Today an email came from one of the principals in my school district encouraging her staff to be cautious when using Facebook. Attached to the email was a memo from the Indiana State Teachers Association stating:
Teachers need to be very careful about what they post online. Social-networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook have been used by some teachers to create personal profiles and, in some cases, to communicate with students. I advise members not to join these sites and if you are currently using these sites, I recommend that you take whatever steps you need to take to remove your profile. Yes, you are entitled to participate in such websites and it may appear to be a radical suggestion that you not participate, but the potential dangers far outweigh the possible advantages of maintaining a profile on such sites.
I sent it on to Stacey and throughout the day we’ve been bouncing around some ideas regarding Facebook. Then I ran across this article from the NY Times about the effects of Facebook. (Don’t you just love it when common themes come up throughout the day?)
Recently I opened a Facebook profile. I’ve been cautious, not posting any pictures, except for a profile pic of myself, with a camera covering most of my face. I’ve also been hesitant to post much and I’m selective on who I accept as a “friend.” For me, the issue is my children. I don’t want anything to happen to them. I don’t want anyone to be able to take them. I don’t want their biological families to know about our lives now.
This is a constant battle — how much do we share online? Each day, throughout the Slice of Life Challenge, I’ve had to consider this issue. How much do I share with the world? It is a hazy line. If I’m going to spend the time writing, then I want it to be real, to be genuine, to matter. Yet how much does one put herself out there to the world?
I’m a believer that stories connect us in powerful ways. If the stories I share can bring joy, comfort, peace, or understanding to another, then I think it is worth sharing. If the stories can harm, embarrass, or break confidence, then it is better left unsaid. This is loosely how I guide myself on what to share online.
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I certainly understand and support the need to exercise caution and good sense online. I also think we are role models and are responsible to BE THERE to teach the good citizen principles of online life. The students are there and if no grown ups are there with them who are they learning from? I am very careful on FB and other social networks, of course. But I think it’s just silly to tell teachers not to join. We should be leading the discoveries and collaboration, not running from it.
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I am glad to have this discussion and the timing couldn’t be better as we have been slicing together for the last month.
I have a very public presence on line. I am not teaching in a public school anymore and I wonder how I would deal with the issue if I were. I hope I would be able to say that I had the same presence.
I think as educators we have a responsibility to embrace the adventure of social networking and digital literacy and support students as they go public, too public often. We need to help them develop a public writers in a powerful and appropriate way,
Bonnie
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Ditto literaryspark. But I also have a policy of no students on Facebook, even though I’ve really dialed down anyone’s ability to see anything that’s secure (on the advice of my 30-something son).
I like the distance that my classroom affords me–I teach 30 minutes away from my school–and don’t want to mix the friendship with the faculty side of me.
Great post.
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Since I have teenagers, I think it is my responsibility to have a facebook account too. I have access to her account so that I can befriend her and have conversations off line about choices and decisions she is making. Instead of hiding from the technology that our teens are using, we need to embrace it and use it and meet them there. I agree that we should be careful, we should be the adults. However, we should not be afraid to parent or to teach.
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I would vehemently disagree that educators should not be friends with students online, in forums such as Facebook and MySpace.
Just as with anything, it’s what you share and how you share it that makes a difference. Students are already interested in your personal life, and ask questions to varying degrees of personal throughout the day in class. Online profiles are simply an extension of our day, our time and our life. Back to my original point, it’s what you share and how. If you use technologies like Facebook, you need to know HOW to use it. It’s not as simple as putting some personal info and a pic into a database, and WHA-LA! profile. I especially like FB for it’s use of filters. You can create filters, title them something like “family,” “Professional” or whatever you like, and then limit what people on those lists see. Just like I wouldn’t broadcast that I met a new love interest to my 6th graders (something part of life and to be shared with friends), I don’t want students to see each status update over the weekend I make, or pictures from undergrad.
Unfortunately, it is still thought to be an avenue of unprofessional communication. I think, however, that it’s a tool to connect with students, to learn a little more about their lives that might actually help us understand them, and to create lasting impressions (hopefully positive) on students. Isn’t that why we teach?
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Oh and in regards to the Writing piece of it I TOTALLY AGREE with your last paragraph! There are many things that are better left unsaid, but there are stories that need to be shared too. Again it goes back to good judgment….it’s all in the good judgment.
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—-Seriously blathering comment about to ensue——
As an avid techno geek I am a user of these things. I maintain a classroom2.0 page, a facebook profile, and I twitter. I also had to make some very clear decisions about who I would allow to connect to me via these tools. Classroom2.0 and Twitter are places where I connect with educators, however my personal information is very limited, Facebook is for friends and family only. I have made some amazing educator contacts through Twitter, Classroom2.0 and blogs such as this one! I wouldn’t trade that for anything. My Classroom2.0 contacts don’t need to know that the dog is sick…and my facebook friends probably aren’t interested in the latest education news.
I recently had to turn down a friend request from a former student who still attends our school on facebook. I simply won’t open that can of worms. I also won’t friend anyone who I don’t know in person. (It’s less about what I might say and more about some high school photos where I have horrendously bad hair.)
That being said, I think administrators are to quick to have a zero tolerance policy for these things. Of course teachers have to be extra careful online, but we have to be extra careful EVERYWHERE! It’s not just in emails or blogs or social networking sites…we are role models and figures in the community. I’ll never forget renting a movie at blockbuster and having a teasing conversation with my husband and then turning around and seeing one my students, his two younger brothers and his mom. All I was thinking was….what did I just say…I didn’t drop the F-bomb did I? Every minute of every day we are under scrutiny. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, it just is. If you’re not ready to be a role model for kids you’re in the wrong profession.
What are these potential dangers that they speak of? Ok so Ruth I see where it could be an issue for you, you have a very specific situation. You’ve made smart and educated decisions for the safety of your children. But what real danger does it pose to teachers, in general, who are exercising their good common sense and rules that you apply to every situation? If you’re a teacher and post racy pictures you should EXPECT to get fired. There are rules we follow-we don’t mention student names, we don’t air dirty laundry in public, and we are mindful about what we say and do. When in doubt you have a colleague check it out whether it’s and email or a newsletter or a conference you are about to have. When you don’t follow those rules you are opening yourself up for trouble…in life or online, it’s just easier on-line because it’s in writing.
I don’t know. I guess I just can’t see justification for the Doom and Gloom attitude that administrations are taking. If anything they need us out there online, making good decisions, to help be part of the global village to raise this next generation. If all the role models are offline who are we leaving the role-modeling to?
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Amen! I think as educators we need to be more than careful about we post on the internet- and that is about confidentiality but also maintaining others’ dignity. There are so many sad, funny and dramatic stories that won’t get posted because of this. Rightfully so.
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