Social Media Background Checks in the Education Industry

Over the past decade, the rise of social media has changed the way that candidates in every industry are hired. Applicants in the education industry are expected to undergo some of the most stringent background checks. However, not all employers are taking advantage of the actionable information that can be revealed on potential employees’ social media accounts and profiles.

We’ve already discussed why social media hiring reports are a particularly good fit in the Healthcare, Law Enforcement, and Finance industries. Today we’ll turn our attention to the Education industry.

Education and social media in the news

According to a 2016 survey conducted by Harris Poll, 76% of teachers said that parents sometimes use social media to monitor teachers’ work and/or personal lives. That may explain why stories of teachers being fired due to social media have littered the news recently. Just a few months ago, a second grade teacher in Oklahoma was arrested for bringing heroin and needles into her classroom. This horrifying discovery was made after the teacher forgot to sign out of her Facebook page at school. A fellow teacher saw a message she had written about the heroin.

In February, a Texas preschool teacher was fired after anti-Semitic posts were discovered on her Twitter account. The woman encouraged a friend to “kill some Jews” while she was visiting Palestine. Another teacher was placed on administrative leave after parents discovered that she was selling adult toys on her personal social media account.

There have also been countless instances of teachers being fired due to violence captured in photographs and in videos. One Ohio teacher was dismissed after a photo surfaced of her dragging a Head Start student down the hallway. Another teacher was under investigation after a SnapChat video was posted of her hitting a student with a broom.

How can social media background checks help?

Social media reports can help educational institutions make better hiring decisions. After all, student safety is not something to take lightly. We have built flagging guidelines on our social media reports that are designed to identify individuals who display racist or intolerant, violent, illegal, or sexually explicit behavior. If we discover any of that type of material, we capture it (as seen below). Our reports are FCRA compliant and the information found in them is actionable.

Find out more about social media hiring reports by downloading our white paper. One of our sales reps would be happy to speak with you about our product or set up a demo with your team. Call us today. Mention this blog post and you’ll get your first report for free.

Contributing author: Caitlin Rogers