School Says Forget About Friending Teacher

Miss. School District Bans Teacher-Student Contact Via Facebook, MySpace Or Texting

(AP)  A new school district policy in southern Mississippi prohibits teachers from texting or communicating with students through Internet social network sites such as MySpace.

The Lamar County school board approved the policy earlier this month after becoming concerned that casual contact between teachers and students would be unprofessional.

"The only intent is to limit the personal communication between teachers and students," Superintendent Ben Burnett told The Hattiesburg American newspaper. "We don't need to let it cross the line between professional and personal communication."

Burnett said the policy won't keep teachers or students from creating profiles on sites such as MySpace or Facebook, which allow users to share personal information and communicate over the Web.

"This just keeps them from communicating socially through those kinds of means," Burnett said.

No incident led to the policy, which was enacted at the suggestion of the school board attorney. The board has yet to set penalties for violating the policy.

[eggy1620]

Sounds like the school board attorney doesn%u2019t have enough to do.

[larryglennb]

Here are the texts that I sent my students this year:
Don''t forget the Student Leaders Lunch with the principal today.
Yes, you may check out a camera today. Come by and see me.
The contest is at 6 PM at the Scott Theatre.
Yes, I will help you make a slide show for your brother''s funeral.

[barbaram99]

Lass/lad, I was a student in the pre computer days . The bill of rights,there is our rights. I grad in 74.
They seem to be passing the might laws..
Yes the system adm can block sites that are not part of the school learning.
When I was a student I read every thing about the Apollo flights in the school library. FYI, we are running computers in our home,work,school that is more powerful than what they had in the Apollo program. Yep.
Sure they use pc in class today. Learn this ,computer is a tool. Sure they can block sites.
students today are lucky,

[sociald63]

but what if my teacher is reallllly HOT and texts me ... do i BLOG her ??!!

[txgrouch2006]

mswolfestock wrote
BECAUSE NEITHER THE TEACHERS, STUDENTS, OR THE STUDENTS PARENTS KNOW ANY BETTER NOWADAYS.
---------------
Well, that''s just consistent with the SOLE AND DEDICATED PURPOSE of the public school system - to teach children to take NO RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR ANYTHNG. Apparently it''s the ONLY lesson the public schools can teach - they teach it EXTREMELY well, and the children LEARN IT EVEN BETTER.

[txgrouch2006]

Wineberry wrote
Excuse me, I guess the beach area is made up of sterile water, and if a dog is in it is "might" contaminate the poor wittle people. Go figure.
--------------------
That''s because other beaches have been sued by citizens claiming they or their own pets were harmed by someone else''s dog. It''s called "taking the legally defensive position." Thank the courts that consent to even hear such frivolous lawsuits.

Why not change your screen name to "Whineberry." That would fit you better.

[mswolfestock]

I think the school is trying to prevent a disaster -

they don''t want their teachers and students ending up in Mexico;

they don''t want another MaryBeth LeTourneau.

It''s sad, really, that the school has to make these kinds of rules

BECAUSE NEITHER THE TEACHERS, STUDENTS, OR THE STUDENTS PARENTS KNOW ANY BETTER NOWADAYS.

The school has to take the position of Morals Police because they know that the parents don''t know (or care) what their kids are doing. It''s obvious that parents are not smart or brave enough to monitor their kids'' internet use.

[wineberry]

No incident? why the rule? We are just gonna keep passing laws and more laws to "prevent" what "might" happen. Gee, the future looks bright for freedom, eh?
Pathetic.

Posted by legacyABQ
_____________________________________________________
You are right, they should call them the "might" laws. I was at a local lake the other day with my dog, as was another group, and we were told the dogs were not allowed in the roped-off beach area because if too many people brought their dogs they "might" get into a fight and "might" bite someone. When I called the park office of the lake I was told that I can take the dog into an area of the lake not specified as a beach area, because other people "might" not appreciate our dogs the way we do. Excuse me, I guess the beach area is made up of sterile water, and if a dog is in it is "might" contaminate the poor wittle people. Go figure.

[txgrouch2006]

This is going to be hard to enforce. What about teachers who run onine "homework help" websites that include interacting with specific student questions?

All the teacher has to do is write "I''ll meet you after the soccer game to go over ths problem with you." and BUSTED!!!

Oh, but wait. Online help sites are UNFAIR because they put poor students at a disadvantage if they don''t have internet access at home... gosh, better ABOLISH HELP SITES anyway. Sigh.

[legacyabq]

No incident? why the rule? We are just gonna keep passing laws and more laws to "prevent" what "might" happen. Gee, the future looks bright for freedom, eh?
Pathetic.

[spadeisspade]

It''s a shame that it comes down to something like this. I regularly peruse my much younger brother''s MySpace because our mother has no desire to figure out how to use it. It''s a great way to a) figure out what''s up in his life b) keep him from putting something stupid on there like his telephone number or a false age. Not all kids have protective siblings, and teachers on Myspace may put the necessary dampers and reality checks on kids who think for some reason that its private.

[barbaram99]

I was a student in the pre computer days. I can understand the reason. Things sure changed today. I can see the rule. If the kids are accessing the site on school time then the school should know what is done on the school computers. We pay the teachers.