Richmond, Va.: “A high school art teacher has hired the ACLU to challenge his firing after a video of him moonlighting as a ‘butt-printing artist’ was widely circulated among his high school students.” Stephen Murmer was fired from his job at Monacan High School. (Matt Reed, “Backside artist to challenge firing”, AP/ABCNews.com, Jan. 24).
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In ACLU; schools; workplace
You’d have thought the article would have included at least one example.
I don’t like the idea of an employer firing you for something you do outside of work, but we have to realize that we don’t exist in a vacuum. The things we do in certain parts of our lives will affect other parts of our lives.
The best example is always the police officer who commits crimes on his days off. Certainly he should be fired.
While there is certainly some gray area here, I’d think that having a nude artist as a teacher would reflect poorly on a high school. So I’d say his termination was more than justified.
If you want to be nude in your own house, that’s fine. But when nudity is a part of your art, and when your art is public, you have to accept some consequences for that.
Ima,
The key difference between this artist and your police officer example is that the police officer’s actions are illegal, whereas the artist’s actions are not.
“The key difference between this artist and your police officer example is that the police officer’s actions are illegal, whereas the artist’s actions are not.”
And that’s exactly why I never called them analogous and specifically wrote “there is certainly some gray area here” in comparison to the police hypothetical.
Maybe he should go teach in a college art dept.
Legal or not legal, it was and is age inappropriate art for HS students.
Of course we don’t know much more than what we do know here.
First off how did the video get distributed? By him with intention? Fire him. Else warn and remove the materials. Oh and whip the kid that stole it and yada yada yada…
Let him display his art work, not the exactitudes of how it was created! Though the art itself may be worse than the process.
OR
Let him provide it as a class room exercise! Everybody gits near naked, and splashes paint on one another to create a giant poster on the paper covered floor!
I’m sure that all will have fun and make very interesting shapes on the canvas as well. Parents can be encouraged to participate as well!