ve had something very similar already happen. It could be a coach, a teacher, a paraprofessional or a principal – and it could involve a real situation, a completely fabricated story, or likely a blurred line between the two.

So how do you handle guidelines for your staff to use social media both on and off the job? Providing basics like “Always be positive and helpful online – all district staff are ambassadors.” It seems obvious, but it needs to be said!