Teachers, Pupils, Facebook

[hc4361]

Teachers are advised they should be 'friends' with their pupils on FaceBook

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2837531/Teachers-warned-not-befriend-pupils-Facebook.html

Do they really need to be told this? I believe there should be no contact at all between teachers and pupils outside of official school activities. A quick 'hello' and nod if passing, no need to be rude, but 'friends'?

[ChillDoubt]

Bit confused by your OP. As far as I can gather, teachers are being told NOT to befriend pupils on social media and rightly so.

[-Talbot-]

Teachers should not to befriend their pupils on Facebook to avoid becoming victims of cyber bullies, warns Education Secretary


A word missing from the OP, an extra word from the mail.

Teachers should not be 'friends' with pupils on FB.

[andy-hughes]

I assume you meant teachers should NOT be 'friends' with their pupils.

I would hope that anyone bright enough to be a teacher would not need to be told to keep away from the time-wasting self-obsession that makes up the majority of social media.

If any advice were to be offered, perhaps it should be that teachers don't sign up to social media either - it's really not an essential aspect of adult life, in spite of the apprarent messages to the contrary.

As for pictures of teachers drinking at parties - assuming that a teacher is professional enough to conduct themselves like a mature adult in public, they should have nothing to worry about.

Any nonsense that does percolate through should be ignored for the pointless nonsense that it is, and denied the proverbial oxygen of publicity, any such items will be a one-day-wonder.

What next - telling teachers to remember to brush their teeth in the morning?

[mushroom25]

I can't understand what it is that compels people to tell mark zuckerberg everything that they do.

[jim360]

I don't see a problem with teachers mnowing their pupils outside school if that is what the pupils want, but certainly I'd say that teachers should not go out of their way to befriend their students. And adding them to social media is unwise because then the teacher has no control over the clashing of their adult and working lives. Staying off Facebook etc., altogether? Not necessary, there's nothing wrong with social media per se, but up to the individual.

[ToraToraTora]

I'm amazed anyone uses this public cess pit, let alone children, teachers should know better.

[oldbillbuck]

This is just symptomatic of the modern teacher/pupil relationship. When I was at school, there was the teacher and the pupils and ne'er the twain shall meet. The teacher was not called by his christian name, did not sit on the desk with the pupils etc. there was a divide and it was respected. If there is no divide between teacher and pupil the wrong sort of relationship happens. Its like at work, there has to be a separation between worker and boss. You cannot be their mate one minute and ball them out the next when required, its the same for teacher/pupil. Know that this sounds a bit old fashioned, but then I am, and I think things worked better then. Dare I say that kids came out of school with a better all round education.

[Hopkirk]

I know where you are coming from OldBill, and half agree with you.

However my kids are having an excellent education, probably better than I got.

[andy-hughes]

I would like to re-assess my attitude to Facebook - I am sure that with proper control by the teacher, including avoiding any contact with any pupil for any reason, they can use it safely.

I must not allow my predjudice against a concept (I have barely even dipped into Facebook personally) to try and suggest that draconian restrictions are a good idea.

[hc4361]

Thanks for the replies, folks. Of course I missed out 'not' from my first sentence. Apologies.

I do agree there should be boundaries between pupil and teacher and if any teacher has concerns about the welfare or mental health of a pupil that should be reported to the proper facility within the school.

My favourite teachers were the strict but fair ones, not the over friendly ones who couldn't control a class.

[jim360]

Quite, Andy, although I still think that any teachers added to their pupils' facebooks, etc., are making a mistake because it can lead to a clash between two lives that ought to be fairly separate. Facebook can be a scene for unwanted drama, although really it's just a reflection of the drama that existed anyway, and the only difference is that everyone can see it.

The point, really, is that in a teacher-pupil relationship, it ought to be at first up to the pupil as to whether or not s/he wants to know the teacher outside school hours, and then the teacher should have the judgement necessary to know whether or not that's appropriate in the case at hand. We shouldn't be too dogmatic about it, I don't think. Most pupils anyway won't want to befriend their teachers, so it rarely comes up, but I'd have thought that the ideal teacher is someone you actually like -- someone who doesn't force respect, but has earned it; someone you might even want to get to know better. (Oh, and also they have to be teaching the material correctly, which is overlooked surprisingly often...)

[andy-hughes]

jim360 - "The point, really, is that in a teacher-pupil relationship, it ought to be at first up to the pupil as to whether or not s/he wants to know the teacher outside school hours, and then the teacher should have the judgement necessary to know whether or not that's appropriate in the case at hand."

That seeme emminently sensible.

If a pupil wishes to confide in a teacher, then that facility should certainly be in place as part of the pastoral care inherent in the teacher / pupil relationship.

But if the pupil asks him or herself - while you are bearing your soul to Mrs Bloggs, would you do it on the school hall stage with the entire school sitting and listening?

Since the answer would probably by no, then it is obviously not appropiate to conduct such conversations on the cyber-equivalent of that scenario - social media.

[jim360]

Should add -- there have to be some boundaries, but if teachers are regarded as being in loco parentis then that means that what's not inappropriate for parents ought also to be fine for teachers. It's perfectly possible for parents to be "friends" as well, and so it ought to be perfectly fine for teachers to count as friends. The teacher should ensure that the relationship doesn't go too far, and also ensure that the pupil is the one to decide if they want it to go anywhere beyond the classroom or not, but apart from those guidelines I think that we should be able to rely on people's judgement.

I know that my old music teacher came round to our house for dinner a couple of times, and I think my brother even went to his place a couple of times too, and there wasn't anything untoward with that, although I can't say I remember the timing. It did make for one or two awkward moments, but ultimately it was nice to be able to see a teacher as another human and that is, surely, a very useful thing.

[jim360]

It's possible on Facebook to have private conversations, so that isn't necessarily an issue. The main point is that adding someone as a friend on facebook also means that you see all the stuff that's posted on their page, most of which will have very little to do with school, some of which might be inappropriate for the children to see, etc etc.

[jim360]

I suppose the other thing is that the parents should be aware of what's going on, or of what the pupil wants. Even if it's just a normal friendship, it oughtn't be going on without the parents' knowledge, although private counselling conversations should still be respected of course.

[youngmafbog]

Facebook is a tool of the Devil.

[jim360]

Bilge.

[Prudie]

I absolutely agree that teachers should not be friends with pupils on FB, I'm sure however some do need to be told - from what I've seen on documentarys the cuddly approach is all the rage and I don't think younger teachers realise what they may be letting themselves in for.
When I was at secondary school it was huge huge news if someone found out what a teacher's christian name was!

[Mamyalynne]

Facebook can be a tool of the devil if used by the wrong people the same as any site (including this one) - overall pupils and teachers would be better not to be friends on social media.

[chelle7272]

//Facebook is a tool of the Devil. //

Not in every case, it depends how you use it.

When my son was at college his teachers set up a class page, so they could discuss homework assignments, show examples of work etc and easily contact the class in case of emergency etc.

It was very useful indeed.