# Teacher suspended for pulling a Janet Jackson **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837 "2004-03-17T13:35:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![zuma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9c0ed/32.png) [@zuma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zuma)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/61 "2004-03-18T16:35:46Z")
You have someone stripping drunk at 2 a.m., and a few dozen teaching prospects ready to take her job, without the drunken stripping. Well, I’d let her go as well. She showed bad judgement any way you look at it, and bad judgement might show up on the job in the future. I do not think she’s automatically a bad person, but if I were an employer, I’d replace her with someone else. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/62 "2004-03-18T17:08:10Z")
(what the heck is a boobie?) Seriously, check this link [opinion poll](http://cf.wftv.com/orlc/sh/con_surveycontest_display/sur_results_nt.cfm) ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/63 "2004-03-18T17:33:49Z")
**askeptic** , I would but the link is down. Or broken. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/64 "2004-03-18T17:47:49Z")
Try the link in the OP and click answer in the poll. Hope that works. I just tried it and it worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/65 "2004-03-18T17:56:53Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > You have someone stripping drunk at 2 a.m., and **a few dozen teaching prospects ready to take her job** , without the drunken stripping. Well, I’d let her go as well. She showed bad judgement any way you look at it, and bad judgement might show up on the job in the future. > > I do not think she’s automatically a bad person, but if I were an employer, I’d replace her with someone else. _emphasis added_ Are you **kidding** me? Florida is having serious problems hiring and retaining teachers. About the rest of your post, all I can say is that I’m damn glad you’re not **my** employer and good luck with the lawsuits if you are anybody’s employer. ---
**Author:** ![Windwalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/5e9695/32.png) [@Windwalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windwalker)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/66 "2004-03-18T18:44:14Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > You have someone stripping drunk at 2 a.m., and a few dozen teaching prospects ready to take her job, without the drunken stripping. Well, I’d let her go as well. She showed bad judgement any way you look at it, and bad judgement might show up on the job in the future. > > I do not think she’s automatically a bad person, but if I were an employer, I’d replace her with someone else. I really don’t understand this. It’s HER OWN TIME! If this stuff affected her teaching in any way, then there is a case against her. But if not, leave her alone. She did nothing illegal, and nothing wrong; if she wants to engage in a 20 person orgy in her spare time, then what business is it of ours? If parents complain about her off-duty hours, so be it. Parents might complain that she’s Bhuddist instead of Christian, Hispanic instead of White, Gay instead of Straight, Republican instead of Democrat. Are we going to let those parents dictate what teachers do in their spare time? Wouldn’t that be _harmful_ to teachers in general, knowing that they can not _ever_ let loose, for fear of losing their jobs? I’m not a psychologist, but man, that’s got to be unhealthy. If you don’t let them have release, then maybe that might make them that much more likely to blow up on their kids. Wouldn’t that be grand? ---
**Author:** ![HoldOnThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@HoldOnThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldOnThere)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/67 "2004-03-18T19:00:33Z")
Here are my thoughts 1. Being a teacher is a job, it ends at 5 PM. What she does on her own time outside the classroom is her own business. 2. Why is this country so hung up about hiding the human body? Folks, boobs are beatiful, natural, and no one ever when on a mass murder spree from looking at them. It’s OK to show 4 or 5 violent police TV shows every night with blood and bullets everywhere, but we can show the human body? We as a society are creating our own problems. Screw the pilgrims, this is 2004. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/68 "2004-03-18T20:07:31Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > She posed for the pictures. No, she didn’t pose. She was in the process of flashing and someone snapped a picture, that’s something quite different. Was she wrong to flash? That’s up for debate. But what’s not open to debate, to me, is that Ms. Cherry’s behavior is not the worst involved in this scenario, by a longshot. The person who put her picture online didn’t have permission to do so, and it seems that they did it for no reason other than to embarass her and cause problems. That person bears a lot of culpability in this situation. Had they not played their little part in this drama, Ms. Cherry’s flash would have probably remained nothing more than the chatter in her social set. Being an intentional, malicious sh\*tstirrer is far less ethical than being a tipsy flasher, AFAIC. But most importantly, before I jump on anyone’s “fire her” or “suspend her” or otherwise lay some punishment upon her bandwagon, I’d need to hear the answer to a very simple question: did Ms. Cherry’s behavior hurt anyone? If so, who? ---
**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:** [March 18, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/69 "2004-03-18T20:24:16Z")
> [@zuma](#): > > You have someone stripping drunk at 2 a.m., and a few dozen teaching prospects ready to take her job, without the drunken stripping. Well, I’d let her go as well. She showed bad judgement any way you look at it, and bad judgement might show up on the job in the future. > > I do not think she’s automatically a bad person, but if I were an employer, I’d replace her with someone else. I’m sorry, but what’s the bad judgment here? So she’s showing her titties at a private party, on her own time. Frankly, I couldn’t care less. If she performs well in the classroom, I don’t care what she does in her off time. I don’t care if she’s a nudist. I don’t care if she engages in Romanesque orgy parties. As long as it doesn’t impact on her job, her free time is up to her. Are teachers not allowed to have fun? Are they not allowed to have a libido? Screw this country’s holier-than-thou sexual moralism. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/70 "2004-03-18T21:13:26Z")
“ **Stacey Cherry** ” Something tells me she is no stranger to bearing her tits for strangers in a bar. 😃 * * * Fagjunk Theology: Not just for Sodomite Propagandists anymore! ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2004, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/71 "2004-03-18T23:55:14Z")
:rolleyes: It’s her time. She can do with it what she wishes, within reason. This was well within reason; it was a **private** party. If she had broken the law, then the whole morals clause would come into play. With FCAT, the low pay, and high burnout levels, Florida is having enough trouble getting teachers. This won’t improve things one bit. I think the larger issue here is the person who took the picture and showed it around. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that _slander_? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/72 "2004-03-19T00:24:10Z")
> [@HomeOfTheBraves](#): > > I think the larger issue here is the person who took the picture and showed it around. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that _slander_? Wrong, yes, and _possibly_ a tortious act. Slander, no: defamation (slander and libel) includes the elements of falsehood and an intent to damage. Besides, slander is spoken, libel is printed. Since there isn’t a falsehood here (she _did_ take off her top), and no intent to damage her reputation (other than those who passed the pictures along to the school administration, which could arguably be a “need to know” situation), nobody here is really guilty of defamation. However, the photographer _might_ in theory be charged with violating [Florida Statute 540.09](http://www.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=Ch0540/SEC09.HTM&Title=-%3E2003-%3ECh0540-%3ESection%2009), “unauthorized publication of photographs or pictures of areas to which admission is charged”, IF the bar was charging a cover that night or the pictures made their way to a pay site. ---
**Author:** ![geewhiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@geewhiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/geewhiz)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/73 "2004-03-19T04:03:04Z")
I agree that breast flashing is getting to the point where it is normal and that is such a shame. I don’t do that sort of stuff, I don’t drink, do drugs, have sex (casual sex…and I do plan on waiting for marriage for many reasons) and I am considered a goodie goodie, prude, boring, freaky, crazy, not worth being around much less dating. A teacher is a role model and that job is 24/7. If you are not willing to accept that, then don 't become a teacher. I would have a problem with my daughter (if I had one) have a teacher who lifted her shirt in a crowd for any reason. It shows me that this woman has very little judgement and shows a weakness that I would not want my daughter so see in a person of leadership. I would want her to have a teacher who has respect for herself and is a strong woman. Not someone who is a candidate for girls gone wild. ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/74 "2004-03-19T04:22:09Z")
> [@geewhiz](#): > > I would have a problem with my daughter (if I had one) have a teacher who lifted her shirt in a crowd for any reason. It shows me that this woman has very little judgement and shows a weakness that I would not want my daughter so see in a person of leadership. I would want her to have a teacher who has respect for herself and is a strong woman. Not someone who is a candidate for girls gone wild. Are you living in our world? The girl scout leader you future daughter may have could have worked her way through college stripping. The doctor your future daughter may see could have been “easy” in high school. The Sunday school teacher you future daughter may have could be a recovering alcoholic. Are you going to “interview” anyone who may come in contact with future child? Are you going to tell them they are not moral enough for you to allow your child to see them in a role model situation? ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/75 "2004-03-19T04:23:55Z")
> [@geewhiz](#): > > A teacher is a role model and that job is 24/7. If you are not willing to accept that, then don 't become a teacher. Uhh, no. Fuck no. How is a teacher’s activities **in their own time** going to effect the children they teach at all? ---
**Author:** ![Haywood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Haywood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haywood)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/76 "2004-03-19T04:25:53Z")
If the school district is going to dictate what their employees do after working hours then it should be paying all of the employees wages for 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That would be 128 hours of overtime per week per employee. By the way, I am drinking a beer and in support of the teacher, I took off my shirt. And no, I will not send anyone photos of my 53 year old man boobs. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/77 "2004-03-19T04:26:48Z")
> [@misstee](#): > > And how are we supposed to know what it means “give it up real easy”? > How long must one know someone before “giving it up”? Should be committed to monogamous relationship (engaged, married, living together like husband and wife) with someone that you are in emotionally in love with. The time on that can of course vary significantly. Being moral doesn’t seem too commonplace anymore. I haven’t been too damn moral in the past either. I’m not in denial about it. I think that drastically changing what’s acceptable behaviour so that bad actors don’t have to feel bad about what they’ve done is not the way to go. Saying that hell yeah, I’m a slut or a cad; and I’m not feeling bad about it, or I’m proud of it is much more honest. It’s also less impressionable to impressionable minds. I’m just calling them like I see them. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/78 "2004-03-19T05:07:45Z")
> [@](#): > > **Uncommon Sense** : I think she should be able to go out and have just as much fun as anyone else, **within the confines of what society deems as acceptable behavior.** (bold type added) When I began teaching, society (in the city where I live) deemed it unacceptable to socialize with Blacks. To them it was a _moral_ issue. Should I have confined my friendships to _whites only_? How could I, with any sense of integrity, teach the philosophies of Emerson and Thoreau to my English classes and then allow society to determine what behaviors I must conform to? Would a male have been terminated for showing his nipples? The swimming coach did that all the time _in front of his students_! (gasp) Would she have been fired for moonlighting as a nude model in art school? Nursing her daughter in public? If the teacher consistently shows poor judgment _professionally_, then there is cause for concern. ---
**Author:** ![Unregistered\_Bull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3da27b/32.png) [@Unregistered\_Bull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unregistered_Bull)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/79 "2004-03-19T05:23:08Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > When I began teaching, society (in the city where I live) deemed it unacceptable to socialize with Blacks. To them it was a _moral_ issue. Should I have confined my friendships to _whites only_? > > How could I, with any sense of integrity, teach the philosophies of Emerson and Thoreau to my English classes and then allow society to determine what behaviors I must conform to? > > Would a male have been terminated for showing his nipples? The swimming coach did that all the time _in front of his students_! (gasp) > > Would she have been fired for moonlighting as a nude model in art school? Nursing her daughter in public? > > If the teacher consistently shows poor judgment _professionally_, then there is cause for concern. There’s really no comparison with acting like a slut and socializing with blacks. Isn’t it kind of demeaning to blacks and those that associate with them? One is wrong and another is perfectly fine. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837/80 "2004-03-19T05:39:07Z")
> [@](#): > > **Misstee** : The girl scout leader you future daughter may have could have worked her way through college stripping. A stripper used to live in the same apartment complex that I did. Imagine my surprise when a few years later she became a member of the faculty where I taught. I kept my mouth _shut_ and didn’t mention her past to a soul. I was just glad to see her out of the business. > [@](#): > > **Machetero** : Being moral doesn’t seem too commonplace anymore. What else do you know about the teacher who flashed at the party? Is it possible that she volunteers for Habitat for Humanity? Tutors _pro bono_? Gives blood to the Red Cross? That is one of the problems we get into when we begin to judge other people as _moral_ or _immoral_. We don’t know the full stories of the lives they lead. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teacher-suspended-for-pulling-a-janet-jackson/234837.md?page=5)