VERY OT: Facebooks and teachers

[JVL1018]

My daughter's teacher has a FB account, but I never sent a friend request.
I am friends with another teacher in school-she teaches the grade my daughter is in, but is not her teacher.
She lives in town, grew up in this town, went to HS with my husband and I knew her outside of school, her child was on my son's Tball team.
There's another teacher that I don't know personally, but same deal she grew up here and so we have mutual friend,s her BFF is married to one of my hsuband's friend's so I will see comments and photos of her posted on the mutual friend's wall. I didn't and wouldn't friend her.
Situations like that are fine, but if you just have a parent/teacher relationship, then no, I personally wouldn't bother friending them.

 

[sk!mom]

I'm a teacher and have a Facebook. I use FB to stay in touch with and share pics with friends and family. I'm careful what I post- I rarely post a status and would not accept a friend request from a parent.

I am FB friends with one parent of a student that I have this year but only because she is also a coworker and was already a friend prior to her son being assigned to my class.

I am FB friends with one of DD's teachers this year but it's the same situation. This teacher and I have been friends for years- since our 8th grade children were in the same Kindergarten class.

I won't be making friend requests of any of her teachers this year.

 

[SLK1]

Oh please, give me a break! What a ridiculous statement. Each of my three youngest children's teachers all "Friended" me this summer before I had even gotten their teacher assigment letters in the mail this summer. I love having this open friendly format with the kids teachers, not "scoring points."

Sorry you think my statement is ridiculous, but that IS the way it is in my community. I stand by it. I firmly believe you should not blur the professional lines between teachers and parents. It's great if it works for you, but around here, people are way too up their teachers' rear ends for it to be a good idea.

 

[jeepgirl30]

I have a good friend that is a teacher. He set up a facebook with a fake name so only his real friends can find him.

I do not care to have a friend relationship to my children's teachers. I prefer to view them as they are, an educator.

I also do not want to see pictures of my kids teachers at a party or with a beer in their hand. Yes I am sure they do it, I do too. however it is not the image I want to see when I think of them. I would prefer to respect their privacy and not "friend" them.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Well, after reading all of these posts it just makes me more thankful that we live in a small, tight-knit community where everyone is friendly to one another. I can't imagine not getting to know my child's teacher on some sort of personal level - I mean they spend about 7 hours a day with my child, almost as much time with my children as I do. At the beginning of the year the PTO sends out information sheets for the teachers to fill out about themselves. Things like their birthday, their favorite color, favorite flower, favorite foods, favorite stores. etc and we give this info to the parents in their room so they have some personal info for buying teacher gifts for Christmas, their birthdays and teacher appreciation week. This has been a huge hit with parents and teachers. The parents are happy to give needed and/or wanted gifts and the teachers are ecstatic not to get another coffee cup.

My three youngest children all had the same first grade teacher and over the course of three years, she has become one of my dearest friends. Wow, to think what I would have missed out on if I would have put up a parent/teacher wall between us.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Well, after reading all of these posts it just makes me more thankful that we live in a small, tight-knit community where everyone is friendly to one another. I can't imagine not getting to know my child's teacher on some sort of personal level - I mean they spend about 7 hours a day with my child, almost as much time with my children as I do. At the beginning of the year the PTO sends out information sheets for the teachers to fill out about themselves. Things like their birthday, their favorite color, favorite flower, favorite foods, favorite stores. etc and we give this info to the parents in their room so they have some personal info for buying teacher gifts for Christmas, their birthdays and teacher appreciation week. This has been a huge hit with parents and teachers. The parents are happy to give needed and/or wanted gifts and the teachers are ecstatic not to get another coffee cup.

My three youngest children all had the same first grade teacher and over the course of three years, she has become one of my dearest friends. Wow, to think what I would have missed out on if I would have put up a parent/teacher wall between us.

I totally agree with this. When DS was solely at CDC (he now attends public school in the morning and CDC in the afternoon), I became close friends with one of his teachers. In fact, we're planning a spring break WDW trip together.

 

[daisyduck123]

around here, people are way too up their teachers' rear ends for it to be a good idea.

Same here

 

[smylie1]

I don't know why some people say they are "shocked" at the teacher friending parents and students. It's their perogotive. I am a teacher with a FB page and I do not friend parents or students. Not becasue I have a wild and crazy private life, but so I can be free to put, "Ugh, is it Friday yet?" as my status without parents thinking I don't like my job. But, I have made friends with parents who have remained friends long after their child has left my class. I will friend them. If a teacher chooses FB as a way of communicating with parents, what's wrong with that? It's no different than group list email as long as you aren't posting pictures of the drunk party you threw last week-end.

 

[notsosnowwhite]

Well, after reading all of these posts it just makes me more thankful that we live in a small, tight-knit community where everyone is friendly to one another. I can't imagine not getting to know my child's teacher on some sort of personal level - I mean they spend about 7 hours a day with my child, almost as much time with my children as I do. At the beginning of the year the PTO sends out information sheets for the teachers to fill out about themselves. Things like their birthday, their favorite color, favorite flower, favorite foods, favorite stores. etc and we give this info to the parents in their room so they have some personal info for buying teacher gifts for Christmas, their birthdays and teacher appreciation week. This has been a huge hit with parents and teachers. The parents are happy to give needed and/or wanted gifts and the teachers are ecstatic not to get another coffee cup.

My three youngest children all had the same first grade teacher and over the course of three years, she has become one of my dearest friends. Wow, to think what I would have missed out on if I would have put up a parent/teacher wall between us.

I appreciate your point of view of this issue. I work in a very close community as well and am very close to the parents of students in my class. I have taught both in the public and parochial school systems. I choose to keep my FB private and do not accept friends that have connections with my workplace. This is not an "unfriendly" attitude - it's a professional decision. It stems from two reasons: 1. If friends or their children post inappropriate photos or posts, I don't want the ethical dilemna of whether or not I need to address this with my supervisors and 2. I do not want to "edit" my FB relationships with my family members and friends who live alternative lifestyles and may be judged by others. It only takes one person to issue a complaint and a person's career can be ended. It's not worth it in my opinion. I can control what I post, but I do not have that control over others. That is why I choose to keep my FB private.

 

[momx2]

I just got a FB account this Spring. My DD's teacher asked to be my friend. She is also friends with my DD and several kids from school, so are other teachers. They are only 5th and 6th graders, so it is very sanitized. My DD's friends have also asked me to be their friends. We (the moms) think it's cute right now. I'm sure the kids will regret this in a year or two, but by then there will be something else to join. None of my friends post anything we wouldn't want kids to see, we are all pretty boring.

 

[notsosnowwhite]

I just got a FB account this Spring. My DD's teacher asked to be my friend. She is also friends with my DD and several kids from school, so are other teachers. They are only 5th and 6th graders, so it is very sanitized. My DD's friends have also asked me to be their friends. We (the moms) think it's cute right now. I'm sure the kids will regret this in a year or two, but by then there will be something else to join. None of my friends post anything we wouldn't want kids to see, we are all pretty boring.

Fifth graders = 13 years old? That is the age "required" to have a FB account.

 

[momx2]

Fifth graders = 13 years old? That is the age "required" to have a FB account.

Nice to know

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Fifth graders = 13 years old? That is the age "required" to have a FB account.

I wouldn't allow my son, but there are a bunch of 9 and 10 year olds from his baseball league that have Facebook pages. The mothers set up the accounts!

 

[momx2]

11 seems to be the age that the kids get interested in having an account. My DD got one this summer after months of begging. She was one of the last of her large group of friends to get one. I know the age limit, but I pick my battles. It is really harmless and I monitor it daily. Many of her teachers are friends with her and many of her friends. My friends are her friends, etc. I guess my friends and her teachers are just really boring and don't have anything risky to post.

 

[wendydarling826]

I am a teacher, and I encourage parents to communicate with me through email, and I maintain a classroom website. I also have a FB account for my friends and family. I have had "friend" requests from parents of students that I have not accepted because I prefer to keep my professional and personal lives separate. It feels kind of awkward, and I don't want to appear rude, but I just don't think it's appropriate for teachers to be on social networking sites with parents or students. I would not ask my doctor to "friend" me on FB because ours is a professional, not personal, relationship. I think it's the same thing.

 

[momx2]

I am a teacher, and I encourage parents to communicate with me through email, and I maintain a classroom website. I also have a FB account for my friends and family. I have had "friend" requests from parents of students that I have not accepted because I prefer to keep my professional and personal lives separate. It feels kind of awkward, and I don't want to appear rude, but I just don't think it's appropriate for teachers to be on social networking sites with parents or students. I would not ask my doctor to "friend" me on FB because ours is a professional, not personal, relationship. I think it's the same thing.

I'm not disagreeing, I kind of agree, but I think it just really depends on the relationship with the parent. I have befriended some teachers. I have not asked them, they asked me to friend them on FB also.