Previous by Date | Next by Date | Date Index
Previous by Thread | Next by Thread
| Thread Index
| LM_NET
Archive
| |
Gail said: "I think we would all be wise to take a wait and see attitude because I think it's just a matter of time before some educator will be charged with an offense (guilty or not) through a Facebook type of contact." Nancy said: "This is already happening. The school attorneys have been telling me that they are having increasing problems with this. It just has not hit the news in a major way. Usually, they just fire the teacher and hope nothing hits the media. " This is not exactly about a teacher, but it is about a person in some kind of authority over his charges. "A PRISON officer has been sacked after 13 criminals, including a murderer, were discovered among friends on his Facebook page." http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25234866-663,00.html _____________________________________ Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS Librarian Damrosch Day Treatment School NYC Department of Education 750 Jennings Street Bronx, NY 10459 voice: 718 378-0006 x2172 fax: 718 589-9544 p s a r l e s @ s c h o o l s . n y c . g o v http://damroschlibrary.blogspot.com/ http://robinhoodlibrarians.wikispaces.com "Ten guards and the warden couldn't have torn me out of those books. Months passed without even thinking about being imprisoned....I had never been so truly free in my life." - Malcolm X "Some kids go to the library ... Others to the street. But they can't go to the libraries if the libraries are closed." - Officer Dombranski, NYPD "The best morals kids get from any book is just the capacity to empathize with other people, to care about the characters and their feelings. So you don’t have to write a preachy book to do that. You just have to make it a fun book with characters they care about, and they will become better people as a result." - Louis Sachar -----Original Message----- From: School Library Media & Network Communications on behalf of Nancy Willard Sent: Mon 3/23/2009 10:42 PM To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU Subject: Re: One more FB Comment Gail said I think = > we would all be wise to take a wait and see attitude because I think it's j= > ust a matter of time before some educator will be charged with an offense (= > guilty or not) through a Facebook type of contact. This is already happening. The school attorneys have been telling me that they are having increasing problems with this. It just has not hit the news in a major way. Usually, they just fire the teacher and hope nothing hits the media. One member of this list communicated privately to me telling me of a young teacher in her district who simply got headed in the wrong direction with a student - fortunately stopped before any actual physical involvement. But he is not teaching in the district any more. The problem is not older more established teachers who have been around the block more than a few times - and who are unlikely to be ones who students are going to flirt with (no offense intended - I would put myself into that category also ;-)). The problem is setting an environment where this is perceived to be acceptable for all teachers. The younger teachers who are the ones far more likely to get into trouble. They are more likely to be actively socializing on FB, have adult friends who are also really into socializing, and simply have not yet been in the position to recognize and know how to deal with situations when students have formed a crush - and they are also the ones who are more likely to have students interested in them for relationship purposes. These are the young teachers who are going to get into trouble. I am not talking about the true predator type. I am talking about young teachers who are simply going to get into a trap and not recognize that they have until things have gotten into a place where their jobs and credibility have been very damaged. And were it not for FB communications I do not think this harm would occur. I have spent a long time researching and thinking about how use of technologies can interfere with ethical decision-making. This is ever since when I was an attorney in the 80's (told you I was old) and I was giving lectures to teachers and librarians on copyright laws and those 5 inch floppies. I would have teachers/librarians say things: But nobody ever gets caught. The software is too expensive. The companies are making big bucks, and we schools have nothing. I'm doing it for the kids. So I have spent a long time reflecting on online decision-making. Interacting with students online will lead some younger teachers - who would not otherwise engage in inappropriate behavior with students - to do so. I guarantee you this is happening and will happen. Which is why I strongly believe that this is a practice that should be prohibited. AND I would equally as strongly argue that it is ESSENTIAL that schools establish web 2.0 environments that are for students and teachers to interact in an educational - non-social - environment. We can't prepare students for their future in classrooms designed to serve our past! Nancy -- Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D. Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use http://csriu.org http://cyberbully.org http://cyber-safe-kids.com http://csriu.wordpress.com nwillard@csriu.org Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press) Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, you send a message to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * LM_NET Help & Information: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/join.html * LM_NET Supporters: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/category/links/el-announce/ -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, you send a message to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * LM_NET Help & Information: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://lm-net.info/join.html * LM_NET Supporters: http://lmnet.wordpress.com/category/links/el-announce/ --------------------------------------------------------------------