Thursday, 17 May 2012
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To Friend or Not to Friend, That is the Question – Teacher and Student Facebook Friendships
Guest post from Elizabeth at www.rockabyeparents.com
We live in a world of technology. We can go almost anywhere and still be in contact with others. In this technology enhanced world Facebook has become a household word. It seems that everyone has an account, and if you tell someone you don’t have one they’ll likely look at you like you’ve grown a second head. Facebook has become an obsession for many. We get on multiple times a day to see what new posts and comments have been made. Our children are no different and many of them get a Facebook account at a very early age. We would hope that the only Facebook friends our kids have are ones we approve of, but how do you feel about them being friends with their teachers? Teacher and student Facebook friendships have become a hot topic over the past few years with advocates for both sides.
Technology is an important part of education and many teachers choose to use it to the full extent in the classroom. Is it really necessary to incorporate Facebook though? Some teachers feel that Facebook is the best way to communicate with students and their families. Teacher David Roush feels that, “Email is becoming a dinosaur. Letters home are becoming a dinosaur. The old methods of engaging our students and our parents are starting to die.”
Some teachers, such as Nkomo Morris, accept their students as Facebook friends. She does it because she feels she can help guide them. She monitors what they post and lets them know if they post something that they probably shouldn’t have.
There are others that feel that teachers and students being friends on Facebook is just a bad idea. Truly I agree with them. Schools hold teachers to very high expectations. When I was getting my teaching degree we had professors tell us about the expectations that many districts have. Teachers are seen as role models and are expected to behave as such. Even something as simple as going to a restaurant and having <strong>a </strong> drink at the bar can be frowned on, or worse, if it’s in the community where a student might see you. Even if a teacher is very vigilant and keeps from posting things their students shouldn’t see that doesn’t mean that the teacher’s friends will keep from posting inappropriate things onto the teacher’s wall. To me it just seems safer for teachers not to friend their students.
Some states are trying to legally keep teachers and students from interacting together on Facebook. The states of New York and Florida have both disciplined teachers for unsavory Facebook activity. Last year Missouri passed a law that said that teachers could not use websites such as Facebook and twitter. Teachers fought the law and a judge ruled in their favor stating that the law would prevent the teacher’s right to free-speech. Now 40 school districts nationwide have created social media policies and many more are expected to follow.
Would you let your child be Facebook friends with their teacher?
Read the Time article HERE.
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Comments (29)
My boy is 15, he's a professional skater and his trainer demands to have access to his facebook (also his diet, social activities, school activities, well everything) at first I didn't understand what for but my boy has a place on the national selection of athletes and all of his activities have to be aproved by the federation.
I might send friend requests to old teachers now, since I've been out of high school since 2006. But I'd have to say it's a bad idea to have teacher-student facebook friendships when the kid is in school. Too many chances for things to go wrong or things to be misinterpreted.
A lot of teachers at my high school had 'fan pages' so students could 'like' the page and they could keep in touch, but it allowed them to maintain a private social life/facebook account. I have one of my university professors on facebook because he is also the adviser for the student society I am apart of, and it just made life so much easier to coordinate events and meetings on facebook. I will say it is kinda weird, and I have seen farrrrr more of him than I ever wanted to. I suppose it really depends on what you are comfortable with having people know about you. If I were a teacher I probably wouldn't add my students on facebook.
My highschool teachers had a rule, they would only accept friend requests AFTER we graduated
There are very few students I would accept as friends on my personal Facebook page. One them I first meet when as a high school student then I had her again as a college student. I think starting a professional Facebook page is a good idea.
If my son's teacher wanted to friend him and he accepted it, I would have no problem with it
I would never have had teachers on my friends list before I graduated, but I do have a few of my favorite teachers from HS on my friends list now. I graduated in 2005 and live out of the country, it's nice to know that they are doing well.
Where I am, technically, teachers and students are NOT supposed to have each other on such social networking sites.
At all.
But many people do it though.
For me, I have a few teachers. I am graduated from HS now but i have had a few on my friends list, even when i was in HS and in their classes and everything.
It's not like I'M going to do anything wrong.
But technically they could have gotten in trouble.
At least i'm pretty sure. that's what we've been told.
Well, there is one certain teacher that I had. She was my FAVORITE. (And i was her favorite student, she admitted
)
She was seriously like a mom. A best friend.
She is veeeeeeeeery important to me and there's no way i would lose contact with her.
I am a teacher and I solve the problem by having two Facebooks. The double-life teachers are forced to lead is, however, disgusting and a shame on our society.
Nearly everyone drinks. Nearly everyone has sex. Nearly everyone has opinions, beliefs, and interests they like to share with others, and ~gasp~ nearly everyone somehow manages to keep their work and personal life seperate! Why should teachers be any different?
We are educators, not monks. And this is a fact that the useless busybodies of the world need to cram through their thick skulls before everyone with a brain jumps ship on the teaching profession.
I think the "fan page" facebook is a good idea. Otherwise, I say no way. I say this mostly for the protection of the teacher. Who wants to have to censor themselves on facebook? I have a couple of teacher friends, and sometimes they post statuses about their shitty day at work, just like everyone else. They need a chance to get away from their students too.
@autumn_cannibal76@xanga - i agree with you.. i have a couple friends who are now teachers, and they have said the same thing you did.
Only if I can be friends with their teachers too! (Not that I have kids, but that's what I'd do if I were)
if teachers want to use it in lieu of sending letters home or emails, then friend the students' parents. of course, i would hate to be the student in that situation, because i couldn't forge my parent's signature when i got detention or something, haha. but i think teacher/student facebook connections are an unnecessary danger. even if it's completely innocent, someone could take something the wrong way, and the wrong accusations can destroy a person't reputation whether they're true or not.
That's a tough call. I say not to friend.
I friend-ed my students in facebook, and I think there's nothing wrong with that. Teachers are human, and we also have a life. The thing that I hate most about being a teacher is being the "role model" that everyone says we have to. Teachers should be allow to make mistakes and have a life, we are teachers, not saint. Therefore, I never restrict myself from doing/posting anything up on Facebook just because I know my students will see them. And the good thing is, I get to keep in touch with my ex students through Facebook, to know how they are doing and still guiding them even when they are not in my class anymore. I like being friends with my students regardless on Facebook or in real life. I think that's the best way we could get into their life to understand and guide them to the right path.
I know! Tell me how that works out I want to friend request my Microbiology professor so bad because he is awesomely funny and always talks in class and out *sigh* but yeah it is awkward, I guess. Maybe we are thinking about it too much? You just do it.
I'm friends with some of my professors on Facebook. Not sure why a high school teacher would really want to be friends with their students though.
I think this is a little ridiculous. Sure, I wasn't friends with any of my teachers until after I graduated, but I don't think its a big deal. First, there are so many ways to limit what any of your facebook friends see that all it takes is having common sense. Second, when did society decide that its not okay for teachers to drink or smoke? Those are well within the law. Also, the biggest role model is a childs parent, and they aren't judged for doing these things. I also feel like teachers aren't there to preach to your child how to live life (again that's the parents job)...they are there to educate your child about history, math, science, etc.
I've never been friends with any teachers on Facebook but I am friends with one of my professors and I only friended him after the class was over. He's friends with a lot of students but he's professional.
when I'm a teacher I probably will not accept students but I like the fan page idea too... I always thought of having a class website to post homework, allow students to ask questions, etc. but it would be cool to have a fan page that the students can 'like' and then they can post there.
When I was a music major I was friends with a handful of my professors. My school was small, my professors were awesome, and I guess because music is a professional network kind of gig it wasn't weird to be their Facebook friends. Professors often get their students gigs and some end up playing together for years after they graduate. Maybe there's something about performing arts majors and their professors, but I never had a music professor who didn't treat me like a professional and an equal, so being Facebook friends is seen as a normal thing.
As for teachers having to be role models 24/7, I DEFINITELY think some people need to chill out. Teachers are humans, too!! We like to drink, to party, to have fun with friends, etc etc. As long as we aren't breaking the law, who freakin cares what we do??!! It's like teachers who have tattoos-all that should matter is how we act in the classroom. I may have tattoos and drink and swear around my friends, but you'd never see me do that around my kindergarteners. All that should matter is that I'm a good person who cares about my students and want them to achieve all that they are capable of.
my boyfriend was FB friends with his english teacher (female, 36 at the time) and they always felt kind of too close. they sent each other sick messages and hearts and stuff like that, they talked every day. but it wasn't ordinary friendly talk, it felt more like flirting. sick, i'm not supportive of that. but if students do act like students, being polite and all, don't chat with their teachers every day, it's okay.
I don't have a problem with it if that's what they want to do. Personally, I wouldn't have "friended" any of my teachers in high school or college. I have a few former teachers added now. I also don't "friend" relatives that are in the older generations.
I accept my students' friend requests, and put them as "Acquaintances". I am very particular with my privacy so I make sure that they don't get to see much on my site. Not hard, really.
I teach English as a foreign language, and I don't really want to friend my students on Facebook, because I feel like they'd be watching me all the time and sometimes I just want to get away from them. But I don't get friended by students very often because I use my legal name for professional situations and my stage name on Facebook.
@xXxlovelylollipop@xanga - Just curious, is he requested to give him public access? such as adding him as a friend etc.
or is he requested to actually give him access to his account (ie. giving him his password etc)
if it's the first, letting him have access to the public view of the site, that's not a big deal. I also think how we present ourselves online is really important especially in our society.
If it's the second where your son is asked to provide his coach(?) the password and access to his site, then i think that's inappropriate and not necessary at all.
@arsenic_and_red_lace@xanga - just public access, as adding him and a member of the skate federation to his account, no passwords. It's just kids like him should be an example for the rest so they can't do some silly things on line :P