Schools draw social media line between teachers, kids
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Social media is becoming the new focus of school policies as districts that embrace technology try to balance adult and student contact on and off campus.
Incidents of teacher and student encounters gone wrong via social media are growing. In February, a former New Rochelle school librarian, was sentenced to three years probation after admitting to trying to seduce a 16-year-old student. It was text messages the boy's parents saw between the two that broke the case, police said.
A 14-year-old Connecticut teen was charged last month with harassment for posting inappropriate pictures of a teacher on line.
"Social media has become part of everyone's everyday life," said Carl Korn, a spokesman for New York State United Teachers. "Teachers are struggling to find the right balance - or deciding not to participate - because while there are rewards, there are also risks."
As schools bring technology into their hallways and classrooms, districts have been driven to craft a patchwork of policies to delineate what has long been a gray area.
School administrators want their teachers to interact with students and parents and encourage them to use social media to send homework reminders or post student work. They also want their teachers to maintain a professional distance, increasingly asking them to sign an "acceptable use policy" or "code of conduct" that forbids them from "friending" students on Facebook or following them on Twitter.
"Any time there are kids involved, there are protocols," said Nyack schools Superintendent James Montesano.
Byram Hills school district's policy limits teacher-student contact to the district's email system or website.
"So it's traceable," said schools Superintendent William Donahue. "In that regard, we can put limits on that part of their professional life."
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Schools draw social media line between teachers, kids