High School Facebook Protocol
 

Some high school teachers/coaches/admins etc "friend" their students on facebook (many through a second "public persona" account). Many don't. But if they do, and especially if there is a student facebook group related to their relationship with the students of which they are a member......

Should they refrain from "liking" this link?

http://current.com/entertainment/com...ys-corndog.htm

'Cause I kinda think so, and I'm no prude. Beest agrees. And we're pretty sure the person concerned is not remotely sexually interested in their students. But still.... ....and yet I like them from the little interaction I have had, am sure they mean no harm and probably won't cause any.... And I don't want to cause waves. But this is at the beginning of the year... and not the first dubious post regarding age-appropiate etc ....where are we headed from here?

I'm not into people being fired from their jobs because of their FB posts AT ALL, but maybe this person should create a public personal for "professional purposes" -what do you think? Should I approach them -suggest the alternate persona, or ask their their boss (who i know better, but still not bosom buddies) to suggest it, or keep schtum fro now because right now it's not harming my (13yo) child?

I'm kinda headed towards dropping them a note saying hey, I love your posts, but I'm not entirely sure it's what my kid should be seeing and most of the other parents are way more conservative than me.... perhaps you should consider having a second account.....

What do you think?

That is strictly forbidden here. No questions asked... grounds for immediate termination.

Even more glad I don't live there than you are.

Highly unlikely, but still - teachers being friends with students on FB or myspace is a big no no.

Public education over here has rules against teachers friending students on FB or any other social media. Most private schools do too as far as I'm aware.

The idea is to keep a professional distance between kids and teachers.

On one hand I think that's a good idea, but on the other hand, social media can be really helpful for communication between people.

What I basically think is that unless you actually have a social relationship with a student, as a teacher you really have no right to be a fb friend with your students. I think it's inappropriate.

Oh, and that pic is shopped - here is the original.

Well put Ali. Inappropriate is a great description.

Oh shit, the pic is shopped? really? That makes it OK then, I started this thread for nothing......

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So in the 21st century, FB groups are the communication method of choice for some high school groups around here. I (gasp) am OK with that. As long as the teachers/coaches/admins use a professional persona for that interaction.

So far seems like all y'all agree this is a little over the line. But what do you think I should do about it?

Thanks for your input, I do appreciate it.

We don't believe in a "professional distance". We have deliberately chosen (public) schools where distance between staf and students is seen as a bad thing. But that doesn't mean that professional is a bad thing.

Not sure why I even bothered. Hope it all works out, for your kids, whatever you choose.

Many of the teachers who teach my kids are very supportive and friendly towards them, but that doesn't mean they're 'friends' in any sense of the word, and in my opinion, that's how it should be between teachers and students. There is a power gap between kids and teachers, and that is why I chose the term 'professional distance'. Surely you can understand that.

And to answer your question.

If it's normal for your kids and teachers to be FB friends, but you don't like the content your kids are seeing, then I would suggest you simply have your child 'unfriend' the teacher. It's not up to anyone else to say what people should put on their FB page as long as it's within the guidelines of the site.

eta: I would also point out that the concerns you're expressing now are part of the reason why teachers in general are discouraged from having students on their FB profiles.

Oh yes, I understand what you mean about the professional distance/power gap, and I meant it when I said I appreciated your input. We (Beest and I) just have a different idea of what the relationships should be between children and their educators, and have chosen schools with that in mind. In the elementary school, all members of the community are treated as equals, teachers and kids and parents are friends and so there is no "power gap" and that's how it should be in our opinion. Yes, it's public school. But it is alternative. No facebook there, though -not official facebook, anyway- because the students are too young. However, at the High School, things are somewhat more traditional in most cases, but not in this particular setting. This group are also on first name terms. If my child unfriends this person, they will miss important information.

Maybe you should just bring it up at a P&C meeting as a general discussion topic. Suggest that all teachers or possibly the school as a whole has a FB page where teachers and students can interact, or better yet, get them to put a discussion forum on the school website for teachers and students to use.

I understand your point, but whether it's as clear as in other schools, there's still a power gap between students and teachers. We have a few alternative schools over here too, so I do understand how they work, and being about 2 semesters short of being a HS teacher myself, and having a number of teachers in my family (several of them very close relatives) and being a parent myself with kids on FB and being a FB user myself, I feel I have a pretty broad base of understanding for this particular issue. It has been discussed at length at family things and so on.

Anyway, I've said what I believe. I just don't think FB between teachers and students is appropriate regardless of the setting. Adults sometimes say or do things that probably shouldn't be said or done in front of kids. That's not to say there's anything wrong with it, but outside of school hours, a teacher has the same right to relax and forget about their job as much as anyone else. Why should they have to censure their own words or actions just because their FB friends might not like it?

When my husband started coaching wrestling (as a lay coach, he is not a teacher), I started getting worried when school girls - mat maids, managers and wrestler girlfriends - started sending friend requests to him. Maybe I worried for nothing, but he took it to heart. He definitely didn't want to get caught up in any misunderstandings. And with teenage girls, you just don't know. The school AD actually ended up putting a moratorium on student/teacher or coach FF friends because it was impossible to control content on those pages and she didn't want to have to deal with any lawsuits.

Imagine having an 'Emma' stalk you on facebook! :eek:

When posting publicly on sites such as Facebook, people ideally should be aware of who might be reading their posts. We act differently around different people in face to face conversations, but on Facebook everyone can read whatever we have to say. For most people, it is their choice whether or not they put themselves in awkward or embarrassing situations but teachers should be held to a different standard because of the position they hold.


Monster, there is a new option on facebook where you can hide certain posts from certain people. If you decide to do something, maybe politely remind this teacher that every single one of his/her facebook friends can see his/her posts, including your daughter (or his/her students). I would guess this teacher just forgot that, many people do, so getting anyone else involved could potentially escalate the situation in ways it doesn't need too.


Although, I do agree that, for High School and below, teachers and coaches should not be fb friends with their students.

Can I ask a strange question? How would you feel if it had been a classmate who posted this picture?

Maybe I was a horribly corrupted youth, but by high school... I had seen far worse than this. I knew kids who had done worse than this in the offstage wings of the theatre. My friends and I would have thought this picture was funny, not shocking or inappropriate.

I'm not saying that the teacher posting the picture is okay, because I do feel there should be a certain line of respect between teenagers and any adult, including their teachers. But I don't think the picture itself is that out of line for a high school student to see, if that makes sense.

I agree with you Clod and was thinking the same thing, but what kids share between themselves is one thing. I think it encourages familiarity (at the least) if an adult is showing pictures like this to a child.

I agree with this totally. I don't believe they should. But most teachers/etc I know who FB have two accounts. One for students and their parents, and one for real life. That's all I want to suggest -that they get a second account. Where they don't like links like that.

Thanks, I forgot about that new option, that's a good idea.

The problem with unfriending etc is that that the group uses their (private) FB group as their primary communication tool. And it has been unbelievably successful for that.

Oh I don't give a shit about the picture per se. I'm a bad parent that way. It's more that this person clearly doesn't have a clue re appropriateness. This group is held to a high level of responsibility. They are supposed to exhibit exemplarary behaviour at all times, even when not representing the school or at school. If they had posted this link, there would have been trouble.

I like a good wiener joke as much as the next person, bonus points if it includes a republican candidate. But, speaking as an educator, of college students even - I would not have ever posted this to share with my students.

"Friending" students has had some pretty bad results for another professor I work with. I think it's a recipe for disaster.

I briefly worked with international students doing a pre-university course. Most were 18 or more, a few were 20 or more, but a few were 17. As such we had a degree of pastoral responsibility for them

I made a blanket rule of not friending students from there. Even though neither I nor the students are still associated with that college, I still don't.

However, one of my colleagues uses FB for class discussions and sharing information. She has on one occasion busted a student who claimed to have missed a test due to stomach illness, when they posted photos of the big steak they had for lunch. :smack:

That's what most teachers and academics I know do as well. Likewise a lot of politicians and others with a professional, public face.

Same on twitter. Right now I just have one Twitter account. But whilst i do teach, I am also a postgrad student. Even so, I am very careful what i do and don't share on Twitter. My supervisor is on my follow list, as are a number of academics I wouldn't want knowing all my business.

Sometimes though, it's easy to forget. Because much of my interaction on there is not connected to my studies or my 'public' persona. Like, at one point I was halfway through composing a tweet about having a whole weekend free, a box set of The Wire and a bottle of Bourbon that I was given as a gift. Then thought better of it, because it could give the impression I am a heavy drinker. I certainly never post anything on there about smoking pot, for example. Which i do here.

Wai ... what? You're telling me your a Pot smokin' commie tart?
Thats taking it to a whole nother level. :3_eyes:

i never said I was a commie...

I have been reading these forums for the past few hours and I have to say I have seen a lot of wonderful posts.

I thought I would register and post my opinions on this matter.

As stated prior, K-12 teachers should definitely be held to a little bit higher social standard than other people. My children are nine, five, five and three. If my kids are going to hear or see any offensive material, I really don't want it coming from someone they look up to as an educator. Our educators are responsible for the future of our society and should be setting pristine examples of maturity and professionalism towards our children. Children and teenagers are extremely easily influenced, not only by their parents and friends but their teachers as well.

- Dana, age 24

Hi Dana,
welcome to the Cellar.

Oooooh! Another Dana!

Hihi. Nice to meetcha, and welcome to the Cellar :)

I agree. Welcome Dana2 :)

lol

Can't be callin' the lass Dana2 :p That ain't right. Can always call me Dani, I answer to both :)

ftfy :)

I found out today that children kissing teachers is STRICTLY verboten.
I s'pose I should have guessed that.
And I knew it was something I had to deal with when it happened with Tiger (who went througha phase of kissing me on the cheek when I left).

Thinking back, I am grateful that Mrs P mentioned it as a passing aside.
I know she realised I was already sorting it, but given how seriously it is taken, she was very kind to bring it up the way she did.

We moved onto a wave where both our hands were touching, then onto a "special" wave where they were just apart, then onto a wave in the same way across the classroom. Which we have today, although it's barely necessary. He doesn't equate my departure with bad things and is happy to do it with eye contact and silence.