Can teachers be students' Facebook friends? (Houston Chronicle article)

I haven't jumped on the Facebook bandwagon, and I don't have any intention of doing so in the near future. I have my hands full with several personal and group accounts on both Friendster and Multiply, and I kinda still maintain my Blogspot, so that's enough for me. This article still hooked me in though.

My answer is YES - as long as the teacher knows his/her boundaries (whether we're talking about real or virtual interaction with students), and still maintains a professional relationship with his/her students (posts for my peers, for example, should not be set as viewable by EVERYONE). Similarly, if students want to 'friend' their teachers on social networking sites, they must also realize that whatever they post as viewable by 'Everyone' is also open to criticism or whatnot from 'Everyone' as well. The responsibility belongs to both sides of the fence.

- - - - -

Teachers face dilemma with Facebook
Educators find benefits, pitfalls when adding students as friends on the social networking Web site
By ERICKA MELLON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 20, 2008, 11:27PM

(Excerpts)

What seems like an easy question — Will you be my friend? — is not necessarily so for teachers who have joined the Facebook phenomenon.

The social-networking Web site, whose popularity has grown from the college crowd down to teens and up to boomers, poses a prickly question for teachers who want to connect with their tech-savvy students yet maintain professional boundaries.

Should teachers become virtual "friends" with their students?

Opinions are mixed. Opponents fear innocent educators will be branded sexual predators for chatting with students online, while proponents caution against overreacting to a powerful communication tool.

The issue made headlines this month after police accused a 42-year-old former Magnolia High School aide of having sexual exchanges with a 16-year-old former student he contacted via Facebook.

Such rare stories can alarm a community, said Melissa Pierson, who teaches instructional technology at the University of Houston, but educators shouldn't be afraid to use social-networking sites.

"Outside the classroom, in terms of connecting with students, there are some exciting possibilities," said Pierson, who also directs UH's teacher education program. "It's just, teachers need to keep their educator hats on."

Read the full article HERE.

If employees can get fired because of Facebook...

...then maybe students can also get into trouble because of their blogs and social networking sites...?

Wala lang, naisip ko lang. It has been at times a dilemma what to do about inappropriate behavior of our students outside of school - in the malls, on the Internet - places where supposedly we do not have jurisdiction over them anymore.

I've seen kids in uniform (not necessarily Pisay) in the malls, smoking, very publicly displaying affection, cursing...and it always bothers me - if I were there teacher, could I tell them off even if we weren't in school anymore? Or if I read a particularly rude or even offensive blog entry, do I have the right to scold the auther if he/she were a student of my school?

People can get really defensive about this, always subscribing to the "freedom of speech" idea. But I believe that freedom comes with responsibility, and what you do outside of school or outside of your home is still a reflection of the values that your teachers and your family are trying hard to instill in you.

Andrew, who teaches in a Catholic school (and you know how Catholic schools place a premium on forming morally upright children of God), believes that we still do have to be vigilant about our students' behavior outside the campus, especially if they are in uniform or obviously displaying that they belong to a particular school. He says that wherever they go, our students carry the good name of our school, and they must take care not to do anything to smear that good name. Besides, as a person, you should always be a respectable and responsible individual, whether or not a teacher or parent is watching your every move.

Oh my, I'm turning into an adult. I'm one of THEM now. Hehehe.

Hindi, wala lang, it's just that sometimes when I read updates on Multiply, the blog entries of some kids make me flinch (don't worry kids, I'm not filing IRs or anything; I just flinch). Of course, they're emo, and high school's got them angsty and stuff. Sure, I went through the same thing 10+ years ago. But there are some words, ideas, and behaviors that the kids have today that I never would've even touched when I was a teen. I don't wanna sound old-fashioned or anything, but still nothing beats just being a good person, right? :)

Impromptu adult blog entry, inspired by today's headlines, hehehe.

Virgin Atlantic sacks 13 staff after Facebook criticism

Pisay needs BIO teachers for SY 2008-2009

For inquiries about other openings, you can call the Human Resources Department (929 22 71) or the Curriculum and Instruction Services Division (924 0661).

Some rules kids won't learn in school.

Here's something I came across in Multiply:

Unfortunately, there are some things that children should be learning in school, but don't. Not all of them have to do with academics. As a modest
back-to-school offering, here are some basic rules that may not have found their way into the standard curriculum.

Rule No. 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase, "It's not fair" 8.6 times a day. You got it from your parents, who
said it so often you decided they must be the most idealistic generation ever. When they started hearing it from their own kids, they realized Rule
No. 1.

Rule No. 2: The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you
feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock. Usually, when inflated self-esteem meets reality, kids complain it's not fair. (See Rule No. 1)

Rule No. 3: Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a car phone either. You may even
have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a Gap label.

Rule No. 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait 'til you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure, so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you screw up, he's
not going to ask you how you feel about it.

Rule No. 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grand-parents had a different word of burger flipping. They called it opportunity. They
weren't embarrassed making minimum wage either. They would have been embarrassed to sit around talking about Kurt Cobain all weekend.

Rule No. 6: It's not your parents' fault. If you screw up, you are responsible. This is the flip side of "It's my life," and "You're not the
boss of me," and other eloquent proclamations of your generation. When you turn 18, it's on your dime. Don't whine about it, or you'll sound like a
baby boomer.

Rule No. 7: Before you were born your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and
listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents'
generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.

Rule No. 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't. In some schools, they'll give you as many times as you want to get
the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone's feelings be hurt. Effort is as
important as results. This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life. (See Rule No. 1, Rule No. 2 and Rule No. 4)

Rule No. 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don't get summers off. Not even Easter break. They expect you to show up every day. For eight
hours. And you don't get a new life every 10 weeks. It just goes on and on. While we're at it, very few jobs are interesting in fostering your
self-expression or helping you find yourself. Fewer still lead to self-realization. (See Rule No. 1 and Rule No. 2.)

Rule No. 10: Television is not real life. Your life is not a sitcom. Your problems will not all be solved in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials.
In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs. Your friends will not be as perky or pliable as Jennifer Aniston.

Rule No. 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them. We all could.

Rule No. 12: Smoking does not make you look cool. It makes you look moronic. Next time you're out cruising, watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his
mouth. That's what you look like to anyone over 20. Ditto for "expressing yourself" with purple hair and/or pierced body parts.

Rule No. 13: You are not immortal. (See Rule No. 12.) If you are under the impression that living fast, dying young and leaving a beautiful corpse is
romantic, you obviously haven't seen one of your peers at room temperature lately.

Rule No. 14: Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school's a bother, and life is depressing. But someday you'll realize how wonderful it
was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now.

You're welcome.

Text By Charles J. Sykes

Printed in San Diego Union Tribune
September 19, 1996