Should teachers and students be Facebook friends?

“They’re not always as savvy as I am,” Morris said. “They haven’t really grasped the level of formality out in the real world.”

Efforts like New York’s have been subject to legal wrangling and resistance from teachers and their advocates.

Missouri legislators last year passed a law that barred teachers from using websites that allow “exclusive access” with students 18 years old or younger. Teachers complained that they would be banned from Facebook and Twitter.

A judge granted an injunction, declaring that the law “would have a chilling effect” on free-speech rights. The legislature then repealed the restrictions and passed a new law directing school districts to develop their own policies.

Some districts adopted a model policy by the Missouri School Boards Association, decreeing that staff members must use district-approved devices when communicating electronically with students. The guidelines are intended to make it easier for supervisors to monitor teacher-student interactions.

The Missouri State Teachers Association believes some of the local policies are too restrictive. Spokesman Todd Fuller said the association will support its members if they are disciplined under those new rules.

“We’re prepared to deal with the first issue where a teacher’s rights are being infringed,” he said.

See also:

Education groups weigh in on digital media use policies

Developing sound social media policies for schools

Fake Facebook identities are a real problem for schools

In New York City, a United Federation of Teachers spokesman said the union would not comment without seeing the district’s new guidelines.

Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said she hopes the new policy considers First Amendment rights as well as “the enormous potential for benefiting students’ education that is represented by technology.”

Musical theater teacher Charles Willis was suspended in 2010 from Braden River High School in Florida for friending more than 100 students on Facebook and for allegedly posting sexually suggestive images and acronyms for profane words. He is now in a non-classroom job at another school, said John Bowen, a school board attorney.

The district still does not have a formal policy on social media use by teachers but is working on one, a district spokeswoman said.

Willis’ lawyer did not return a call from The Associated Press, but in comments to the Bradenton Herald in March, he noted that students aren’t innocents.

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