A high school teacher made the national news after her personal blog was outed by her students and/or parents of her students. Although the teacher kept her identity hidden and never mentioned the school or students by name, she did write blogs where she criticized her students. The school suspended the teacher while it investigated.

Her story, her lawyer argues, could cause a chilling effect on teachers everywhere. It will keep teachers from blogging, he argues. Of 84 posts, the teacher says only 24 mentioned teaching and some just briefly. And it is only the scandalous posts that are being mentioned, she adds.

Why does anyone think that “anonymous” is really anonymous?

I truly think someone needs to develop an educational program to help older people learn the impact online posts of any type can have unintentionally. People need to become more savvy. Of course, it is a class that can help students as well.

I don’t blog anonymously. I thought about it briefly, and I even bought a URL, but ultimately decided I didn’t feel comfortable doing it. That blog was going to talk about my struggles with managing money at a time when I finally am getting it under control (again). The thing is, there is so much about handling money that is unpredictable. People sign loans promising to pay and then the economy changes and jobs are lost or change. It is scary stuff. My secret URL, by the way, was MissManaged.com, which doesn’t exist. I just bought it, and I liked the cleverness of the title. I only posted once or twice before deciding it wasn’t for me..

I also don’t blog about my co-workers or work or students in negative ways. I am careful about what I say online. Even in my recent post about my crash with a semi, I was aware that people like my insurance company might read it. I didn’t want to say anything that was outright wrong without making it clear it was my feelings and not fact.

For that matter, I’m careful about what I say anywhere. I don’t generally complain. I also tend to not discuss religion or politics. This might have to do with my journalism background.

As a journalist, I know how hard it can be for people to realize that what they say might be put out there for all to hear.