# How do we feel about teachers fired for posting homemade porn? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 14, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614 "2023-12-14T20:21:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/21 "2023-12-14T22:07:57Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > I think part of the problem here is that we, as a society, are weird about sex. Yes, we are. But if that was even obliquely related to my post about teachers, I think it misses the point. The problem is not sex _per se_, the problem is the willingness to violate societal norms, whether you agree with them or not, and what that says about the person’s values. I’d have no problem with a teacher who happened to be homosexual (of either gender) but that’s a different issue. Even back in the days when that was considered “deviant”, it wasn’t a behavioural **choice** someone was making. > [@Chronos](#): > > This isn’t about the morality or ethics of doing porn. It’s about being able to do your job. Having porn videos of yourself out there on the Internet has an impact on your ability to do your job as a teacher. Yes, precisely this. > [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Of course it has an impact. But a more sensible culture would mitigate the impact considerably. Maybe so, and if we lived in that theoretical “more sensible culture”, my opinion might be different. But we don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/22 "2023-12-14T22:16:54Z")
Well, the thread asks how we feel. That’s how I feel. When I was a pre-teen / teen, I would have been so mortified at the thought of a teacher having a sex life that I would have just avoided the thought (which is more or less what I did about being gay, myself). Since I don’t have kids, I can only say that it would have been a non-issue for me. It would have been a non-issue for my parents, for different reasons. I don’t deny that it is a huge issue for lots of people in the real world. I’m just not inclined to support those for whom it is, and I don’t really understand why it would be detrimental to teaching for more than a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/23 "2023-12-14T22:19:24Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Wow, I guess I’m missing the morality gene. I don’t see any reason a teacher should be in trouble for online porn. I really don’t. Or lawyers, doctors, or members of Congress. Yeah, count me in with this. I could\* give an eff if some teachers do some sideline hustle showing their intimate activities, as long as they teach my children well in class. \*“couldn’t” for you pedants ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/24 "2023-12-14T22:24:06Z")
Society as a whole might someday be more mature about sex. But no matter how mature society as a whole is, teenagers aren’t. Being immature is kind of one of the defining characteristics of teenagers. And when your whole job consists of dealing with immature people, you have to take that into account. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/25 "2023-12-14T22:29:50Z")
I’m on the side that whatever a teacher does in their personal time is their personal time. Otherwise, by this logic, a teacher should be banned from participating in any off-campus political activity. _How can we know Mrs. Smith is going to be an unbiased teacher for her students if she was spotted handing out Democratic (or Republican) pamphlets during summer break?_ Finally, for the prudes who insist that teachers must face some sort of “penalty” for doing homemade porn, the snickering and awkwardness that they deal with their students who’ve seen their porn, is enough penalty itself. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/26 "2023-12-14T22:38:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Having porn videos of yourself out there on the Internet has an impact on your ability to do your job as a teacher. I guess that’s debatable. I truly don’t see how a armature porn person couldn’t teach algebra. Kids who can’t handle it can buck up and pay attention or fail the class. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/27 "2023-12-14T22:39:53Z")
I don’t care what a teacher does either. It’s their own business until they put it online for consumption by others. This part I stress: And get caught. If they were hiding identity and faces they _knew_ it was a bad idea. Too bad. They made a mistake. They’ll have to expand their sex work goals or go back to college. Maybe they could write a book. Either way they probably won’t be in a classroom again. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/28 "2023-12-14T22:41:24Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I’m on the side that whatever a teacher does in their personal time is their personal time. Great! What if they spend their personal time robbing banks? OK, that isn’t legal. But what if they belong to **[one of many pedophilia organizations around the world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pedophile_advocacy_organizations)**? That OK with you? I’m not equating the two things except insofar as they both relate to the fundamental ability (or lack of it) to conform to societal norms. > [@Velocity](#): > > Otherwise, by this logic, a teacher should be banned from participating in any off-campus political activity. _How can we know Mrs. Smith is going to be an unbiased teacher for her students if she was spotted handing out Democratic (or Republican) pamphlets during summer break?_ I hope that, on reflection, you can see how ridiculous this analogy is. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/29 "2023-12-14T22:43:20Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Finally, for the prudes who insist that teachers must face some sort of “penalty” for doing homemade porn, the snickering and awkwardness that they deal with their students who’ve seen their porn, is enough penalty itself. But it’s not just a penalty for the teachers. If it were just a matter of the teachers feeling embarrassed, then that’d be their business. But that snickering and awkwardness is going to impact the students’ learning. > [@Procrustus](#): > > Kids who can’t handle it can buck up and pay attention or fail the class. Well, sure, if you consider kids failing the class to be an acceptable outcome. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/30 "2023-12-14T22:43:34Z")
When I was in 7th grade, 1988-1989, my English teacher told us about the time she got called into the principals office because a parent made a complaint to the school. She was at a restaurant in a nearby town having a beer with her dinner, and the parent who saw her thought it was inappropriate behavior for a teacher. What if a student saw her drinking a beer? (I have no recollection of why my teacher shared this story with us. I’m guessing it had something to do with whatever we were reading about and discussing in class, but it’s been more than thirty years and I simply cannot recall.) For full disclosure, I was going to school in Plano, Texas at the time. It didn’t occurr to me at the time, but it probably didn’t help that she was young and attractive. Like others here, I think it’s rather pathetic that we give teachers so little respect as to not pay them well enough to make a decent living in many areas. We like to give lip service to how important teachers are, but in reality we don’t treat them as if they’re important. From the school’s perspective, I can see why they’d want to let the teacher go. Will she be able to continue effectively as a teacher after her other work becomes known to everyone? Like it or not, what we say or do outside of work can have a negative affect on our careers. I’ve had to deal with it on occasion at work, usually because someone decides to post something sexist or racist online. Have you ever spent a day fielding calls from angry people wanting to know if you’re aware of what an employee has posted online? It’s not pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/31 "2023-12-14T22:43:57Z")
Wolfpup, pedophilia isn’t legal either. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/32 "2023-12-14T22:46:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > No one can regulate what an adult chooses to put online. Apparently, if they are a teacher, you can. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/33 "2023-12-14T22:47:00Z")
Molesting children is not legal - “pedophilia” refers to a primary or exclusive attraction to pre-pubescent children and is absolutely legal as is belonging to organizations . _Acting_ on that attraction is not legal. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/34 "2023-12-14T22:48:36Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Wolfpup, pedophilia isn’t legal either.   Sure, but I was alluding to **membership** in those organizations. Since they continue to exist, I assume that under free speech provisions in various countries they are, in fact, legal. And if I was a school administrator and had a teacher who belonged to such an organization – a legal member of a legal organization – I’d fire them on the spot. And so would any school board. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/35 "2023-12-14T22:49:40Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > They should think about maybe not showing their face. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > If they were hiding identity and faces they _knew_ it was a bad idea. Please reconcile these two statements. First you state they should hide their identities, but then state hiding their identities is proof they were doing something wrong. > [@doreen](#): > > Molesting children is not legal - “pedophilia” refers to a primary or exclusive attraction to pre-pubescent children and is absolutely legal as is belonging to organizations . _Acting_ on that attraction Given the link was to organizations advocating it become legal, where does that fall on the “acting on the attraction” continuum. > [@wolfpup](#): > > Sure, but I was alluding to **membership** in those organizations. Since they continue to exist, I assume that under free speech provisions in various countries they are, in fact, legal. And if I was a school board trustee and had a teacher who belonged to such an organization – a legal member of a legal organization – I’d fire them on the spot. And so would any school board. And you’d be hard pressed to find anyone arguing against firing a teacher who’s advocating the molestation of children. OnlyFans ain’t that. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/36 "2023-12-14T22:51:07Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > And you’d be hard pressed to find anyone arguing against firing a teacher who’s advocating the molestation of children. OnlyFans ain’t that. Well, we just had a poster upthread claiming that what teachers did on their own time was their own business. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/37 "2023-12-14T22:51:45Z")
I was told after my first post they did hide their faces. And I’ve read the same since. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/38 "2023-12-14T22:52:16Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Given the link was to organizations advocating it become legal, where does that fall on the “acting on the attraction” continuum. It’s not illegal to belong to an organization advocating the elimination of the concept of an “age of consent”. At least not in the US and I doubt if it’s illegal in Canada either. If your line is going to be “legal or not” , you’ll have to allow teachers who belong to that sort of organization, just like you’d have to allow teachers to belong to the KKK just as long as the teachers don’t actually commit any crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/39 "2023-12-14T22:55:35Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Well, we just had a poster upthread claiming that what teachers did on their own time was their own business. While I think that is _generally_ true, I’m willing to live with some exceptions. I guess we’re all just debating where to draw the line. Having a beer after work, we’re all good. Advocating sex with children, I bet most would say that’s too far. Adult sex videos, that’s going to have less consensus. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614/40 "2023-12-14T22:56:51Z")
Stranger, if you would kindly return the goalposts to their original location? There’s a good chap! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-we-feel-about-teachers-fired-for-posting-homemade-porn/994614.md?page=3)