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As Pipes et al. (2005, p. 332) observed, the boundaries between professional and personal behaviors are often “fuzzy.” School psychologists are encouraged to aspire to high standards of ethical conduct in their personal, as well as professional, lives and to think critically about the boundaries between the two (Pipes et al., 2005). For example, if a psychologist engages in socially undesirable behavior in a public setting (e.g., a school psychologist is verbally abusive of the referee at a high school football game), the behavior may negatively impact their credibility, diminish trust in school psychologists, and confuse students and others who hear about or witness the event. School psychology practitioners and trainees must also be mindful of the fuzzy boundaries between their private and professional lives in cyberspace (Diamond & Whalen, 2019; Pham, 2014). Ethically, inappropriate posts on social networking sites can result in loss of trust in the school psychologist and impair their effectiveness. Legally, inappropriate social networking posts can threaten the job standing of school-employed practitioners or justify dismissal of a graduate student from their training program. The courts have upheld the right of school districts to discipline or dismiss employees for sharing information on their personal social networking sites—even on their own time and using their own electronic devices—if the material posted threatens to undermine the authority of school administrators; disrupts coworker relationships in the school, especially those based on trust and confidentiality; impairs the employee’s performance of their duties; or could disrupt the learning atmosphere of the school (e.g., Richerson v. Beckon, 2008; Spanierman v. Hughes, 2008). Furthermore, because K–12 educators are expected to serve as role models for children, the courts have upheld the right of training programs to dismiss students whose social networking posts show poor professional judgment and conduct unbecoming to a public school educator (Snyder v. Millersville University, 2008). (The right of school psychologists to make statements about matters of public concern is addressed in ssss1.)

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