Crawford County districts consider Facebook policies
September 6, 2011 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
BUCYRUS — Social networking websites such as facebook.com and myspace.com have long been a powerful tool for connecting with friends and networking with associates from next door to the next continent.
Sometimes, though, it is a little too familiar.
While one of the biggest school districts in the state, Dayton City Schools, made it policy to ban teachers from being “friends” with their students on Facebook and other sites, local districts have taken action in the past and will take action in the future to protect students and teachers.
“We have a policy that talks about the outside activities of the staff, but it doesn’t mention Facebook directly,” Bucyrus Superintendent Kevin Kimmel said. “We have nothing that prohibits teachers from being ‘friends’ with their students on Facebook. But in our new teacher days, we talked to them extensively about that. We don’t tell them they cannot be friends with their students, but we encourage them not to.”
Ted Bruner, superintendent at Colonel Crawford, said his board’s policy is out of date.
“We have a policy in place, but we need to change it. It is a lot of discussion and three months after you institute it, you have to talk about starting to change it again,” Bruner said. He eluded to hand held devices becoming a problem in the near future, another policy change that will need to be made.
“We suggest to teachers not to be on Facebook, but we cannot force them. The whole thing is terribly scary. If you tell them they cannot, you then have issues with telling them what they can and cannot do.”
While Wynford Superintendent Steve Mohr said his policy is simple and straight forward, it also opens the door.
“They are told not to communicate with students via social networking unless it is instruction related,” Mohr said, admitting that his knowledge of Facebook was limited. “It is on the teacher to maintain professional distance.”
But there are alternatives to Facebook and other social networking sites.
Bucyrus middle school is using a program called Schoology, which mirrors Facebook with its look and ease of use, but gives the teacher — and administration if necessary — total control of what is written.
And posts are not as easy as simply deleting something that may be inappropriate. From students to teachers, each post is kept the moment it is sent. Even if it is deleted, there is always a record.
“Right now we have the advantage of allowing a non-traditional way of learning for kids who enjoy learning through Internet dialogue. There is no inappropriate interaction,” Kimmel said. “We hope to continue providing the network learning the kids enjoy without the risks of social media.”
Bruner said he has had cases in the past where photos found on Facebook have led to discipline for students. Though each school said it has not had a problem with a student-teacher relationship involving facebook.
For the most part, though, it is the one-versus-100 rule. While 100 teachers can use the tool appropriately and effectively, one doing the wrong thing gives them all a bad name and sets new limits on how teachers should and should not contact students and vice versa. That being the case, it is difficult for administrators to lock down what teachers should and shouldn’t do in their own time.
“Our recommendation to the staff is that they go through the district if they want to contact students through Facebook,” Galion Superintendent Kathy Jenney said. “Our feeling is that they are acting as a representative of the district and they have to follow the rules. If they are violating the policy, we draw the line. Plus, our rule is supported by the state teachers union, so there is no crossover.”
In the end, the deference between the student teacher relationship — even the relationships that are closer than most — fall on the adult to draw the line.
“Perception is reality and teachers cannot afford to take those chances,” Mohr said. “All you need to do to see it is look around, when something like that happens it is news — and it is national news. It is incumbent upon us to protect the teachers and the student. There is just too much at stake.”
