They can’t require you to do it at all. Just say that you’d prefer your picture not be put on the website and leave it at that. I’m personally a very private person in that respect and wouldn’t want my picture on the Internet. However, given that it’s for your school website, the only people looking at it are people who would need to see what you look like in real life. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if your picture were on there. Again though, they can’t require you to have your picture on the website (or anywhere, for that matter). Some people have religious reasons for not having their picture taken, and you certainly can’t require them to have their pictures up. 🙂

Hard to say what your school can require you to do without knowing the State, school district, contract, and myriad other policies. So, I would suggest you do your homework starting the your State Education code, relevant State Employment regs, and your teaching contract. Those are the hard, bottom line facts regardless of what others may be saying.

Reasons/opinions why it isn’t a good idea: well, pretty much summed up under the privacy concerns.

How to deal with it….well, the two basic approaches are resistance that often leads to confrontation with administrators (who often have the power/control stuff in their corner), complacency / caving in or don’t make waves but grumbling all the way home (“gee, I should have said…..”).

Or, you can fall in line with Gandhi and a number of others in passive resistance, but get creative about it, ala Hitchcock.

Many of us readily recognize Hitchcock’s rotund silhouette. So, I suggest you start to sport a rather noticeable hat that students readily begin to associate with you….then take a photo of your shadow with the hat and post it to the web. You complied with the “requirement” to post a photo. Or, a shot of the back of you head when you are standing at the chalkboard with the name of the class/course written on the board with your name….again, compliance with the request…and most of your students will recognize that it’s you, right? Or….artistic soft focus (that is, blurry that went to college and got a PhD) portrait with most of you face turned AWAY from the camera….nice shot of an ear, cheek, and possibly a bit of nose….with some very, very attractive scenery in the background (which is exactly why you turned your head at the moment the photo was being taken, right?)

Hope this helps.

Depending on which country you are from the issue of publishing pictures on the internet has huge implications for your school in terms of privacy issues.

Where I work even if we have public events we have to have signed permission forms from people before we can take their picture to post on our website – and we have to make sure that we clearly layout what the picture is being taken for. We can’t just take a picture and say we want to use it here sign a form.

In general we take pictures where the children can not clearly be identified – even if we have the parents permission. This is to protect the young persons as having their picture on the web may make them more vulnerable to people who prey on children.

To use your picture on the web, I would say that legally your school would need to get the informed consent of a parent or legal guardian if you are under the age of 18 – over 18 and they would need your informed consent.

Generally though it is not advisable to include a picture of someone who is easily found along with their name and other details. Having a picture of a teacher and their name means that it is easier to find that person on school grounds which may make them more vulnerable to retribution from students family and friends. The same is also true of any students who have their pictures on the web – it makes them more vulnerable to people connecting the person with their name and details.

Tell them no effing way.