Facebook outs creepy teachers, and that's a good thing

everyone should know their boundaries! SIMPLE!!

I'm with you on your position concerning Facebook and other social sites. It helps draw the creeps out of hiding.

Predators are always looking for an angle, and if they are going to do it on Facebook, etc., then they certainly would not be shy about doing it where it would be a lot more difficult to catch them at it.

Predators come wearing the frock of a priest, and they try to invade child daycare-why in gods name do people not realize that they invade educational institutions as well? And even more seriously, why can the ignorant not see the opportunity they have to groom their victims into so-called "willing, consensual" activities?

I think teachers and parents should be friends with kids on FB. This way inapropriate behavior can be monitored - and kids are a heck of a lot less likely to post something bad if they know mom/dad/teach is watching. Like the article says, FB didn't make these people act this way but it makes it a lot easier to catch and do something about!

The school has a need to keep that kind of relationship to a minimum. Understandable.

The only one that I don't get as being bad is the teacher who was fired for posting a pic of her kissing a student she was dating. He was 18, he graduated and they were in a legitimate relationship - how in the hell is that grounds for being fired? just because he happened to be an ex student? so what! it doesn't say that there was anything goin on while he WAS a student, and it's their free choice to begin dating when he's of age and graduated.

As a student, I have never seen a teacher flirting with a student. It's always the student flirting with the teacher. The student initiates the relationship in most cases. Not that that makes it justified, but we're all humans looking for the same thing

I would bet money that the wide majority of teachers do not cross this line. Good article though. I remeber a teacher in HS a long time ago that did hit on the girls and was commonly known as having "affairs with students" by the students.

I think that the issue is too complicated for an easy answer. Let's start with what I am not talking about -- I am not talking about a teacher who is lewd and "trolls" for vulnerable students nor in those circumstances where the teacher is it initiator. And let's also be clear with the simple truth that the adult has to be reponsible for his or her behavior. But times have changed. Teachers have always had to field "crushes" from students. In the past, it was only the most weak and mal-adjusted individual who succumbed to the temptation. NOW as we have sexualized our youth, the "crushes" are much more sexually driven. It is only the strongest and most balanced individual that is able to deflect the crush.

It's kind of a shame that the creeps are ruining it for everyone. I'm on the student/ teacher cusp... I graduate in April and am currently student teaching. I have teachers from high school on my facebook, but none of my students.

I would LOVE to have all my kids on facebook... when I teach them, I genuinely care about them and what they're doing and I wish I could keep in touch with them! In my last practicum, I had grade six students and they were just wonderful.... but I'm not able to stay in touch with them and find out how they are doing now, a year later, despite the availability of the wonderful tool that is facebook, because then I would be a creep.

It makes me really sad. =(

If ateacher wants to "friend" theit student AFTER they graduate, I don't see a problem with that. A few of my high school teachers have Facebook pages and have "friended" some of my old high school friends. Before graduation, however, I see it as inappropriate, if it's PERSONAL page. If the Facebook page is connected to the school, then I don't see a problem with it.

The teachers mentioned above definitely crossed boundaries, though.

I really don't think that facebook is to blame. It's just as easy for a teacher to give out their e-mail address and then e-mail inapropriate things to their students. At least on facebook it's more out in the open if they post anything that they shouldn't. The fact of the matter is that there are people that shouldn't be teaching, and maybe this will make it easier to weed out those people. that doesn't mean that teachers shouldn't be "friends" with their students on facebook, as long as it isn't their personal account. If it makes it easier for the kids to get help or info for what they need then it isn't a bad thing

Generally speaking, I don't friend my teachers. However, many of the coaches out my school have created facebooks they use to update us with info and to keep an eye on us. Many teams at my school require players with facebooks to be friends with the coach's "Coach ______" profile, not their personal ones.

i have been hit on by teachers and when i found i had a friend request from them i hit reject its that simple for me its only when they start doin in over and over again that i delete my profile and start another and dont let them know and use a different name so they dont find out.........................i hate stalkers

I had a teacher in high school who would hug too "hard" (if you catch my drift) and kiss my neck (he was a special needs teacher and I was his student aide). I went to the principal and complained and was told that his affections were what made him able to help the special needs children and I must have misunderstood! The teacher only got worse and gave me sexually suggestive cards and gifts (all w/out signatures). I ended up moving to another state the next year for college and he ended up calling my parents new phone number trying to locate me! I still get freaked out just thinking about him.

Sure they should........and straight after that they can write their resignation!!!

I was also hit on by one of my teachers--many times. He was my biology teacher, and was well known in our school for being kind of a perv, actually. He was always on the sidelines at the football games taking photos of the drill team and cheerleaders, and found a way to insinuate himself into the personal lives of his students and was allowed to tag along on school trips (even overnights) as a chaperone, even though the school was well aware of his behavior. We tolerated him because he seemed harmless, but in retrospect, I don't think he was. He was eventually fired, and I admit, I still felt a twinge of pity for him. If Facebook had been around back then, I'm sure he would have been all over it!

I agree that in most cases teachers shouldn't friend their students. Still, I can see some situations, such as if a particular child does not have any real family and is living in a very turbulent household (assuming they have any kind of home). In those cases, the teacher may care for the child and want to be there in case the kid really needs them.

This is tricky, because a good number of kids don't have adults in their lives upon whom they can rely. Lots of parents are abusive, neglectful, or just checked out, and those kids turn to the schools for their support. Teachers can be the lifeline those children need.

Then there are those children whose parents love them but simply don't share the child's interests or needs. For example, a very bright kid who wants to attend college but whose family discourages college in favor of working right away. That child needs a teacher to step in and encourage him/her to follow his/her dream and to guide him/her in finding a good school and some scholarships. It's not just counselors, but the teachers who set the example and provide the encouragement, that can get kids out of a bad situation.

Of course, there is a fine line between being a trusted adult and being inappropriately close with a student, but I think that a certain level of relationship is really vital to being a good teacher.

you also need to take into consideration how many people dont have the experience of having been hit on by a teacher and also in teachers defense alot of past time students use facebook for networking those who want to be approached in an inappropriate way will one way or another and having teachers on facebook doesnt make a difference i know a girl at my high school who went directly to the teacher and asked if she could see his genitalia

The problem with teachers being friends with their students on Facebook is that they are crossing a professional boundary. Your teachers are not your friends--they are your teachers. Whether or not they were capable of making inappropriate comments to students before Facebook isn't the point; it's the fact that in both cases, they are not recognizing that they are authority figures who are expected to keep a reasonable distance between themselves and the personal lives of their students.