Paimun
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Captain Punderpants!
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Posts: 221
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Post by Paimun on Jul 30, 2011 17:53:56 GMT -5
I don't understand. You think it's professional for teachers to be Facebook-friends with their students? I got along very well with a lot of my teachers outside of class and I don't see why it's such a bad thing that we had more of a relationship beyond the classroom. You're basically trying to assert that any sort of remotely friendly behavior between students and teachers is a bad thing which is so entirely laughable I don't even really need to explain myself. It's just bollocks. |
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Post by ironbite on Jul 30, 2011 17:54:30 GMT -5
I'm sorry but why the hell are you defending this? There's already policies in place that discourages fraternizations between student/teacher so there's no real need for this law.
Ironbite-and considering it's targeted at collage age students mainly yeah I find this stupid.
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Post by Miles, The Slightly Off on Jul 30, 2011 17:55:29 GMT -5
Forgive me, if I'm speaking out of turn, but you do realize that the only reason that this legislation is being passed is because they want to keep students from having sex with teachers, and the other way around, correct?
This isn't because of professionalism in the teaching profession, this is a law that was made just to keep teachers and students from diddling each other, which I doubt they were using facebook for in the first place.
Now, I'm not going to go into the debate over whether or not it's professional. Whilst I personally would like to actually be friends with my teacher, I am homeschooled and can't really say that I understand what public schooling is like. But at the very least, you should understand that the reason for this law is stupid at best. Or, at least, the reason it was passed.
[/rant]
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Post by cestlefun17 on Jul 30, 2011 18:04:47 GMT -5
There is a difference between "being friendly" with a teacher and "being friends." Being friends is a relationship of equals. Teaches and students are not equal. Teachers are not there to be your friends. They are there to educate you, and if you are having personal trouble, they can be a sort of mentor (within certain guidelines). This doesn't mean they can't have fun in the classroom, and that students and teachers can't joke around from time to time, but there is a line. Where this line is located is subject to opinion. All I can say is that as a licensed Massachusetts teacher I agree 100% that teachers accepting friend requests from students is just asking for trouble and is unprofessional.
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Post by Dragon Zachski on Jul 30, 2011 18:47:53 GMT -5
There is a difference between "being friendly" with a teacher and "being friends." Being friends is a relationship of equals. Teaches and students are not equal. Teachers are not there to be your friends. Why? |
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Post by Shane for Wax on Jul 30, 2011 19:10:47 GMT -5
I've never understood the mentality that there should be a wall between student and teacher. I'd like to think that my teacher is my friend and as my friend wants to see me succeed and help me and even have discussions about the subjects discussed in class but with a wider scope.
Such as with my Psychology professor. We'd discuss psychology but at a wider scope where I'd talk about TV shows that use psychology as a focus point. These shows weren't discussed in class but they dealt with the subject. If the teacher was not my friend I doubt she'd have given me the time of day and would have just wanted to get out of the classroom.
Likewise, my criminal justice professor was my friend. We even discussed him paying for my trip to the Body Farm, a trip I could not afford alone. A regular teacher doesn't do that. A friend does. Hell, with him we didn't just keep our discussions focused on criminal justice. We discussed sports and other things, too. Something a mere teacher probably doesn't discuss outside of the classroom with their students.
I think this law is silly. And not to mention... what if the teacher is related to the student somehow? It happens...
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Post by the sandman on Jul 30, 2011 20:31:26 GMT -5
There is a difference between "being friendly" with a teacher and "being friends." Being friends is a relationship of equals. Teaches and students are not equal. Teachers are not there to be your friends. Why? Because, at least below the university level, a relationship of equals is antithetical to classroom order and discipline. At this level, it is necessary for the teacher to be an authority figure on behavioral matters, something that is not possible between equals. Friends can be disagreed with and debated with. When I am in the classroom, I can not allow an atmosphere where my will can be successfully opposed on behavioral matters. While I encourage spirited debate and disagreement on philosophical and academic matters, if I tell a student to stop being disrespectful, or acting like a jackass, or even just something lame like to stop chewing gum or to tuck in their shirt, my will must be uncontested. Otherwise I have no control over the classroom, and I'm sure everyone here has been in at least one classroom in high school where the teacher did not have control. It wasn't a pretty sight, was it? As a teacher at the sub-University level (and I say this from a quarter of a century of experience), you must be, in order, the students disciplinarian, then teacher, then mentor, then friendly facilitator. Those roles, when they become impossible to achieve, begin dropping off in reverse order. First I stop being your friendly facilitator, then I stop being your mentor. Then teacher goes out the window, leaving only disciplinarian. If that becomes impossible, then YOU go out the window, or at least out of the classroom. At the university level, the order of roles is teacher, mentor, friend. No need to be a disciplinarian at this level, the university has personnel who fill that role. This difference is the reason that you can totally get away with hanging out with your students and letting them call you by your first name at the university level, but to do so at lower levels would not only utterly destroy your ability to do your job, but also probably lead to your termination and possible arrest. In high school your teacher is not your friend. They can't be and still be professional and effective. |
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Parabola
New Member
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Posts: 22
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Post by Parabola on Jul 30, 2011 21:16:16 GMT -5
What baffles me is that there actually needs to be a law against it.
At my school, Facebook friendships between teachers and students is strictly prohibited until the student graduates. I don't think there are state laws against it here in Massachusetts, but if there were, it would just be redundant for us.
Maybe we just have teachers and students smart enough to uphold it well enough.
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Post by cestlefun17 on Jul 30, 2011 22:02:26 GMT -5
Thank you "the sandman": I could not have expressed that any better.
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Post by Shane for Wax on Jul 30, 2011 23:13:47 GMT -5
I did some digging into the news article that mashable got their info from... These passages are concerning (and I hope you see the problem with this too): Current and former? So when I graduate I can't friend that awesome Biology teacher in Sophomore year of High School? So that leaves out Twitter too because there's always DMing. Even though that's one of the quickest ways to know about last-minute band practices and the like (I bring it up cause the article brings up band). |
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Post by clockworkgirl21 on Jul 31, 2011 2:34:59 GMT -5
I totally agree, In 11th and 12th grade, I was good friends with my music teacher. Outside of school I'd call her by her first name and joke around with her. During school, I'd always call her Mrs. _________ and we both knew to stay within the teacher/student boundaries. I see no reason why students and teachers can't be friends as long as they both know there is a boundary during school.
This law is WAY out of line.
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Post by Haseen on Jul 31, 2011 4:01:15 GMT -5
Just because something is unprofessional, doesn't mean it should be illegal. I could kinda sorta understand the rationale if it was limited to students younger than 18, but beyond that is intrusive government for no good reason.
I should also add that every teacher is a former student, so a teacher friending a teacher would be technically illegal...
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Post by Mlle Antéchrist on Jul 31, 2011 5:07:10 GMT -5
It refers to former students who they personally taught... which is still pretty stupid.
A good teacher knows how to strike a balance between keeping their classroom in control while remaining approachable, something which can be accomplished in various different ways. The three best teachers I had all had very different teaching styles, but those two factors -- maintaining control and being approachable -- were the common denominator.
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Post by cestlefun17 on Jul 31, 2011 7:24:27 GMT -5
I agree that criminal penalties are completely over the line, as is a prohibition on friending former students once they've graduated.
Unless you have some other connection to your music teacher (she is a family friend or relative) I don't know why she would want to be friends (not "friendly") with a student. There is no reason why an adult needs to seek out children for friendships. I don't know what constitutes "joking around," so if you're just talking after school and she lets you call her by first name, perhaps this isn't too bad, but if she's inviting you to parties, out to the movies, going shopping, etc. then that is completely inappropriate by any sane teacher's standards. If teachers want more friends, they can seek out adult friends amongst their peers.
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Paimun
Full Member
Captain Punderpants!
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Posts: 221
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Post by Paimun on Jul 31, 2011 7:28:26 GMT -5
What I don't understand is why it has to be black and white. You can't be equals in the classroom, so you can't be equals outside of the classroom? Why? My teacher is above me when I am in class studying a subject that they are trying to get me to understand, yes; but outside of that, what stops us from having a friendship? I guess I'm failing to see why it can't be both.
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