Smokin Em Tiffany
What would you do if you found out your child’s teacher was also a scantily clad “mate” for a charter fishing boat operation? What would you do if you saw your child’s sexy pictures all over MySpace? I can’t tell you what I’d do, but it wouldn’t be nice.
Tiffany Shepherd of Port St. Lucie, FL used to work as a teacher at Port. St. Lucie High School. “Used to” because she was fired for “excessive unexcused absences”. Tiffany contends that it was her job with Smokin Em Charters that got her booted from the job. She thinks her firing was unfair and is suing to be able to keep that bit of information off of her resumé- so she can get another job teacher other kids somewhere else.
I’m a big believer in to each his or her own- except when kids are involved. I don’t believe that people (especially women) who are willing to strip down to practically nothing and post pictures of that on the ‘Net should have guaranteed employment with our youth. If she wanted to do something like that, there’s plenty of money in the sex industry, she certainly doesn’t have to have influence over emotionally vulnerable kids to be able to hock her wares like that.
As a mother I would be outraged were I to find out that my kid’s teacher was behaving in such a way. I especially find her self-exploitation for some extra cash (or extra fun) to be detrimental to the high school girls she teaches. I would never feel comfortable telling my teenage daughter that she should get a job that required her to be “friendly” to the customers and/or flaunt her goods to keep them happy. How hard would my job be if her favorite teacher was sighted on MySpace flaunting herself? “Well, Ms. Shepherd does it and she’s not a skank.” No. That doesn’t work for me.
In my opinion, Tiffany Shepherd should either be a teacher OR continue on with Smokin Em Charters. There’s not room for her to do both. Isn’t there some kind of morals code for teachers? This isn’t just some Jane Doe off the street. This woman has the attention of the kids of Port St. Lucie. They look up to her- perhaps want to be like her (or want to do her as the case may be). It’s even more shocking that she sees nothing wrong with the way she’s influencing those kids. Give it up, Tiffany. Teaching isn’t for you. Try Hooters. I hear they pay well.
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Hey, Liz: if teachers are in that much of a position to influence our children’s well-being, perhaps the school board should pay them enough that they don’t need to take a second job. And if you were doing YOUR job as a parent, you’d restrict your kids’ internet access and they wouldn’t see Tiffany’s pictures anyway.
Also: your precious, precious, innocent children have surely seen women wearing similar things on tv, in movies, in the underwear section of department store catalogues, and at the beach. An image an attractive woman is not tantamount to pornography, Liz. The photos I’ve seen from this “scandal” are all of Tiffany just standing there and smiling. She is not sucking on her fingers or in the process of peeling her top off or touching herself. She’s not on her hands and knees, ass to the camera, giving a “come hither” look over her shoulder. These pictures look like anyone’s vacation photos and if you’re having sexual thoughts about them it’s your problem, not hers.
Having said that–if I were Tiffany I wouldn’t have posted photos like that, simply because I know that school boards tend to be prim and sanctimonious and overreact to things. Just like you.
Hey, Anna, here’s a thought:
Why doesn’t Tiffany just quit teaching and get a full time job with Smokin Em? They pay a lot better than the pissant salary she’s getting as a teacher apparently. Why bother with the hassle of teaching the brats when she can flash some skin and rake in the cash?
I know some teachers that have taken second jobs: as realtors, home tutors or part-time college instructors. They didn’t need to pose seductively and be friendly in a sexualized way to high-paying clients. They do this because they care about the emotional well-being of their students (as well as their own reputations). If Tiffany cared so damned much, why didn’t she use another name? Why wasn’t she concerned that her students had seen her myspace?
Here’s another thought you might take a minute on: Children have access to the Internet outside of their homes. As a matter of fact, her students may very well have found her via their library’s computer.
She’s a role model for her students. You know what a “role model” is don’t you? That extremely tired argument of “It’s not MY job to raise your kid” doesn’t fly when a teacher is involved. They are expected to respect her as an authority figure while they’re in the care of her school. They are expected to regard her as an AUTHORITY. Should they treat her with less respect than the school believes they should then they are PUNISHED.
You see the difference between a fly-by-night Internet hustler and Tiffany Shepherd the Teacher? It’s not about being “prim and sanctimonious and overreact to things”, it’s about common sense. I’m sorry that she lacked that and lost her second job. Again there is plenty of money in what she was hawking, she should consider doing that full-time (and then no one would have a problem with it).
What if she was a life guard at the YMCA, wearing a swim suit? Would that be unacceptable? Where do you draw the line? If she were to wear a burka, she would be dismissed because of the “religious” beliefs. I really dont see the logic on her dismissal.
Hi, Jon,
She wasn’t wearing a swimsuit at the Y though, was she? She was hawking herself to clients of Smokin Em Charters. Her profile says that she likes to play with Captain’s monkey. There’s a little more to it than “she was just wearing a swimsuit”.
Well then.. We better start cleaning house..
ANY teacher that smokes, drinks a beer on the weekend, gets a speeding ticket has got to go.
Or maybe not even ticketed, maybe just the perception of driving over the speed limit…
We cannot have these degenerate people anywhere near our precious children
Give me a break..
Now, Jon, you know those comparison’s don’t hold water. However, there might be some kind of comparison if you could answer the following:
Notice the “hawking herself” in my own argument. That implies that she is selling herself in an extremely sexualized manner. That is my contention. Now, the other part of my argument (which has been IGNORED by you and the previous commenter):
I believe that Tiffany should chose one type of employment or the other because both types are not compatible (in tandem, so to speak) in our society.
I have no problems with the management and/or employees of Smokin Em or any other similar type of business. There’s a market for it, then fine. I think, though, since it’s been argued that Tiffany needed that extra money, she should have to choose either one or the other.
If you feel the need to return, please bring a fresh argument.
Edited to Add:
Please see Appeal to Ridicule as a logical fallacy.
Well I do like a lively discussion
I feel as though your argument doesn’t hold water, without reading more into her job than advertised.
Using your argument…
Is she “Hawking herself” (what ever that is) in front of the students?
No- Unless the student was onboard during the charter, then they would see her in a bikini. Which they maybe able to see her in at the beach.
If you remove YOUR comment about her “Hawking herself”, then your entire argument is invalid.
Have you ever been on a charter boat, the mates perform various tasks; baiting hooks, dishing out food and beverage, and some education on various types of fish, fishing techniques, gear, etc.
Is your issue that she is wearing a bikini, would it be ok if she were wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
If there are still photos of her on a webpage promoting the charter service, the same type of picture could be on another webpage taken of her while at the beach with her family.
Taking a different view, what if it were a guy performing the same duties as a “mate**” onboard the charter. Would that change things?
**- during my 20 years in the US Navy, all the other folks I served with were my mates or shipmates.
I’m sorry guys but I agree with Liz on this matter. I will be the first to admit that she has a pretty nice body, but the fact is, she was posed in a very provocative fasion. In my opinion she looked like she was psoing for play boy and that is what the issue is. Not that she was in a bikini but the way she presented herself. I have no objection to her parading around for Smokin’ Em Charters but the fact is, she is an educator sent to motivate students and become a role model for theses children.
There is more to this story and I have read it and listen to her interviews. She conversed with students on MySpace (a huge no no), which she says is set to private. But she has a MySpace for Smokin’ Em Charters as well which is not set to private which her students can access again in public places like the library. You have to remember, these are high school teenagers and they are getting smarter by each generation. If there is a way to find these type of sites online, whether if it’s on school campus, or in a public library, they will. There are many ways around the districts firewall by means of web poxies and they will use them if necessary.
She is a role model and she should have kept her personal life personal. She admitted to telling her students what she did on some nights, one in particular, going to Rebar. Obviously her students were going to find out what that was which turns out that it was a “Gay Bar”.
But that is not the issue. The issue is, she missed an excessive amount of days from work that was not excused, and on top of that she broke the code of ethics that every school board employee must follow. I know because I have to follow it too. I’m not saying that teachers should not have a personal life, I’m just saying that they need to ensure that it remains personal.
Now Jon, stated that we should fire those teachers that drink and smoke, etc. but here’s the difference, they are not doing it with their students, nor are they showing proof…Mrs. Shepherd did. She has all those provocative poses, and on top of that the MySpace pictures to add to it. As Liz stated, she should have tried harder to conseal her identity by ways of an allias name. That way there is a much more difficult way of proving that those picutres are her.
Again there is nothing wrong with her in a bikini…believe me
. The point is, she is just using these pictures as a scape goat for her lack of attendence and poor teaching skills, even though she claims that her students are the top on the top of the list for excellent acheivement, but I want to see proof. That is why the school board is letting her go and now that she is promoting the pictures, that is just fueling the fire. She broke the code of ethics by allow her students to view both her MySpaces and also conversing with them. I have plenty of students that ask me if I have a myspace and I tell that, that is none of there buisness and to those students that happen to find me on myspace, I decline there friend requests becuase I know that is unethical.
The role of a teacher is not to be a friend, but a motivator, role model, counselor, and sometimes parent. Most of these young teachers fresh out of college forget that. They want to be the cool teacher that their high school students see out in public drinking with them and use profanity and so on but that is not the proper way to reach children. I know from experience that students will like you and respect you more if you are stern and fair to everyone. They will feel confident enough to come to you about anything because they see you as wise rather than just some idiot adult that wants to be your best friend.
I hope I have clear this up to everyone because I’ll have to be honest, I am sick and tired of ignorant people ignoring the facts and making assumptions like the school board is firing her becuase she is wearing a bikini or parents are mad becuase there are pictures of her in a bikini. No, she failed to provide her students with the poper education they needed due to excessive absences, and she posed in a very “Playboyisk” manner. I could care less if she is in a bikini. But the point is she failed as a teacher and now she is fueling the fire by breaking the code of ethics from promoting these pictures.
If you have more comments, please post them so I can prove you wrong, just as Liz has, and show everyone how simple minded and ignorant you really are. Read the facts before you make conclusions people and you will see that she deserved what she got and there is nothing more to it.