Yay or Nay? Should teachers and students be "friends" on social networking sites, such as My Space and Facebook?

This is another one of those blog entries that may create much controversy and stir strong feelings, but those are also the best blog entries: the ones that evoke emotion and encourage readers to share their own comments/thoughts.

As a teacher, how do you feel about this issue? As a parent, how do you feel about this issue? As a student, how do you feel about this issue? How about as an administrator? How do you feel as a blog reader about this issue?

I am pretty much a person who sees things in black and white. There are not too many gray areas for me, although I acknowledge they exist.

My immediate response to the question in this blog heading is NO. Is it inappropriate? That may be up for debate, but as a teacher, I feel that it is unprofessional.

I am not saying that a teacher and a student cannot become friends at a later point in time after the student becomes an adult and lives in an adult world. I have been blessed to have had a great rapport with a few individuals, and I have even kept in contact with a few people for many, many years. I am glad I have met them.

I have a Facebook account (Susan James McEntyre), and I only started getting into it in recent times. The best part about Facebook has been reconnecting with people from my hometown because we grew up together, and it is neat to see what everybody is doing now. I love seeing their pictures and chatting with them.

I also have gotten to know some photographers online in the past 1-2 years, and it is fun to chat with them, too, although we mostly chat on the forum we frequent. I do love seeing all of their photos on Facebook, too.

This year, I have had current students try to add me as a *friend* on Facebook, and I have never accepted. At school, I have told them that my *rule* is that I will add them as a *friend* once they graduate (if they add me).

That is where I draw the line.

I just do not think it is a good idea. I think a teacher puts himself/herself into a liable position by adding current students as *friends* on My Space, Facebook, etc. They put themselves at risk. There are students who post photos of underage drinking on such sites, and I believe that that would place the teacher in an bad position.

I think I am being fair with my *rule* of adding my students as friends if they so desire after they have graduated from high school.

I was reading about this issue online, and here are some of the comments I read. I will just copy and paste them here.

"My response: unless the actions are school-sanctioned, they are off-limits. A teacher has many avenues of communication between students, parents, and home without using social networks." I agree with this one.

"Friends? No. Acquaintances...maybe. I think the best practice is to look at the virtual world as the mirror it is to reality. You wouldn't hang around in social settings (in general) with your students in the real world, so why would you in virtual space? Bumping into each other at the home game or in the grocery store is normal. Hi, How ya doin'? But, hanging out on someone's page is pretty much the same as hanging out in their living room where Hi, How ya doin? can take on a whole new meaning. You most likely wouldn't open yourself up to the ethical can of worms hanging out at a student's would entail, so why do so virtually?"

 

"Let's face it, while Facebook may be a great tool for connecting with old friends the same adage goes with this tool: keep your work life and personal life separate. You cannot be "friends" with your students because of the great risk you pose to yourself. I have heard of stories where teachers befriended former students and said students talked about the parties attended together, "as a joke"; however, these exchanges were enough to bring that teacher before the board regarding their online activities. Use the tools that are approved of by your school to foster communication. It just is not professional in my opinion."

"After some thought, I would say: no. Not until that student has graduated and has attained the status of an adult (I'm going to say 18 or over -- college freshman at least). There may instances where this could work, but the professional risks (especially in a K-12 environment) are just too great. Remember: Facebooks is at base a social site, even if you're using it for quasi-professional purposes."

"At our school (11 - 16 years) we have a number of teaching and support staff on facebook. The issue of student friendship has been raised and discussed re. concerns about e-safety and professionalism. We have decided as a staff that current students and staff are not to be friends. Once the students have left and moved on, then it is an option at staff's discretion. Students have been spoken to about this face-to-face and have accepted that it is appropriate."

 

"As a young teacher, I not only refuse friend requests from students until they have graduated, but I have also marked myself as invisible to all persons under 18 on Myspace and everyone not in a college network on Facebook. I personally don't want to give anyone the chance to accuse me of anything. I don't want to ever HAVE to use my NEA membership for that reason. The kids still think I'm cool because I'm on these sites, but I don't have to worry about them getting me into trouble."

 

"I do not feel this is appropriate at all. I feel that the teachers and students should not be corresponding over Facebook pages. It is unprofessional and could lead to a lot of trouble. I agree with the comment below relating it to inviting a student into your living room. Running into a student out and about is one thing, but purposefully inviting them to your online world is a completely different thing."

"I would rather be safe and employed than accused and unemployed.
You have to keep the contact with your students and parents as a professional one.
What teacher has time to have relationships with their students outside of school anyway? Why would you want to ?
I prefer adults my own age 30's and 40's that have interesting things to share in a friendship and not kids anyway....
On an emotional development level you might want to ask yourself why would you want to spend time having any kind of relationship outside of school with anyone under the age of 18.
It's a slippery slope that can only bring drama and legal issues into your professional life.
I for one would rather have fun outside of school with people my own age.
I would only see students at school where there are other adults and cameras etc..." I totally agree with this one, too.

"Kids and Teachers should absolutely have communication on MySpace, etc. It is a valuable communication tool for my school club and I can post their pictures when we compete. If practice changes I just bulletin it and they all get it, saving me hours of phone calls."

Most comments I found were against the issue. What are your thoughts on the matter? I think it is different for the younger students: elementary students. I am only looking at the issue at the high school level. Do you agree or disagree?

There are teachers who have created a My Space or Facebook page strictly for a club they sponsor. I think this would be okay. Once a teacher starts mixing his/her professional and personal life in the presence of students, I start to feel uneasy. A friend and I had a conversation about this very topic today after the issue came up.

It got me thinking more about the subject. What do you think? Should teachers and students be "friends" on social networking sites?

I have been reading about many different educational issues lately, and this is one that keeps popping up in today's world.

ETA: My students can still send me messages through Facebook, and I can respond to them--without adding them as a *friend*. We cannot view each other's pages, but we can still "talk" about assignments, deadlines, etc. We actually have an online yearbook forum where my students and I can communicate, which I feel is appropriate.