To Friend or Not to Friend

Boy, that seems to be the question these days.  A Google search in the fall of 2010 for the terms “facebook, teachers, students” garnered close to 9 million hits.  Today, that same search receives over 90 million hits! Should we friend our students on Facebook is a question that all educators should be asking.

There are strong opinions both ways. One school of thought views Facebook as a great tool for home/school collaboration.  Teachers, classrooms, grade levels, entire schools, and even entire school districts can create pages to provide information to the community. Some teachers create pages for projects and “friend” the students assigned to the projects.

These are great educational uses for Facebook.  But what about the social aspect of this site?

Currently, my home district, like many other school districts, does not have a policy in place to provide guidance to employees regarding this issue.  Friending our students can cause sticky situations. For example, what should be done if it is discovered that a student is engaging in risky behaviors, like drinking? Are we obligated to inform parents? And if we do, are they going to welcome our knowledge or will they wonder why an adult has a “social” relationship with their child? On the flip side, what if someone else posts a photo of you, questionable in nature.  Do you really want your students to see that or to know about your social interactions with other adults?

So, compromise by having two separate profiles, a professional one for interactions with past and present students, and a personal one for yourself to enjoy without worrying about that picture of you from high school that you would prefer never again saw the light of day, or the pages of Facebook.

 I would love to hear what others are doing about this.  Send me an email at sharonastclair@gmail.com.