A recent law that has been instituted in Missouri states that teachers are to limit their contact with students on social networking sites. This law was proposed after the Associated Press did an investigation that found 87 Missouri teachers who lost their licenses because of sexual misconduct. Some of these cases were due to sexual misconduct via social media sites and exchanging explicit messages with students.
While this new law could be beneficial to protecting students, some teachers are opposed to the law. Some believe that communicating with students privately makes the students feel more comfortable, rather than in a public setting. Lucinda Lawson, an English teacher at Hartville High School in Missouri said, Private messages give “truly supportive teachers the chance to get help for them when they’re in dangerous or compromising situations.”
Other teachers are arguing that they are responsible with their Facebook pages and that they are not perverts, and wish to stop being treated as one. They argue that they are looking out for the best interest of the students, and are doing so in an appropriate manner.
The new law goes into effect August 28th, and teacher is Missouri will be required to “de-friend” and remove their students, and former students that are minors from their social networking sites. Missouri State Senator Jane Cunningham states that: ”Any teacher who is really working hard with a student privately would want to have a parent or administrator know how hard they’re working. The only problem is if there’s something they want to hide.”
This article contains information from: Fox News
