Should teachers "friend" their students on Facebook?
Do you have a Facebook page?
If you teach middle or high school, chances are that a lot of your students are on Facebook or MySpace--but so are a lot of adults.
As an educator, do you think teachers should have social networking profiles, and if so, should they "friend" their students?
Educators that we've asked have answered everything from "Sure! Meet them where they play!" to "Heck no, that's a little too close for comfort." What do you think?
Parents are talking about this issue over at our parent forum. See what they have to say!
Yes or no. It really doesn't matter.
Never! Moreover, they should not friend teachers who do friend students. Everything you post is shared. You may not friend your students but chances are they will see what you have posted if the teacher in the room next door is a mutual friend.
I dropped three teachers from my school as friends when I realized they had parents on their friends list. Those parents have students on their list. Anything posted made its way through the maze of friends and ended up where I did not think it ever would.
You send a comment to your friends, they share with their friends who pass the message along to their friends, and before you know it, the world has seen what you meant for a select handful of people.
NOOO!! NEVER EVER EVER EVER!!!!! NOT IS THIS WORLD!
THE ONLY PLACE I WANNA SEE OR HEAR MY TEACHERS IS IN SCHOOL!!
NIT ON FACEBOOK!! NO WAY!!
No, no, no, no, no. I totally agree with sbrummett.
It really depends on the teacher and the student they are befriending....
they should freind theyre students on facebook why?
so they can tell on them?i dont think students would like that
I have old teachers on my page. but not recent like one added me from 3 years ago! we talk and she helps me on projects now in day. ( :
i think it depends on the teacher but my mom had to approve her.
Sure, but teachers better be prepared for nasty comments if they have a bad reputation around school, and monitor what people post on their profile. Its a good idea to get to know your teacher as friend (maybe not exactly like, lets say, how you would view your own friends, but something along those lines where you have a somewhat open communication with your teacher) as well as a instructor, as I feel it helps out greatly with having a more positive attitude with him or her. However, private things should of course be kept to each individual, so perhaps the teachers or students could create alternative accounts for this purpose.
i would add my teacher . . . . .my paretns added my teacher
It all depends......teachers should add their students with caution.Before adding them they should make sure that on their page there sholdn't be anything that may be a little too much for the student which will all depend on the age.It's not like your talking with the student about your social life but maybe just saying "hi" or "How are you" or maybe just saying like a movie you just saw that you think they've seen.
No. It's a teacher's job to educate kids, not interfer with there personal lives.
Haha this is a great topic. I friended a couple of my teachers on myspace. It's great seeing their pics of what they do over the weekend. My english teacher from last year has pics of him drunk at parties and smokin weed. Another one of my teachers has a pic of him and 2 hot girls he's hookin up with. It brings up good conversations at school
It depends.
Not at all i think it can lead to problems and it's not that professional the only time i've been friends with a teacher was from the university of phoenix since classes were online.
I think it depends on the age of your students and also if your facebook page age appropriate to them. Basically, if you would be allowed to discuss or teach the topic in your classroom then it should be ok to see it on your facebook page. But frankly, after a full day at school why not just enjoy your time away from them in the evening!
No. It is inappropriate to add any of your students as "friends" on any social network. Students are not your friends. With the threats of lawsuits and sexual harrassment it is in the teacher's best interest to keep his/her life as private as possible. My school has an internet policy that cleary states not to friend students, not to give out or respond to messages sent to a personal e-mail address, and to keep your myspace or facebook account blocked/not open to the public. This protects all parties from any hint of impropriety.
I think it is important to separate your work life from your private life. Students can be my friends in many ways. They have access to my email and can contact me at work. I don't think they should be in the same internet social circles. I don't think many of them want us in their internet social circles either.
I believe that once they are out of school or turn 18 then they can be added as friends. I also use the online social networking to educate my students on proper etiquette and cyber common sense. I would rather they learn it from me and be able to make a mistake there and be punished at this level rather than be in jail etc...for it later as a crime. It be dealt with by beginning when the students enter school with a program of computer education.
Do you think it depends on the age of the student? What about after students graduate or move on from your class?
I do not think it is appropriate to add students as friends. We have an online gradebook that strudents can send a message to me pertaining to school and that is sufficient. Being friends on a social networking site is unnecessary and blurrs the line between teacher and student.