Online Privacy Issues

There have been times when something so epic has happened in my classroom, I can't help but tell other people about it. For example, I'll never forget my first year teaching. I had a student who struggled with anxiety on the mornings when things were rushed at home. She would come to school feeling anxious, which made her physically ill. She'd be fine by late morning. On one memorable morning, she informed me her tummy didn't feel good, opened her desk, and vomited. It's a story I have shared a hundred times.

Now here I am, several years later, and the event came up on my blog. While few people may actually read my blog, the fact is, the story is now public for the world to read, in a semi-permanent state. When telling this story orally to people, I would NEVER mention the name of the student. I never mention the names of my students to anybody when talking about my classroom. For the most part, people simply don't need to know the names. But online brings up a whole new layer. When is it okay to mention student names? Back then, my newsletter was printed and sent home on Fridays, which naturally limited the audience. Now my newsletter is online, and fully public for anybody to view. Pictures of groups of students, with permission are used, and frequently first names are used, separate from any picture. Still, privacy issues are still a big "gray area."

Which leads me to my classroom stories. For fun and for this blog, I have been writing true stories from my classroom. Again, I don't ever use names, I've simply been using two-letter codes simply to replace the name and so I know who I am talking about. The issue is, good writing needs character development. The people in a memoir are in fact characters. Which leads me to my concern: How much information can I give about students? Even without the names, I'm concerned that people may know who I am talking about. Food for thought.