Madeline is a nurse who works in the emergency room of a hospital. Upon her hiring, she discovered that Paul, one of her classmates from nursing school, also worked at the hospital and would be her co-worker. After working a few shifts together, the two connected on social media. One day, Madeline saw that Paul had “liked” a meme on social media that expressed anti-immigrant sentiment, decrying immigrants as a drain on resources, including healthcare. As soon as she saw the meme, Madeline felt uneasy. The hospital where Madeline and Paul worked served many in their city’s immigrant communities, and Madeline was herself the children of immigrant parents. The meme hit close to home for her. Additionally, Madeline considered herself friendly with Paul, and he was in a more senior position to her on the nursing staff.
If you were Madeline, what would you do? How concerned should Madeline be about what she saw on social media, and why?
Does Madeline have any responsibility to notify anyone else at the hospital?
Would your decision be different if the circumstances had been any of the following?
What if the hospital was located elsewhere and did not serve many immigrant patients?
What if Madeline had worked at the hospital longer than Paul and was his supervisor?
This dilemma is based on a case from the Educating for Digital Dilemmas Project at Project Zero and is integrated into Common Sense Education’s Digital Citizenship Curriculum. We thank Carrie James and Emily Weinstein for allowing its use here.