High School Facebook Protocol

[monster]

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?

[classicman]

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

[monster]

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

[classicman]

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

[Aliantha]

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.

[classicman]

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

[classicman]

Well put Ali. Inappropriate is a great description.

[monster]

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

---

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?

[monster]

Originally Posted by Aliantha

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

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.

[classicman]

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

[Aliantha]

Originally Posted by monster

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.

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.

[Aliantha]

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.

[monster]

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.

[Aliantha]

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?

[Pico and ME]

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!