Moral Dilemma of The Week… Would You Snitch?
Friday, February 13, 2009Posted in: Dilemma of the week
This week’s dilemma:
You’re invited to a party, which you happily attend. Deep into the party, you recognise your six year old’s school teacher. You smile at her, but you realise that she probably wont recognise you, so you start walking up to her, only to realise, that she’s lighting up a joint.
You’re thoroughly disgusted, because you don’t believe that people who hold such important positions in children’s lives, should indulge in such lifetsyles, on the other hand, you wonder if it’s any of your business what they do out of school.
What do you do? Do mind your own business, or do you report her to the school?
What do you do?
Emmy
February 13
11:08 am
I’m assuming it’s marijuana the teacher is smoking. Weed isn’t a drug. It’s a plant that grows naturally, and if you just happen to set it on fire, there are some effects. Drugs are what you cook in a lab *g*.
For reals tho….I’ll stand up and be the snitch up in this bitch.
Weed stays in the system for days, and no telling how often she smokes, so it’s probable that she’s teaching those kids while high. She must be the cool teacher with all the snacks.
Fae
February 13
12:10 pm
Seems hypocritical to me that the parent in question is at a party where drugs are being used and yet is going to pass moral judgment on another person doing them. People don’t just randomly light up doobies at a dinner party, it’s clearly the sort of rowdy party where this is acceptable and likely common.
That said, if a teacher is doing pot so openly, then they must not care about being caught or who knows.
I still think it’s hypocritical like a bitch to go passing judgment when the parent is playing in the same pool. Where’s the judgment for the parent of a six year old attending parties where people are smoking pot in the living room?
Sparky
February 13
12:42 pm
A joint? I mind my own business – but then I’m probably not outraged in the first place. It’s not like she’s snorting crack off the dinner table.
Oh, but I may ask her if she’s brought enough for everyone…
Or ask her not to smoke near me because I don’t need it in my lungs. Gods, how old have I become that someone smoking a joint near me makes me worry about passive smoking over the fact they’re not sharing? *wails*
Teddypig
February 13
1:06 pm
THIS! Do they still say “doobies” anymore?
Listen, in my book if you are on your third martini then you are probably as fucked up as the person on their third toke. In other words I do not separate the two just because of legalities.
Hell, I was at a business dinner cruise out on deck smoking a cigarette and had my boss and his boss hide behind me to light up a joint. I mean what are you gonna say? They were both at least in their late 40s. I just stood there enjoying the irony of it all.
Even though I myself do not smoke pot because I like being somewhat functional in public I do smoke cigarettes so I tend to not judge others that enjoy it since they are probably being far more healthier than I am.
Fae
February 13
1:27 pm
‘They’ might not, but I do! Doobie doobie doobie…it’s a fun word.
Anon76
February 13
1:39 pm
She’s on her own time, and she obviously feels comfortable enough in the present company to light up. Funny enough, she’d probably get more dirty looks for lighting up a ciggy.
And while the THC is detectable in your bloodstream for an outrageous amount of time, the effects are VERRA short lived. If not, I’m sure you’d see a lot of stoned people showing up at work even a month after their vacations.
MB (Leah)
February 13
1:59 pm
Hmmm… you do say that I’m supposed to be disgusted by this, so yes, if it were something I would really be disgusted by, then I would say something.
I’m not outraged by people toking up at a party on their free time. So in this particular instance I wouldn’t say anything. It’s her free time and she can do as she pleases. If I saw her toking up on school grounds though, different story.
rebyj
February 13
2:17 pm
Like was said above,the affects are very brief and for it to affect her teaching she’d have to be sneaking out for a smoke every 15/ 20 minutes. I don’t see the attraction for pot, I’d rather have a slice of cheesecake lol. But I’ve been around a few users in lifetime. They’re rather boring, they sit and watch tv and can explain every discovery channel or history channel program mistake that’s made.
A light pot smoker really wouldn’t bother me as much as seeing a teacher tossing back tequila shots or popping prescriptions. I had a couple of alcoholic teachers who screamed at us constantly and shook every day when I was a kid. Also, a couple of heavy valium / xanax teachers who slurred their words and couldn’t hold a thought and would find things to be irritated about enough to justify taking more pills.
I noticed the alcohol abusers and pill poppers as a kid, I never noticed a teacher that appeared to use pot. I’m sure they were there, it was the 70s and it’s the biggest cash crop in Kentucky !
Leah, exactly! I totally agree. School grounds is something totally different and would justify outrage and turning her in.
Marianne McA
February 13
3:46 pm
I probably wouldn’t know that it was a joint unless I’d a convenient teenager with me to identify it…
And if I did, I don’t think I’d be outraged.
In that situation, it comes down to whether I believe it’s affecting, or very likely to affect, her capacity to do her work. Otherwise it is none of my business – I’m not her moral guardian. So I wouldn’t do anything.
(I’m assuming it’s an adults only party – if there are children there – especially children who go to her school – different dilemma, and I’d ask her to stop.)
kirstensaell
February 13
4:08 pm
Here in Canuckyland the government convened a Senate committee to investigate pot. They ended up recommending decriminalization of simple possession and personal use (a fine equivalent to jaywalking), with steps for full legalization within a specific timeframe. The government chickened out, probably because of pressure from the American government. But honestly, if a bunch of 60 and 70 year old politicians, after months of research, think the stuff is largely innocuous, I’m inclined to agree.
My ex self-medicated for years with pot–he’d have a pinch of the stuff in his pipe every few hours. Worst I could say about it when he was using was that his ambition went in the tiolet. Occasional smokers don’t have that problem.
I personally don’t touch the stuff, but I guess I just don’t see what the huge fat hairy deal is.
Teddypig
February 13
4:24 pm
If someone was drinking alcohol or obviously under the influence of their proscribed medication at work I would report them in a minute also. If they are that bad off they need to go home.
JulieLeto
February 13
4:48 pm
Smoking marijuana is illegal. No matter what your personal opinion is on the matter, it is against the law. Most (if not all) teachers have signed contracts that say they will not break laws and can be fired if they do. Personally, I’m not going to trust the judgment of an adult who smokes pot to take care of my kid…just like I wouldn’t trust the judgment of an adult who got toasted at a party on martinis. Yes, I’d say something, but I’m a growly mother bear like that.
Like it or not, teachers are held to a higher moral standard. Since I taught in private school, I signed a morals clause…and trust me, it was very strict. But I had no problem with it. I did, however, know one teacher who lost their job because of an extra marital affair, per the clause.
Anon76
February 13
5:33 pm
Yeah, Julie, but so is going 58 miles per hour in a 55 zone. And so is using the cell phone while driving in many places. And so is shooting off certain levels of fireworks on the 4th of July (which the Deputy Sheriff across from me does every year). And so is sneaking a ciggy inside a basically empty bar (at least in Ohio.)
Guess it’s all in our perspective as to what constitutes awful no-nos, versus ones we let slide.
JulieLeto
February 13
5:59 pm
Absolutely, Anon76, but I still don’t want someone who uses illegal drugs in a public place teaching my child. If nothing else, it shows a serious lack of judgment.
Las
February 13
6:47 pm
It’s hard to answer because I can’t even imagine being disgusted by the behavior unless I suspected she was working while stoned or smoking in front of her students. It’s none of my business, and making a stink out of it will just result in a good teacher (assuming she is a good teacher) losing her job for bullshit reasons. This isn’t cocaine or meth we’re talking about here.
And no, I don’t smoke marijuana, I just think it’s crazy how our society gets it’s panties all bunched up over something that’s a whole of lot more benign than alcohol.
Jill Sorenson
February 13
8:19 pm
I wouldn’t care. Seeing a teacher drunk in public would probably concern me more. Bad judgment? Sure. Worth losing your job over? Nah.
Alexandra Little
February 13
8:31 pm
Yes, I’d snitch. Puts the camera phone to good use.
West
February 13
9:18 pm
I wouldn’t care at all, and would not say a word. Just as I wouldn’t care if I saw them drunk in public. What you do in your off hours does not necessarily reflect how well you do your job. I can, and do sometimes, go out on a weekend and drink myself stupid. There may be laughter and silliness and possibly slightly inappropriate dancing with my friends. Maybe I even want to pick up a stranger and go home with them (what? It could happen). But come Monday, when I have to go to school, I’m all business. I don’t drink when I have class the next day, I’m never hungover when I have something to do. I can completely separate those to parts of my life- the student and the friend who likes to go out. So if I can do it, so can that teacher. And also, even though I don’t smoke pot, I think it’s ridiculous that it’s illegal (just my opinion).
dew
February 13
9:29 pm
Whew, this one’s not truly disturbing.
There were quite a few teachers busted for having pot on school campus or property in my city, after many sting operations. IIRC, one of them was either busted for selling, or maybe just had enough in quantity to justify a dealer’s charge.
Would that change some of the “not-telling” minds?
Well anyway, I’d stay to watch and see if she tried getting into the driver’s seat of a vehicle, and confront her on the spot if she did. And I’d probably turn her in since that would show serious lack of judgment.
But if she didn’t try to drive that night, I’d try watching her closely at school to see if she ever had glassy eyes or acted under the influence, then if she did, I’d call it in anonymously to the school board/superintendent and local police, and maybe even the media if nothing happened after my call, to make sure it was followed up on.
But if she didn’t appear to be high at work or while driving, I’d probably think it was one of the rare occasions she was letting off steam. I might even send her an anonymous note about how she’d been spotted doing drugs that are against the law, so hopefully she’d rethink her party habits.
Lorraine
February 13
10:54 pm
I ususally don’t participate in Dilemma of the Week because I recognize that I don’t know what I’d do in a given situation unless I was really faced with it.
However, this is a no brainer for me. I would definitely not turn the teacher in.
I grew up in the 70s in the greater Los Angeles region. Smoking pot was a rite of passage. As a teenager, I partook on a daily basis, often several times a day. While I agree that it can make one unmotivated, myself included, to my way of thinking it doesn’t follow that if a teacher got stoned on a Saturday night her performance at work on Monday would be substandard.
I agree that nobody under the influence of pot, alcohol or any other substance should get behind the wheel of a car. If they did, I’d be more apt to rat out the person to the cops than to their employer.
So long as the teacher is not advocating pot smoking to the students or selling it to them, I say live and let live.
Janet W
February 14
2:41 am
For me it’s MYOB. Really. Like the hoopla over Phelps: did he win in the Water? Is she a good teacher in the Classroom?
It so often feels like 1984 is alive and well and turning in teachers for weed sure feels wrong to me. But then I’m a child of the sixties too.
Emmy
February 14
10:49 am
I think another important factor here is state laws and teacher contracts. Teachers here in Hawaii are forbidden by their union contract from using any illegal substances and are subject to random testing. The zero tolerance policy means they will be immediately terminated if a test is postitive, regardless of whether the partaking of the substance occurred on personal time or not.
So I’d still snitch, because the teacher here should have known better.
Throwmearope
February 14
1:51 pm
From this physician’s point of view, legalize marijuana and tax the holy crap out of it. Use the money in a helpful way–to be determined by the voters. Compared to a lot of stuff folks do to their bodies, in many ways pot seems mild. (Okay, I was a hippie, back in the day. Can’t smoke it anymore, too cheap a date.)
Seriously, I’ve had three closet alcoholics die in the past year, dreadful, lingering deaths, accompanied by a lot of suffering. My potheads are all doing fine.
Tuscan Capo
February 14
5:55 pm
Since the scenario is at a party -and apparently an adult party- I can’t see myself getting disgusted in the first place. And if by chance I just had it out for the teacher anyway, considering that I’d have to first snuff out my cigar and put my bourbon and coke aside, then dig out my cell phone to make the call, then later explain to all my half-looped friends WHY the amateur Olympics were called off because our “Michael Phelps” had to be escorted away…nah, wouldn’t be worth canceling the scheduled hot tub breast stroke competition.
Shiloh Walker
February 15
4:20 am
Actually, Fae, I’ve been to parties where I didn’t expect much of anything more than margaritas and found stuff a lot stronger. Places where I realize I had friends who had friends who into stuff that went a little beyond the recreational drinking.
As it’s happened more than once, and I’m generally a pretty decent judge of character, it’s not unheard of that something like this could happen, and no..it’s not hypocritical.
It’s not always as easy to know people as one might think, especially if you know them just through work or the casual relationship.
Karen, in response to your question, oh, yes, I’d snitch. Without blinking an eye. While weed isn’t necessarily one of the more harmful drugs, it IS illegal in the states and if a person has no trouble crossing that line, they may not have much trouble crossing others.
That’s not the person I want teaching my kids.
I’d snitch and never blink an eye.
AztecLady
February 15
6:17 pm
Throwmearope cracked me up with:
As for myself… I’m quite conflicted with this one.
Indulging in an illegal activity does show a certain disregard for law and order and/or a dubious sense of judgment. More so if said indulging is done in public.
On the other hand, there are some perfectly legal activities (drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes) which show disregard for one’s health and/or a dubious sense of judgement (IMO, YMMV, etc)
So I don’t have a firm answer on this instance, but I do know that I am more likely to keep an eye out for someone who gets roaring drunk in public (or simply not in their own home) than someone smoking a bit of pot in the same setting.