One of the unanticipated consequences of the internet on education: students digging up past dirt on their teachers. This story describes the efforts of some students at Venice High School (California) to confirm long-standing rumours about one of their teacher's past. Online sources, including magazine articles and court records, led them to the story of the teacher's affair with an actor the year he was 17 and she 29. Adding to the mix: though the teacher is very much a public figure, quoted frequently in the press and campaigning through her website, the school principle vetoed publication of the article, citing its intrusion into the teacher's privacy. And so one wonders: is the collation of information from public sources, such as magazines, an intrusion into someone's privacy? Is it enough to warrant corrective action? This is a great story but one with, I fear, an unsatisfactory ending.
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