Do Your Schools Have These Rules?

[lacrosse_lady72]

I am friends with previous teachers and professors on Facebook. With all of them, it was after they were my teacher/professor.

 

[NotUrsula]

I wouldn't give out my social media info to begin with, but the PASSWORDS?!!!! IMO, if someone was stupid enough to give me their passwords, they're not smart enough to work for me.

This is actually pretty common in places where there is a morals clause in the contract. When such a clause applies, you can be fired for postings that violate the standards of the morals clause. In such cases employers demand the password because they demand access to the entire profile before they will agree to hire you.

Defense attorneys routinely check FB profiles to find dirt on claimants; you would be AMAZED at how many stupid people will friend a total stranger just for the asking. If that presents the possibility of liability for your employer and your contract gives them the right to fire you over such things, then yep, they are going to want that pw.

 

[Andtototoo]

This is actually pretty common in places where there is a morals clause in the contract. When such a clause applies, you can be fired for postings that violate the standards of the morals clause. In such cases employers demand the password because they demand access to the entire profile before they will agree to hire you.

Defense attorneys routinely check FB profiles to find dirt on claimants; you would be AMAZED at how many stupid people will friend a total stranger just for the asking. If that presents the possibility of liability for your employer and your contract gives them the right to fire you over such things, then yep, they are going to want that pw.

They may want it, but there is no way I'm giving anyone my passwords. That's the first rule of internet security. I'm not going to set myself up for identity theft or worse.

 

[dngnb8]

Nope

 

[MIGrandma]

So glad I'm not a teacher, to be required to follow those ridiculous rules.

Things are just going from bad to worse.

To not be able to be Facebook "friends" with even PAST students? Dumb.

And I think it's terrible that teachers in some elementary schools can't even offer a pat on the back, or a hug, when a student is upset/crying, etc.

What is this world coming to?

 

[ms.yt]

Our district doesn't require it, but I don't friend current students or kids who will be my students until after they graduate. Several of my fellow teachers friend students, and I don't think it's a good idea. I am the journalism adviser at our school, so I have a staff FB page where I post links to news stories, compelling photographs, etc. that we then discuss in class.

I do have a lot of students' parents as FB friends. We live in a small community of 1,100 people. I'd have about six friends if I didn't have parents on my FB. I don't have anything to hide on my FB from parents, and besides, we live in a such a small town everybody knows what everybody is doing anyway without the help of social media.

As far as giving students my phone number, again, only my journalism students have access to that. We go to workshops and conventions, and they have to have my number for that. They also leave campus during our class time to sell yearbook ads, and they frequently have to call me for questions while they are out on sales calls. I've been doing this for 10 years, and there has never been any problem with it.

 

[mom2rb]

Ok, but, my kids are in high school. If something needs to be communicated --TALK or TEXT them. If I got a text from one of the kids' coaches asking "where are you, the meet starts in 5 minutes"-I would be . The kids text their golf coach for things like "we are going to go golf, can you call the golf course" (free golf but the coach has to call first), "we want to hit balls, are you going to be there or can you call the course (same deal, free balls, coach has to call). DD's golf coach came and sat with us when DD was getting admitted to the hospital this past spring. DD has been playing golf for this coach since 5th grade. He is a big part of our lives. If it became an issue, sure we would do something about this but it's not and it's appropriate. Also, we are teaching our kids to be responsible. We do NOT want to be the first point of contact for ANYTHING at this point in their lives...

Your children are in high school. The children I coach are younger.

 

[golfgal]

Your children are in high school. The children I coach are younger.

But younger than high school, for the most part, the don't have facebook, etc. Even in middle school I would have wanted to the practice changes, etc. to go to the KIDS first, then the KIDS can tell me.

 

[grahamfam3]

Some of that I understand, but if a former student is 1) graduated (i.e. "former") and 2) 18 or older, I'm confused as to how the school district thinks it can prohibit a relationship between two adults in the community whom have no relationship with each other that relates to their employment?

 

[Northstar]

My brother does not work in a school or an education-related workplace, and he is contractually obligated not to have a Facebook page in his name.

He's not interested in going around the ban, because he is not remotely interested in Facebook. I know other people, though, who just have their Facebook page under a nickname, or their pet's name.

I don't know of schools that forbid text messaging or cell phone contact with students, but I think having such a rule on paper is CYA for liability purposes. Parents who don't like the contact their child is having with a teacher have been known to sue the school, claiming they are responsible for allowing such inappropriate contact to take place. The school can point to its rule as proof that they don't foster inappropriate contact, and try to prevent it.

 

[Tiger926]

Yup. No FB access for any board employee on board computers at all.

Our College of Teachers released a special policy update a few months ago regarding social networking, in which they highly encouraged teachers to not have any social networking contact with students at all, period.

It has been proven that people are losing their sense of judgment with social networking sites. I don't consider my students, nor their parents "friends", yet when you are FB, they are your "friend". It sets up a different level of relationship just in how it's set up. I can see how coaches may be in a different situation, but we all survived before cell phones and texting, so I'm sure they'll survive now without it.

My students are my students, and I have absolutely no desire to communicate with them on a social networking site. If we need to email, we have school email, which is protected, and so if there is anything inappropriate, it's all documented on there. I have never emailed a student though, nor would I text or contact by social network. That is not the nature of our relationship...

It's a good policy as far as I'm concerned, Tiger

 

[Colleen27]

I know of a few teachers - generally the ones who are also coaches/club sponsors - who maintain separate "professional" FB pages for student contact. Teachers aren't allowed to give out personal contact numbers/e-mail addresses but the system our school uses allows them to forward calls and e-mails from the school system as well as to log into the school e-mail system remotely so if a teacher is available for after-hours student contact s/he can use that to be reachable.

I personally think the more sensible approach is to encourage/promote *smart* use of technological contact rather than prohibiting it altogether. Banning something that has many legitimate uses and can help teachers better reach students & their families smacks of either covering their butts in the wake of scandal or simply resisting change.

 

[Cinderella94]

I just graduated from high school, but even when I was still a student, I was friends with some teachers and had their cell numbers.

I've also pet-sitted for one teacher before when she went on vacation.

 

[discnewbie]

Nope our school does not have these rules.

 

[ladypage]

I guess my experience is way different than the majority, because I had a lot of teachers and coaches on my Facebook before I graduated. Actually only one told me that she wouldn't add me until I had graduated.

Granted, my school was a little different than most I guess. We had a total of 300 students, grades 9-12, and including the main school, the continuation school, and the online portion for those not allowed on campus. And we had a total of 41 people on staff, ranging from teachers, to cafeteria workers, to maintenance, and again, that included the other campuses. Most of us knew the teachers way before we ever got to the school, and many of them were relatives to the students. And in a back woods tiny little country town, a lot of the students were related through blood or marriage.

I do suspect that some of the teachers had separate accounts, where they could really express their opinions, but I never saw something that could be considered inappropriate. Mainly I remember Farmville requests!
I mean, I can see in a bigger school how it would be inappropriate, but considering we often saw our teachers in our backyard barbeques, it wasn't too big of a deal for me. It was really tight knit in general, as Ms. C was really Aunt Annie, and Mr. L was your brother in law.

 

[MrsPete]

2. If you are still in high school, your mother must friend me first.

That's a good idea.

 

[luvsJack]

I do agree with the facebook rule of not friending students.

I do not agree with the text/phone rule. We have many different activities going on a one time. Some of the kids do several activities at one time and the practices are changed to accomondate each other. It just makes things easier to be able to text the kids.

The teacher that had them text him that they submitted their work was using it as a lesson in following up and repsonsiblities.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

They shouldn't make teachers delete their FB pages. I understand the rule of no future/current students as friends. However, no former students? That's crazy.


The texts/calls from students... I don't do extra curricular activities, so I have no need OR desire to do that w/students. I can see how it might come in handy sometimes.

Funny thing about schools and rules; they have rules like #2, yet some admins, want AP teachers to be "always available" to students via phone, and outside of class (like at their own homes), for extra tutoring. However some schools forbid such contact.

 

[NotUrsula]

The reasoning for using texting to communicate with students is that open lines of communication work best when the medium you can be contacted via is the one that is easiest for your target audience to use. Teens primarily communicate via text message, so making yourself available via text tends to get them to ask more questions and participate more.

Again, the simple answer is using a proxy service -- text via email accounts. Kids get to communicate via text and the school board still gets a complete record of everything that is said.

 

[HsvTeacher]

Our principal has strongly "encouraged" us to delete our FB accounts, but until it is a requirement by the school board, I'm not deleting my page. I have made all my privacy settings so that no one other than my friends can see them, and I keep my friends list really small. (Only family and really close friends)

I also do not friend my students or their parents, and I never post anything on FB that I wouldn't show to my employers.

As for texting and emailing students, that will never happen. I do, however, email my students' parents but only through a school computer. I also keep my cell phone number private, so I don't get calls at all hours of the day and night.