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Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

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September 15, 2010 - 6:21pm
Columbia4Kids
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Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

My 6th grader was just showing me his social studies teachers' Facebook profile.  They are friends on FB.

I see tons of FB posts in a week's time that make me scratch my head.  Who are these people talking to?  I see business contacts relating their weekend hangovers, then following up with a business comment, for example.  I think people just forget who's on their lists when posting stuff.

I think teachers can use Facebook as a good teaching tool... but then, technically, 11-year-olds aren't allowed on Facebook!

What do you think about teachers friending their students?  Is it a hip way to connect with kids or an inappropriate blurring of the lines of authority?

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

~Dr Seuss

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September 15, 2010 - 6:25pm
#1
FirstDance
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

As a teacher, I think there are benefits to kids having a social network like FB. Also as a teacher, I see several points of view as far as adding "my kids" to my FB friends. Personally, I NEVER put anything on FB that I would be embarrassed about. Saying that, I know several, let's say younger, teachers who put things on FB that I do not want the general public knowing about ANY teacher. So, as a teacher, if you accept your students as friends, you must keep that in mind when you post things, add other friends, and join all the other miscellaneous "stuff" that FB offers.

Using FB to keep up with family and friends is a great source for me, but I can see how others get it out of hand and say things on it they don't think about.

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September 16, 2010 - 9:40am
#2
utkvolmom
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

I think it is inappropriate. First of all, I don't think kids belong on facebook, unless they are my family, LOL. Whether you watch what you say or not, do kids need to know your are going out to eat, or saying Happy Birthday? Teachers should give and get respect, but they are not friends in the social networking way, in my opionion.

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September 21, 2010 - 9:02am
#3
Imagine That
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

Hi, everyone. This is a big topic. I've been a teacher. I am a parent and grandmother. And, yes, I am on FB. I'm going to have to say, "No" to the question posed. FB is not intended for children. Plus, adults on FB often become too relaxed with what is posted. People tend to believe that only their friends will be able to view their remarks. That's not true. I often receive comments posted on my homepage from people I don't know b/c one of my friends has replied to someone. Usually, it's a comment regarding a photo or something from YouTube. Also, people on FB tend to friend friends of friends of friends just to have an "impressive" friends' number. The more "friends" you have, the more often your comments are shared. I've seen posts from teachers about having a bad day b/c of personal issues (health or family situations), students, administrators and parents. These teachers either forget or don't care that there are parents (and possibly students) viewing these comments and they just might be a neighbor to that administrator.  eek

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September 21, 2010 - 10:29am
#4
Columbia4Kids
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

Welcome back, Imagine That! hi Great to see you!

I think that's a really good point- even if YOU don't post something inappropriate, sometimes your friends will and it can show up on your wall.

I recently read an article that says more than 70% of employers check Facebook before hiring a candidate... I can only imagine how many people lose potential jobs because of how they've handled their Facebook accounts, especially new college grads.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

~Dr Seuss

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September 21, 2010 - 1:39pm
#5
Imagine That
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

Hi! hi It's good to see you! You said, "Welcome back". Is this the new Columbia4Kids site? :blink:

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September 30, 2010 - 11:12am
#6
fundeb
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

I think teachers should definitely be friends with their students.  But they need a separate "teacher" profile, IMO.

The big problem IMO with Facebook is that everyone you've ever known is all in the same list and the same messages aren't meant for everyone.  While they have tools to separate your lists and decide who can see what, I think it's safest to just make a totally new profile and give out that info to the students.

Teachers who keep up with FB can use it as a teaching tool, but it also grants them access to the parts of their students outside of the classroom.  It might give them some insight as to who needs a little more attention and why.

Just my two cents.

Keeping up with my little monster is fun.

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September 30, 2010 - 12:40pm
#7
Columbia4Kids
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

Hey Imagine That!

Yes, the Columbia4Kids forum now redirects to this forum if you click the link over there.  We are incorporating Columbia4Kids into the ParentsRoom site over the next few months.  grin

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.

~Dr Seuss

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October 3, 2010 - 7:37pm
#8
Imagine That
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

Columbia4Kids: Yea!! clap

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October 11, 2010 - 1:44am
#9
NashvilleMolly
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Re: Should Teachers and Students Be Friends on Facebook?

I have a friend who is an elementary school teacher, she wasn't friends with her students but she was with parents of students. One day she posted an update, something funny about her toddler son's potty training. One of the parents saw it and freaked out, called the school principal etc and claimed she was making inappropriate comments on facebook about her students' bathroom habits. Needless to say it was a big blink "WTH?" moment for her. She ended up deleting her facebook account shortly thereafter to avoid any future crazies misinterpreting updates about her own children. Actually, she did create a new fb a month later but strictly for friends and family. While that's not about a teacher adding students to facebook it is an example of the blurred borderlines between personal life and career that facebook presents to its users.

 

IMO teachers need to just be teachers to their students (and to the parents too!) in and out of the classroom. I think it's highly inappropriate for teachers to add children to their facebook pages, those kids don't need to be exposed to the personal lives of their teachers. I'm a student in community college and my instructors won't even add us adult students to their facebooks, they know that mixing students in with their personal lives is just flirting with disaster. I think its sort of against some kind of unspoken but understood moral code of teachers.

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