Lesson learned

» What we should do with our social media accounts in the face of professionalism

Elliot Chan
Opinions Editor
tw, S opinions@theotherpress.ca

hen bodybuilder and

middle school teacher
Mindi Jensen received an
ultimatum from her academic
employers to either delete her
workout/bikini pictures from
her Instagram account or lose
her job, it seemed like the
whole world collectively rolled
their eyes. Here we go again.

There was a time when |
thought my teachers lived in
the school after the bell rung
and plotted our next quiz and
homework assignments. While
they might have been preparing
the following day’s lecture,
teaching was far from the only
thing on their mind. Turns out,
they do have a life outside of
school and they barely thought
of me after work—just like
all people who make money
during the day and go home to
pursue their personal hobbies
and projects in the evening.
Parents of all people

should know that. So the fact
that some parents approached

: North Sanpete Middle School’s
: administrators, the people in

: charge of Jensen's career, and

: complained about the pictures
: on her personal account is a

: little appalling. The parents

: go on to claim that the images
: of Jensen were “inappropriate”
: and “pornographic.” Do

: those parents even know

: what porn is? Because | scroll

: through Instagram once a

: day and I never find “porn,”

: no matter how hard I scroll.

While it’s true that a

: professional working closely

: with children should remain

: decent on all platforms, it’s

: unclear where the line is drawn.
: Here’s how I see it: let’s say the

: teacher was a man and he had

: pictures of himself working

: out and in swim trunks—

: no!—Speedos. Would he get in

: trouble? Would the school board :
: threaten to fire him if he didn’t

: take down those pictures? If that
: does happen, it doesn’t make

: the news. What is happening is

: oppression. What the parents

: are actually saying is: “You can't
: show those pictures, because

: you are too pretty and you are

: arousing our kids. I don’t know
: how to discuss sexuality with

: them or explain that teachers

: are people too, with personal

: lives and aspirations, so I'll

: just blame it on you, fit lady.”

: school came to their senses,

: realized the legless claim the

: parents were standing on,

: and apologized to Jensen. But

: the question remains: how

> can we know if something is

: appropriate for the Internet

: or not? With nude and

: embarrassing pictures soaring
: this way and that through the

: air, we can't be certain who

: would take offence. Therefore,
: we must go back to the rule of
: thumb: would we be okay if our
: mothers saw that picture of us?
: If the answer is yes, then share
: it. Ifno, then maybe it’s best to
: keep it in our private archives.

: Jensen will have a great lesson

: to teach to her students, one

: that stems from confidence and
: defending personal convictions.
: [ think that’s a good lesson to
learn in the social media age.

At the end of the day, the

When it’s all said and done,

 

Image via instagram

 

The conservation conversation

» Why Conservatives get a bad rap

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

bout a week before the

Canadian federal election,
lasked my nephew whom he
would vote for if he were old
enough: “I don’t know,” he said,
“but I wouldn’t vote for the
Conservatives, because they
just want everything to stay the
same.” I was rather surprised.
My nephew, at the ripe age of
u, had already decided that
the Conservative government
is for shit. It’s a simplistic
analysis of course, but one
that sounds eerily familiar.

All political parties have
a habit of strawmanning
one another in the image of
their most radical respective
supporters; that’s just politics.
However, a strong cultural bias
against the right has evolved.
Conservatives are routinely
regarded as out-of-touch fossils
who are too greedy to share
their ill-gotten gains with those
less fortunate. When your
average person’s perception of
a political party sounds like
an attack ad, I start to think
that the seeds of this popular
opinion are planted early on.

The difference between
Liberal and Conservative
ideologies is essentially the

: dichotomy between social

: welfare and self-reliance and

: the financial practices resulting
: from it. This is not to say that

: Conservatives would like to

: abolish all social welfare;

: rather, they want minimal

: government involvement in

: such things. Where a Liberal

: government would universalize
: these welfare programs,

: Conservatives are biased

: towards “user-pay” models.

Consider the Canada

: Pension Plan. Like income

: tax, unemployment insurance
: and medical services pension
: premiums are a payroll

: deduction. At age 65, retirees are :
: entitled to reclaim this money

: at a monthly rate. However,

: if your yearly income exceeds

: a certain limit, you will be

: prohibited from reclaiming

: the funds. As with all welfare

: plans, no Canadian citizen

: may opt out, meaning that the

: Canadians who pay the highest

: income tax also pay for a service
: they are not permitted to use.

The fundamental difficulty

: with social welfare plans is,

: once they are instated, they

: become immortal. The more

: numerous and readily available
: they become, the less incentive

: there is for people to save their

: own money since the safety nets

: are so wide and deep. Higher

: taxes also make for greater

: welfare reliance, further de-

: incentivizing personal financial
: responsibility. This setup both

: assumes and ensures that no

: one can save any meaningful

: amount of money without

: government assistance.

: is much to suggest that

: expanding welfare plans is a

: self-defeating measure. The

: more social welfare plans are

: institutionalized, the higher

: spending budgets climb. This
: means that income taxes must
: be hiked in order to maintain

: not free money, and despite

: constant Liberal advocacy

: for the working class, their

: proposed minimum wage

: hikes would be unnecessary

: without the tax burden created
: by their own welfare policies.

: welfare is necessary for those

: who cannot help themselves:

: the physically or mentally

: disabled, for instance. This is

: where the more conservative

: idea of user pay comes into play.
: Since those who need welfare

: services will be taxed anyway,

: allow those who wish to save

: their own money to opt out of
: any and all welfare plans. Non-

Furthermore, there

  

the welfare plans. So it’s

Image via www.macleans.ca

A certain amount of social compulsory insurance would go

: along way toward minimizing
: the pitfalls of excessive

: welfare institutionalization

: by reducing the number of

: people who rely on it.

: When Conservative

: governments vote down

: expansions to social welfare

: plans, it is not done out of

: some Scrooge McDuck motive,
: but rather a desire to slow the

: downward spiral of national

: indebtedness. Nobody likes
to pay income tax, and yet

: nobody seems to recognize

: that, in the end, they will

: always pay for someone’s

: insurance as long as social

: welfare continues to expand.
: The Conservative goal is not
: to take people’s welfare away,
: but rather to reduce the need
: for welfare in the first place.