Let this story serve as a reminder that passive-aggressive rants on Facebook don’t get much sympathy, especially if it’s posted by an adult targeting a child.
A Grade 2 class adviser at Pandan Integrated School in the municipality of Sarrat in Ilocos Norte, Philippines, is now in hot water for a Facebook post.
Ilocos Norte is located north of Metro Manila, a 10- to 12-hour drive from Metro Manila, and an hour away by plane.
The teacher was criticized by her fellow teachers after she posted photos of a boy in her class whom she claimed was “struggling” with his school work.
A screengrab of the teacher’s post (which has since been deleted) showed her caption, which was written in Ilocano, the language of the region.
“This is my pupil who doesn’t talk. He’s not mute but I haven’t heard his voice since June 13. He just sits in his chair from 7:30am until 4pm. He doesn’t even know how to write and read. Please help me, what should I do, my fellow teachers!”
One of the boy’s relatives saw the teacher’s post and sent a screengrab of it to media — TV Patrol Ilocos, to be exact.
In the Philippines, people often send their complaints to media outlets, as they think this will be addressed faster than if they call the attention of the authorities.
Following the TV Patrol report, the teacher, who has been in the profession for 20 years, was slammed for humiliating her pupil. She denied this and claimed, “My only intention was to ask help in making the child speak. Other people just had the wrong interpretation.”
Unfortunately for the teacher, the boy’s mom read her post.
“She should have talked to me first since we know each other. This really pains me, especially now that I’m also dealing with other problems,” the boy’s mother said.
TV Patrol reported that school principal Leonora Aguada has acted on the issue by stripping the teacher of her role as adviser.
“Since she is the adviser of Grade 2 and the concerned pupil is under Grade 2, I made a plan to make her as a floating teacher then I will give another teacher for Grade 2. The ‘floating’ status means she won’t serve as the adviser of any class,” Aguada explained.
Aguada added that she is “hoping that this issue will serve as reminder not only to teachers but to everyone to be more cautious in posting anything on social media.”
Department of Education (DepEd)-Ilocos Norte legal officer Atty. Marshall Diego says sharing photos of pupils on social media could be considered as a violation of privacy.
The case has been endorsed to the DepEd Regional Office for further investigation.
