Teacher/Student friendships now illegal in Missouri

Heavy makes some good points.

More than anything I'm bothered by what to me has been a more and more noticeable trend of teachers not being allowed to be normal people. That's not a healthy way to live! They're teachers, for goodness sake, not politicians or celebrities who pretty much accept with their career path that they can never ever be normal.

...also, I like Missouri. Even if it's as hot and humid as Satan's asscrack right now.

edited 2nd Aug '11 1:45:44 PM by Bur

Yeah, I been to Missouri in the summer, and it's sure hot there.

Some of my teachers who has Facebook accounts don't friend students anyways, but still...

Semi-relevant note: I have a friend in that area who knew people who were killed by the recent weather trouble. Guess how some of the survivors, including teachers and students, made contact with each other?

That's right.

Facebook.

I live in Missouri. Hmm. Silly.

There's a lot of Missourians on this board.

The motives behind the law really do seem to be Pædo Hunt-ish in origins. I wouldn't doubt that there's a little bit of Snowman's "teaching liberalism" thing going on in the back of a few legislator's minds, but I don't think it's a primary motivation for the bill.

even if its just paedo-hunt, thats a ridiculous reason to design a law.

This is stupid on itself: But anyway, I doubt it'll stand. Especially if it applies to adult students (who presumably are able to befriend whoever the Hell they want) or former students.

I doubt it'll hold up in court.

edited 2nd Aug '11 6:51:29 PM by SavageHeathen

And it's a shit state. What are we gonna do about it?

Umm...legislation like this isn't too surprising since not adding your current students to your facebook is one of the first things we talk about in teacher's college when the subject of social networking comes up. Heck, I think it's schoolboard regulation now for me this year (I live in Toronto) instead of being some vague advice. We're suppose to maintain a professional distance with our students and "be friendly but not be friends" is a motto that crops up consistently. It's not just due to pedo-hunt or whatever, but a teacher-student is naturally an unequal relationship (we grade the students after all) and crossing professional boundaries can complicate that relationship.

edited 2nd Aug '11 7:51:37 PM by nightwyrm_zero

Hey, now. Be nice to the Missourians. They might have bad weather and less-than-stellar politics, but I dig the toasted ravioli.

I agree that this law is kind of silly, especially the fact that former students and teachers can't friend each other. Money is just going to be wasted.

edited 2nd Aug '11 7:53:55 PM by chihuahua0

Er, what is this I don't even.

Maybe I missed it in the article, but who counts as a "student" and "teacher"? Because I'm in college and I've got plenty of instructors who are other undergrads or grad students, only a couple years older than me.

So adults are not allowed to have relationships with other adults.

Wat.

This is from the bill

"Teachers also cannot have a nonwork-related website that allows exclusive access with a current or former student. Former student is defined as any person who was at one time a student at the school at which the teacher is employed and who is eighteen years of age or less and who has not graduated. "

Former student = eighteen years of age or less and who has not graduated

edited 2nd Aug '11 8:04:00 PM by nightwyrm_zero

I hope a situation like this one does not play out...

Police 1: You two are under arrest!

Woman: Why?

Man: Yeah, we're lawfully married!

Police 2: Just get in the van, you sick people. He used to be your student ten years ago!

Exactly. People are reading "former student" and thinking "he was my teacher in high school but now I'm in college" when really it's "he was my teacher freshman year and now I'm a senior."

Thus, like I said, they're just taking something that's part of school regulations and making it worthy of the law getting involved. So cool your jets, guys. This isn't some blind pedo-hunt.

But by my logic, if a teacher moves up to a higher school in a district, there could be a situation where a student can't friend his or her kindergarten teacher even though he or she's seventeen.

The wording is sort of confusing there.

edited 2nd Aug '11 8:40:38 PM by chihuahua0

I'm still trying to figure out why I haven't moved to Canada yet. Am I really a glutton for punishment?

@Bur: I feel sorry for you guys, I have no idea how you people put up with that BS. Then again, I'm friending my old teachers like a motherfucker on FB; Ms. D is still hot.

I know that a lot of teachers at my old school (and I believe the priest who worked at the school too) made it a policy not to friend any students.

The teacher explained that it was a matter of boundaries. He needed to have some sort of authority over the students, and he felt that having them see posts about how he got 'so drunk' on friday night, etc, was damaging to that authority.

A friend of mine's mother (a high school teacher) actually was doing that before this law was passed. But it was more about privacy than starting a relationship.

edited 3rd Aug '11 3:22:21 AM by Buscemi

Well, I know what state I won't be going to when I get my teaching degree...

Well, you would go somewhere else if you wanted to do something anyway. Most of the interesting people I know leave because they know they'll go nowhere in life if they stay.

To be fair, when I look at a pupil, all I can see is a kid with whom I have nothing in common. I see them as pupils, not as friend-material. I had a pupil who wanted to add me on his PS 3-list, I didn't do it.

I wouldn't have this enshrined in law, but it's common sense to not get too cozy with your pupils. This law is already in effect at a lot of schools, it might not even be official school policy, but people still follow it.

As a teacher you are always incredibly vulnerable, especially if you're a man.

I hung out with a few high school teachers when I was a senior, and I've hung out with a few professors in college. It's good to maintain some boundaries, but if you honestly can't relate to your students in a meaningful way outside the classroom, you're doing something wrong.