SHOULD TEACHERS AND STUDENTS BE FRIENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

One day, Daniel was on his Facebook account and searched for his favorite teacher.
He clicked to find out his favourite teacher Miss Alice was on Facebook. Without any
hesitation, Daniel clicked the send request button. Surprisingly the notification popped out on
Daniels account noting that Miss Alice has approved Daniels friend request. In seconds,
Daniel scrolled over Miss Alices albums to find out a-not-so-appropriate-picture of her with
her friends. Without further thinking, Daniel chose to share the photo on his page. The next
day, Miss Alice found herself called up to the principals office to explain herself regarding the
photo. This is where the professor from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Professor Minerva McGonagall would come in... "Well folks, I think we all would agree, this
wouldn't be a predicament that any of us would want to be in."
Good morning to the excellencies, respected teachers and my lovely friends. The
topic of my speech today is should teachers and students be friends on social media?
"Should teachers and students be Facebook friends? "Should they text, tweet, 'snap' or
gram' each other?" To friend the teacher or not to friend the teacher, that is the question.
The next big question would be is to accept the students friend request or to not accept the
students friends request?
Ladies and gentlemen, social media network such as Facebook, twitter, Instagram is
a place where a teacher wears many hats. We are not even talking about immorality here;
we are talking about the common sense privacy and professional boundaries. Considering
that 95 percent of teenagers are online, according to Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Cortesi, S.,
Gasser, U., Duggan, M., Smith, A., & Beaton, M. (2013) on Pew Research Internet Projects
National survey of teens and parents, and 81 percent use social networking sites such as
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, its understandable that technology is an
effective way for teachers to connect with students. In todays complicated world, it seems
more and more teachers are crossing boundaries with students. Day by day more cases
about a teacher, coach, or other trusted adult molesting, sexting, or using other inappropriate
path to get close with a student through technology according to Aydin, S. (2012).
Ladies and gentlemen, Social media is where the teenagers are. Yes, it is true as
the children live in the technology era and the technology itself revolves around them.
However, there are more appropriate and more formal platform of digital communication that
can be used between teachers and students. There are plenty of other alternatives and
option that teachers can look into in the effort of reaching out to their students without
crossing professional boundaries. A more educational websites can be used or even created
by teachers in the process of reaching out to the whole class, including parents. This can be
an effective form of communication as well as giving huge benefit to students.
 Some educators using social media platforms to communicate with students argue
that technology is a great teaching tool. They view social media in a positive way as a
medium to connect to students. However, there are some educators who strongly believe
that teachers should not interact with students on social media. This is due to some real
ethical concerns. Cases such as teachers who have ended up in sexual relations with
students had occurred. As a matter of fact, these relationships began online.
Professionally, a clear boundary should be set between private and professional
lives. Let us look deeper into Miss Alice case, imagine being Daniel and how those pictures
of Miss Alice changed his view upon his English teacher. Daniel's once favorite and
respected teacher had lost her credibility and professionality as a teacher to Daniel. Instead
of focusing on the lesson, those pictures of Miss Alice lingers around Daniels mind. The
bottom line is teachers are educators as well as role models to students. By right teachers
shouldn't be "friends" with their students on social media.
Ladies and gentlemen, teachers not only teach content but they also inculcate values
among their students. Educators teach students through their own examples. Imagine this, a
teacher is like a mirror, the one who stares at it, reflects upon it. Same goes to teachers. A
teacher is like a mirror where the students reflect on especially through the teachers
behaviour and personality.
Furthermore, home and personal life by right shouldnt be spilled over into the
classroom. There are cases where teachers post about their marriage issues on social
media where they befriended with their students. Obviously this is something that shouldnt
be shared between teachers and students. Therefore, teachers need to set boundaries and
keep their private lives, private. Yes, teachers deserve to have a life. They have every right
to post pictures, talk about their lives, post about whoever they are with, whatever they are
doing in their own social media realm. Thus, the choice is always in the hands of the
teachers whether they want to open up a space for the students to dig through their personal
lives.
In a nutshell, teachers need to continue to be an authority figure. Therefore, it is
never appropriate for teachers and students to be friends on social media. Social media is a
free for all where anyone is free to say anything to or about anyone else. Teachers and
students should enjoy a healthy separation in and out of school. Children are growing up in
the technology era where less is more, faster is better, and to catch a childs attention, the
teachers must be on the cutting edge of technology. Students tend to not think twice about
friending a teacher on Facebook or any other social media. Thus, it is the teachers that need
to put in some thought, recognize their professional roles, and realize the risks they open
themselves up to by friending students. So ladies and gentlemen, the button is yours.
Thank you.
REFERENCES:

Aydin, S. (2012). A review of research on Facebook as an educational environment.

Educational Technology research and development, 60(6), 1093-1106.

Madden, M., Lenhart, A., Cortesi, S., Gasser, U., Duggan, M., Smith, A., & Beaton, M.
(2013). Teens, social media, and privacy. Pew Research Center, 21, 2-86.