Job Discussion Forums

[inchinanow]

I posted several responses on this website, where they remained for over a year. Then suddenly yesterday I received several messages saying that my comments were being deleted. Take a look below at one of the actual emails I received. The subject of my email was: Shenzhen Nanshan Bilingual School.

Information is a teacher's greatest ally against being cheated, used and abused. It is websites such as this one that provide a valuable resource. I suspect that this website is being influenced by staff at the school. I believe it is only a matter of time before all negative information concerning this school is removed from the Shenzhen party website. This is a very scary prospect.
_________________________________________________________
Example of one email I received:

Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for contributing your comment to ShenzhenParty.com. Unfortunately our moderator could not approve your comment.
Make sure your comments are on topic, with no personal attacks, non commercial in nature and contain useful information. Please read our terms of service and post again:
http://www.shenzhenparty.com/guide/terms-use
Here is the deleted comment for your reference:
-----
The school has some

The school has some problems. Have an exit strategy if you decide to work there. Have a backup plan.

-----
If you feel that this is in error please email [email protected].

All the best,

http://www.shenzhenparty.com/

[cormac]

[Lobster]

And why is it called a "Party" website? Sounds more like a social site than a teaching site, so I'm not surprised that they think the post is off topic.

RED

[Brian Hugh]

all thinking should be said in a voice that can be understood by all

[choudoufu]

"the school has some problems."

you didn't provide any useful information.

[inchinanow]

If you look at the website, you will understand what it is, a website mainly devoted to expats. The "party" in the name is supposed to denote a party like atmosphere for fun and entertainment, but now I wonder if it has a double meaning, the other being "Communist Party".

[Javelin of Radiance]

Shenzhen Party is an expat oriented social networking site, founded and run by expats in Shenzhen, so there's nothing communist about it (bit of paranoia there I think). It's also not a school review site and it's privately owned so they reserve the right to remove whatever they choose (just like this site, eslcafe). If you want to post a school review or warning it would make sense to post it on sites dedicated to that purpose.

[waxwing]

The poll doesn't relate to the topic, as others are pointing out. Shenzhen Party is probably not the right kind of place to post your complaint. I understand if you're surprised that they blocked your message, but such things are quite common. For example, at the TES website (a major place for international school recruiting) forum, they block any message that gives the exact name of the school.

You need to post your complaint somewhere else, and you might want to give a bit more detail too! As a teacher teaching in a nearby district (and some of my colleagues used to teach at the Bilingual) I would be interested to read more details

[danasoverseasemail]

The ultimate question is, "why do you think everyone should have the right to free speech, libel, slander, and other inappropriate behavior?" I'm sure you read and agreed to the terms and conditions of the user agreement before signing up at that website to post comments, right?

The internet hardly gives anyone the right to say whatever they want. Private sites have every right to moderate; just as happens here.

[inchinanow]

Well that is a good point. But I think that it serves the interest of the expat community to know what is going on in the schools. This type of information helps people to avoid potential pitfalls.

[Lobster]

Only in the minds of the most deluded and tyrannical does free speech = slander, libel and other inappropriate behavior. Simply put, your topic is not suited to the purposes of that site.

RED

[inchinanow]

The purpose is for expats to network and communicate. Taken from the website:

ShenzhenParty.com is a web site keeping the community of Shenzhen, expat and Chinese informed of events and other happenings around the city. We provide a weekly newsletter, event calendar, job search, apartment search, as well as other services.

There is a message board available for the communications of expats, who are free to post relevant topics. I think in the case of a company employing expats, the experiences of the employees is a worthy, relevant and important topic. On these website you can find everything from where your favorite DJ is playing to information about jobs and employers. This information should be allowed. The experiences of teachers is important. Otherwise we can all just work at Foxconn.

[MisterButtkins]

eww big text hurts my eyes can you repost that with normal letters?

[waxwing]

Considering this page:
http://www.shenzhenparty.com/place/schools/shenzhen-nanshan-bilingual-school

, my (our) opinions are of what's happening in this case might change... I have no idea what's going on. Entertaining reading though!

[cormac]

Not trying to be difficult, but I ask again... What is the actual problem? Any information across the internet relating to teachers (anywhere in China) is suspect. It doesn't matter if its the school themselves, students, annoyed teachers, etc... Any website with information about schools or teaching is potentially biased.

The only reliable information to be found is your own personal experience when you walk in the schools front doors and start negotiating. Anything else is just to give you a vague idea of the general situationl. but it should never be accepted as reliable information worth basing a decision on.

Daves is probably the best forum I have found for information about schools, but everything here should be taken with a pinch (or two) of salt.

"inchinanow", you've been in China long enough to know this... So.. I'm still wondering why this particular website is such a big issue?