NationStates Jolt Archive

This science teacher was fired for looking at porn on the school computer for 67 seconds. It wasn't kiddy porn, it wasn't visible to the students, and considering the short period of time it was on the computer it might have been an accident or the result of some malware redirecting his browser.


The school fired Robert Zellner, chairman of the science department, for looking at pornography – and not child pornography – on his school computer for one minute and seven seconds.


Anyway, here's the article

http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/murphyslaw/

67 seconds is a bit long for an accident. And if it wasn't, I can't help feeling that he should have just waited until he got home. Surely, anyone can see that there will be unpleasant consequences for looking at porn at any kind of work.

Hey, it's school property, they make the rules, you can either follow them or go someplace else. You are to use your work computer for work related things.

This science teacher was fired for looking at porn on the school computer for 67 seconds. It wasn't kiddy porn, it wasn't visible to the students, and considering the short period of time it was on the computer it might have been an accident or the result of some malware redirecting his browser.





Anyway, here's the article
















http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/murphyslaw/


Me has total respect for this gezer, and me also looks at porn when evah me can, like at school, or at wrk [had job at telemarketing that me got fired from, becouse me didn't sell enough, and called the main man there are prostitute]

67 minutes is a bit long for an accident. And if it wasn't, I can't help feeling that he should have just waited until he got home. Surely, anyone can see that there will be unpleasant consequences for looking at porn at any kind of work.
67 seconds not minutes.

67 seconds not minutes.

I meant seconds. Damn. Second time I've typed a word I didnt mean today. At least I realised the first time and edited it.

It was 67 seconds because the guy had to write the address down on paper for later :P

oh, please.
Hey, it's school property, they make the rules, you can either follow them or go someplace else.
i really do wonder whether there is any mentioning in the rules about viewing porn on your computer.
You are to use your work computer for work related things.
i agree that this holds true for the time when you are supposed to be working. assuming that he didn't view that material while in the classroom, and furthermore assuming that his contract does not specify exact hours on when to complete his out-of-classroom work (as it is usual for teachers), i don't see a basis for the firing on the abovementioned statement.

as long as the specific use of this computer wasn't specified, that is, he wasn't in direct and conscious violation of his contract, and he didn't subject anybody who wasn't supposed to see it to that material, i see no reason whatsoever to fire him.

There's more to this story. The guy had a history of using the school computers for viewing pornography. If you drill down through the article to the linked column (http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/jan06/386192.asp), you will find this:

Zellner was caught using a school computer one Sunday last November to access hard-core porn sites that included information in their names such as "pervert pictures," "all-lesbian-teens," and "allsexyteenz," School District Attorney James Korom charged at the hearing.

Moreover, Zellner's computer had to be totally rebuilt in both November of 2004 and September of 2005 because it was, I guess, oddly hospitable to porn pop-up ads.

That might not be surprising if, as Herrick contends, Zellner admitted accessing porn sites at school not just the one time, but "numerous" others.

So, maybe the school board wasn't so far off target, after all.

There's more to this story. The guy had a history of using the school computers for viewing pornography. If you drill down through the article to the linked column (http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/jan06/386192.asp), you will find this:

So, maybe the school board wasn't so far off target, after all.
Damn, didn't read the whole article. Still, maybe he was just doing some research for sex ed class. Lesbian teens might be relevant to a high school sex ed class after all.

Surely, anyone can see that there will be unpleasant consequences for looking at porn at any kind of work.

unless you work as a porn director, or something along those lines

This science teacher was fired for looking at porn on the school computer for 67 seconds. It wasn't kiddy porn, it wasn't visible to the students, and considering the short period of time it was on the computer it might have been an accident or the result of some malware redirecting his browser.





Anyway, here's the article

http://www.milwaukeemagazine.com/murphyslaw/

Harsh, unfair and slightly bigot.
He was looking at it for a little over 1 minute. Even assuming that the school has an adequate firewall designed to block such sites, I can't help but feeling that either this guy is really quick, or else that it was a simple accident. Therefore, very harsh action.

He doesn't seem to have any record of looking at porn pages at work before. So, for a first time offender, some sort of warning should be in order. A lapse like that shouldn't cost him his job. Unfair.

How would the school have reacted had he looked at white supremacist sites, or accessed a page featuring violent vids, a page that shows pics of anti-personal mine victims, displaying torn off limbs and open wound?
It would most likely have gotten a few raised eyebrows, nothing more. Bigot.

unless you work as a porn director, or something along those lines

That is a point...

There's more to this story. The guy had a history of using the school computers for viewing pornography. If you drill down through the article to the linked column (http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/jan06/386192.asp), you will find this:

So, maybe the school board wasn't so far off target, after all.

Ok, seems I have to change my second point there...

Damn, didn't read the whole article. Still, maybe he was just doing some research for sex ed class. Lesbian teens might be relevant to a high school sex ed class after all.

Stretching a little aren't you? I'm sure the guy came up with all kinds of excues. :rolleyes:

Zellner was caught using a school computer one Sunday last November to access hard-core porn sites (emphasis mine)

Anyone still arguing that he took time off his work time to do that?

Once again, I will withdraw my protest if it explicitly was in his contract not to use the computer for personal stuff off work time.

The same goes for if he had downloaded something harmful/illegal. But looking at (legal) porn in your free time shouldn't affect your employment, even if looking at it from your job's computer, unless there is such a provision.[see above]

In most jobs you can get fired for looking at porn. Unless you run a porn site.

In most jobs you can get fired for looking at porn. Unless you run a porn site.

Funny where our priorities lie, isn't it?

See kiddies? This is what pr0n does to you!

Entirely wrong dismissal, since I doubt he would have been fired for observing right wing websites, white- supremacist websites, or, for that matter, infamatory material.

I could understand a warning of sorts, school com[puters are not for viewing porn. That's something best left for your personal time and space.
But firing someone for it is rather rediculous, espescially considering the history of the school, and the credentials of the teacher. I'm surprised none of the other teachers have resigned in protest. I certainly wouldn't want to work at a place with such disregard for its staff.

"What are you doing?"
"Uhm... I was....... OH GOD LOOK WHAT THE EVIL INTERNET PUT ON MY COMPUTER!"

I doubt it somehow evaded him that looking at porn on the school computers would get him in trouble. It seems like a minor infraction, yeah, but it's not as though he didn't know it was something he shouldn't do. I have a hard time feeling bad for people who get caught doing things they know they shouldn't, no matter how harmless they seem.

I'm surprised none of the other teachers have resigned in protest.

Easy to say but people need their paycheck and who knows how easy it would be to get employed again.

He should be given a second chance. For committing his whole life for this career and suddenly for few seconds of action/mistake, he is considered an outcast and worst, he is publicly humiliated.

I must say, the "teens" bit does make it a lot more dodgy.

its only 1minute and 7 seconds

it couldve easily been an accident

I must say, the "teens" bit does make it a lot more dodgy.What "teens" bit?

What "teens" bit?
The teens bit that was never mentioned:rolleyes:

Easy to say but people need their paycheck and who knows how easy it would be to get employed again.Meh.. they could rattle their chains a bit at least..

I must say, the "teens" bit does make it a lot more dodgy.
Oh come on, all those "teen" sites on the net are women in their 20's, sometimes they're 18 or 19. Um, or so I've heard.

The teacher had it coming. Sixty seven seconds is an awful long time for it to be an "honest mistake," and he could have and should have waited until he got home to check out such sites.

It reminds me of the university's computer lab where I worked. We had a guy the other lab assistants referred to as the "porno professor." The dude would come in ostensibly to do work-related stuff and would sometimes do stuff for his church and all. However, he'd also check out porn whilst using the lab, which is against the lab's rules.

We did everything like screen captures of images on his screen and suchlike to catch him in the act, but he was generally elusive until he finally got caught once and for all and got dismissed from the university. The lab was known for not permitting more than five copies of a resume unless it was for a class (if a student showed his or her syllabus where the requirement was mentioned, we allowed them to print more), so porn was a definite no-no.

On another note, one student went to a porn website BUT printed out images that weren't nude pics. They were just teetering on the edge of what would be considered acceptable and I remember having a real dilemma on my hands as I was on the clock at the time. I ended up letting him have the images even though they were from a website I knew as a porn site because the images themselves weren't pornographic.

But yeah, teach had it coming. Try putting THAT on his CV!

They're paying him to teach, not look at porn. He can make the argument that he never agreed not to use it for personal purposes, but at the end of the day, it's their computer, their electricity, their modem, and their decision as to what is an appropriate way to use them.

The teens bit that was never mentioned:rolleyes:

Oh f*ck it all! What is with me tonight? I am not reading things properly. *sigh*

Those of you who say it could have been an accident need to read the entire article. He has been charged with viewing porn on school computers on "numerous" occasions. I'm almost certain that it would say in his contract that viewing pornography on school-owned computers was against the rules... I mean, it's against the rules in the handbook for my school. "No student or faculty member may at any time use school computers to access Internet porn websites, check personal email, download games or instant messaging programs, visit chatrooms..." it goes on.

Meh.. they could rattle their chains a bit at least..

Hey, the guy wants to look at porn, he can do it at home. Also given the type he was looking at, him viewing it at school makes it even worse.

Oh f*ck it all! What is with me tonight? I am not reading things properly. *sigh*
That's alright. We all have/had our period of reading stuff into other stuff.

It's fun :D

Oh come on, all those "teen" sites on the net are women in their 20's, sometimes they're 18 or 19. Um, or so I've heard.

Oh, great I complained about misreading, when actually I had it right (assuming the poster didnt lie about that "linked column" that I couldnt access due to needing to register).

Anyway, the point is that people like to imagine that they are teens, and when that person is a teacher is it worrying to think of them wanting to think about teens in that way, considering that they teach them.

What "teens" bit?
Zellner was caught using a school computer one Sunday last November to access hard-core porn sites that included information in their names such as "pervert pictures," "all-lesbian-teens," and "allsexyteenz," School District Attorney James Korom charged at the hearing.
(emphasis mine)

That's alright. We all have/had our period of reading stuff into other stuff.

It's fun :D

Ah! I went back, and someone said that it was mentioned, albeit in a linked column. Unless they were lying*, I was right after all.

*Had to register to access site, didnt want to.

Those of you who say it could have been an accident need to read the entire article. He has been charged with viewing porn on school computers on "numerous" occasions. I've read it but never noticed that.. Are you sure you're reading the same article?

(emphasis mine)Which article did you get that from?

Just remember this:

PORN
PORN everywhere there is PORN

Which article did you get that from?

The one about his mum.

To me, it seems like the punishment was harsh. Do we give the same type of punishment to those teachers who show their students porn? A reprimand was all he deserved, unless like others have said, it was specifically in his contract that he couldn't use his work computer for his own personal use.

Anyone know if the computer was in his office or a public one (like in a computer lab)?

Ah.. http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/jan06/386192.asp
Helps to have that additional information..

Which article did you get that from?
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=10291554&postcount=9

but i see you found a source of your own..

(emphasis mine)

Anyone still arguing that he took time off his work time to do that?

Once again, I will withdraw my protest if it explicitly was in his contract not to use the computer for personal stuff off work time.

The same goes for if he had downloaded something harmful/illegal. But looking at (legal) porn in your free time shouldn't affect your employment, even if looking at it from your job's computer, unless there is such a provision.[see above]
The column that I linked in does go on to say his computer had to be 'rebuilt' because it had developed an affinity for displaying pornographic popup ads. I'm still with the school board on this.

Entirely wrong dismissal, since I doubt he would have been fired for observing right wing websites, white- supremacist websites, or, for that matter, infamatory material.
This was Milwaukee, remember? He would have been fired twice as fast for looking at right-wing stuff. He should have claimed a disablity that required regular viewing of pornography. That would have kept him employed. Sillier things have worked.

Ah.. http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/jan06/386192.asp
Helps to have that additional information..

Apart from that articl being more than sub-standard in terms of jourbalistic quality..

It doesn't do much to me or my stance but to add to my curiosity about the school board.
So his computer had to be "rebuilt" because of porn pop-ups, therewith basically linking him to viewing porn sites in the past? If that indeed had been a violation of his contract, then this is exactly the time where he should have been fired. Firing him now, for 67 seconds of porn, looks rather ridiculous in that comparison.

And that "Hawaii testimony" thing is laughable. When there are class trips, there tend to be pictures. Pictures taken on Hawaiian beaches tend to include bikini-clad women. There are a hell of a lot of pictures of me from my last class trip (and yes I was still considered a teen), many of those depicting me rather lightly clad (high temperature days tend to do that), yes those are stored on my teachers comp afaik and yes, there's even a CD with all of those. So?
If those really were only singld-out pics of scantily clad female students, and no other of that trip, I think that'd be first-hand evidence. And been made damn public damn soon.