[LM_NET] "Friending" students on Facebook

[Doug Johnson <doug0077@GMAIL.COM>]

Hi folks,

There is an interesting discussion about ³friending² students on Facebook on
my blog. Not as clear cut an issue as I had originally thought.
<http://tinyurl.com/bxsq2f>

Whenever I encounter new situations online, I always try to draw an analogy
to the physical world. Even if kids and I both spent social time at the same
coffee shop or bowling alley, I donıt believe it would be professional if I
³friended² students there. And I personally wouldnıt do this even if I were
a college professor and my students were all adults! We are to be
trusted-adults, not friends, to our students. Any other relationship would
be unfair to the student.

Just as I would report underage students hanging out in a physical space
that required a minimum age for admission to their parents, I would also
report underage students hanging out in an online age-restricted space.

Just something to think about,

Doug


Doug Johnson
Director of Media and Technology
Mankato Area Public Schools
Box 8713, 1351 S Riverfront Dr.
Mankato MN 56001-8714
Phone: 507-387-7698 x 473
E-mail: doug0077@gmail.com
Web: www.doug-johnson.com
Blue Skunk Blog: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/

The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one
that sings. - Wendell Berry 


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