I guess the edubuzz system is *not* set up for anonymous use - most of the users are staff and pupils whose identities are clear - even if it’s only first name and class for the kids.

Here’s a point, maybe to be put to guineapigmum: why are all the edubuzz parent bloggers anonymous? I guess I just followed gpm’s lead. I wonder if she actively chose anonymity, or if it was suggested to her? I can see that there would be a perfectly valid role for parent blogs from parents who are happy to be named
- a different type of blog performing a different function. The two could coexist, and it might redress the balance. But AFAIK there is no real drive to encourage parents to set up any type of blog. I bet most parents are not even aware of the possibility. You don’t expect to be able to just walk into any other part of the education system and park yourself, do you?

Mumble, you said ” But it does feel like sneaking in the back door. I’m going to moan, but I’m not going to tell you who I am.” I’ve thought a lot about that comment over the weekend. It’s made me ask questions which go right to the heart of why I’m doing this. Because I can’t deny that the thought that someone like Don may read and has in the past picked up on what I’ve said is a strong incentive to keep going. So am I trying to get attention by some sneaky back route? Well I guess No, because any parent could set up one of these blogs - not even Don could keep track of them all then? Would I keep blogging if hundreds of parents did the same, and the chance of mine having an impact was lessened proportionally. Yes, I think so. It might actually make the anonymity issue easier!

Mumble, you say that you’re increasingl uncomfortable about this - would you like to say more about how you feel?

I suspect they know who I am. But disconcerting to be called ‘brave’ all the same, I thought I’d been quite an ony mouse…

Iguess that as time moves on, more and more staff are becoming involved in these blogs. I see the postings increasing from individual schools, and I see parents and children known to me posting to class and school blogs. The chances of connections being made must be growing daily. I’ve already found myself just two blog-hops away from someone I know from quite a different milieu.

What am I so afraid of? I suppose I want my Offspring’s relationship with their schools, and my relationship with the schools, to be … uncluttered by the added dimension of knowledge that I might be posting about those relationships. Yes, of course, any staff should be professional about such things . But I know that if *I* was in their shoes I would find it difficult to dismiss it entirely. None of us deserve that potential extra complication.

And I know that I feel rather uncomfortable about the idea of the other parents and their kids checking this out. Maybe I’m just shy? (In which case, Mothersoup, you’re a bit of a prat to take this on…)

And I really, really don’t want it to ever be an issue for the Offspring themselves.

So: in this order:
- I feel this blog is a worthwhile and valuable thing to do
- I find it tough to write it anonymously
- But I’d find it tougher to write it unmasked!

In any case, if you decide to take any active part in the school, the staff very soon get to know you and your opinions whether it’s through direct contact with the staff or indirectly through this blog. They do have to be professional about it, whether they like you and your opinions or not, and dealing with parents - and not taking it out on the children - is surely part of the job. Especially in a small school where there’s no hiding place for either parents or staff.

I think all I’m saying is that whilst you don’t need to (and shouldn’t) name yourself or your children at the same time you don’t need to worry too much about staff identifying you. I’ve always been more concerned about casual readers - particularly other children - identifying my two, which is why I maintain the pretense of anonymity.

I’ve got to have my Offspring’s immediate well-being at heart: speculative posterity will have to come second.

I’m sure I will get outed eventually: I’m likely to put my foot in it online or IRL one day, and almost every posting is liable to include some clue: it’s hard for me to look at those objectively and see how they add up.

Not that I’m above throwing in the occasional piece of misdirection… not untruthful, just distracting…

But the Powers-that-Be at edubuzz know my name anyway, don’t you, from first setting up the Blog? That’s an interesting point: do parents in my position have any surety that how confidentially you treat those original emails?

I can delete postings from my blog, but I can’t erase them from the mind of anyone who has read them.

Or from the web archive: http://web.archive.org/web/*/edubuzz.org/*

You’ve not been around long enough to feature there yet, but many of our bloggers do. Did you ever think your anonymity might pose a problem for your curious descendants?