I used to - I worked in a school (a particularly UN-Leftist department - Science). I used a pseudonym because I was afraid of retaliation - not only against me, but my husband, a teacher, as well.
That fear was not without foundation - others had been crucified by an intemperate post or comment. In teaching, you are completely at the mercy of the public for the continuation of your contract - and, I am NOT just talking about avoiding crimes.
Leftists always want to focus on the case of someone working in a private, religiously-affiliated school, who comes into conflict with the school's insistence on adhering to the church's code of moral conduct. I've known people not renewed on their contract for marrying after a divorce (it's not the divorce the Catholic is against - they realize that some marriages are beyond saving). Other terminations might have been triggered by an arrest for DUI (Baptist), or statements in class opposing church doctrine.
The bigger problem, affecting many times those numbers, comes from rigid enforcement of Leftist Orthodoxy:
- Affirmative Action - when you've lost The Atlantic, you're toast.
- All Dems are Saints-in-Progress, All GOP are Hateful-Rich-People
- Religion is Oppressive (less of a problem in the South, but still often stated without a challenge - or a firing). The contempt and intolerance of religious expression by Leftists is glaringly obvious.
- Constructivist Teaching methods, and other unproven theories - see here for some grisly examples
- Disparate Impact in Discipline - or, why a few non-White kids get to destroy the classroom, disrupt the education of others, and receive a slap on the wrist - at BEST
- That ALL failures are the fault of the teacher
- Pretending girls are boys and boys are girls is 'affirming'
That's just the short list. I'm not gonna go further - I haven't even had my coffee.
In the last year I taught, I was influenced by Francis Porretto, who posted about the need to use your real name. I decided that I wasn't ashamed of my opinions, and I needed to start posting - AND commenting - as my real self.
And, the world did not come to a screeching halt!
Try it - as John Proctor found, in The Crucible, your name has MEANING. You have a right to use it as YOU see fit.
I used to comment under a pseudonym but switched to my real name under Francis' influence quite a while back. I'm in a somewhat less vulnerable position than some people, though.
ReplyDeleteI have always used my own name online. But I am not in a position where I can be fired - I work for myself. But that has its own set of problems. My boss is a slavedriver, and my only employee works just hard enough not to get fired.
ReplyDelete