[LM_NET] HIT: ELEM: Facebook VERY, VERY LONG

[Barbara Fritz <bfritzlibrary@GMAIL.COM>]

Well, this has been a very interesting discussion. Nearly every posting in
this discussion has been sent through LM_NET, so there are just a few
people's thoughts to share with you. See the many postng below.

I had reservations about allowing a student to befriend me on my personal
page, that's what prompted me to ask for some input and advice from all of
you, and have decided it just isn't a good idea, but I do like the idea of a
Facebook Page for my libraries and I have already started it. The student
who asked to be my friend is absent today, but I will see her as soon as
possible and explain why I refused her friendship request. From there I am
not sure what will develop. I do not feel I am the policeman of the under 13
crowd if they happen to have a Facebook page, but I will be asking her how
she got it and make sure she has her parent's permission to have the page.
The libraries' Facebook page will be available for anyone who wants to join
and everything will be out in the open for all to see. I would never post
anything on my personal Facebook page that I wouldn't feel comfortable
sharing with my students and their parents anyway.

Just some info on me. I have been a librarian since the fall of 1976 and
have watched much come and go in library world. Although I've been around
for quite some time, I am very excited by all the possiblities presented by
web 2.0. Technology is my things along with books and the kids.

Thanks for all the advice and perhaps this discussion has helped many others
make some good decissions.
*
Original post:* I would appreciate your advice and insights. I recently
opened a Facebook account as a way to connect to classmates, friends, etc.
You know the routine. But I now I have a student who would like to be my
friend on Facebook. I denied her and do not want students on that account.
But, I was thinking perhaps I would set up another Facebook account that
would allow my students to connect with me. I could make reading
recommendations, etc. Do any of you do this or something similar. I hate to
waste a great chance to push reading and keep in touch with my kids.

Your thoughts appreciated.

Barb


"Librarian. Genetically predisposed to answer questions and correct
misconceptions - whether asked or not." 2 01 2007

"Where all think alike, no one thinks much." ~~ Walter Lippman

Barbara Fritz
Elementary Librarian
Bloomsburg Area School District
Bloomsburg PA
bfritzlibrary@gmail.com
http://bloomsburgasd.schoolwires.com/62784211610220/site/default.asp


I have a couple of students who are "my friend" on Facebook (I'm at a K-5
school).  A number of educators and administrators in my district are also
on Facebook & I'm careful to keep my Facebook postings " I only post things
I wouldn't mind a 5th grader knowing! I consider Facebook to be the most
public of all the social networking sites so I'd never post something
clean".  along the lines of "Guusje has a hangover".  When it comes to
Facebook that's definitely TMI.  I do have some other friends who stray into
TMI and I have them set so that their feeds doesn't show up on my homepage.

I know that under the age of 13 kids aren't supposed to have Facebook /
MySpace pages but many of my students do.  When I ask they tell me their
parents uncles /aunts set it up for them.  Many of the children at my school
have very young parents and equally young uncles and aunts.  It's not
uncommon for a 10 year old to have a mother who is only 26 & for the 10 year
old to already have nephews and nieces.
-----
Personally I have a problem with this

SInce when are teachers there friends
Teachers are adults anbd role models.

Also ifi the studenets are not old enough to have pages why in the world
would any adult who is supposed to be teaching students the right way to do
things engage in something that they should not be doing.
Just because a parent created a page for them doesn't make it right
There are parents who go oiut and buy alcohol for their kids -
We are suppose to set the example on what is right and wrong and to abide by
the rules.

it is bad enough that parents teach their students to break the rules - why
in the world would their teachers --  Do you break the rules with kids at
school that you think aren't quite right or if the parent says my child
doesn't have to obey a particular rule do you support that?

My head just hurts when I read things like this --
We wonder why we can't control children and they break the rules --
Here is another fine example of why

Something else that just adds to the notion of why have any rules
---
My strong advice regarding Facebook:
STAY AWAY FROM IT. It has NO place in what we do.
You will risk getting yourself into BIG trouble. This is no place for
any of us.
---
I have to disagree about the advice to stay completely away from Facebook.
That is where our students live. Many libraries have fan pages there. You
may want to refrain from having a personal page unless but you should be
aware of Facebook. I recently had the great pleasure to attend the WiredKids
Summit (thanks, Art Wolinsky), and I was on the receiving end of surveys and
presentations made by kids and for kids. Many were about Facebook and
aspects of its use. Here are some reasons to at least be familiar with
Facebook and how it works:
1. It is where many kids live. Malls and parks may be too dangerous for them
to venture alone also, depending on where you live and where they may go.
Would you stay away from malls and parks because bad things may happen
there?
2. If you are a parent, you need to be knowledgeable. By friending your own
offspring, and possible nieces, nephews, grandchildren, etc,. you can be
aware of this important part of their lives
3. How can you teach kids to be safe and smart if you are not up to speed on
what really matters to them regarding their online use? Studies show that
kids whose parents are online WITH them are much safer users than those who
just stay away.
4. Fear based instruction does not work for online safety than it does for
sex ed or driving or any other topic.
5. Read Nancy Willard's works on this topic.
--
My opinion: we have NO business there - it is NOT our job - it is not
appropriate - there are a million more valuable things to work on.  It
is a giant waste of time and runs against the professionalism we need to
demonstrate.   Students spend lots of time doing things and being in
places.  There is no need for us to be there, unless of course you want
to get yourself in trouble.  So again, my strongest advice is to stick
with and spend time on the books, the databases, the media production,
and all the other urgent things.  It is actually shocking to me that any
of us would see anything appropriate about being on Facebook related to
our profession and students
---
When I joined Facebook last month I thought long and hard about why I was
joining.  My purpose in belonging to Facebook was to reconnect with high
school and college friends, and to keep up with my current friends.  I
therefore made the decision that I would not "friend" anyone who had not
graduated from high school.  I have had several of my current and former
students who have asked to be my friend and I have gone to them and told
them why they will need to wait until after they have graduated.  That said,
I am still extremely careful about what I say on Facebook because it is a
public forum.  The one exception to my "you must have a degree" rule is my
daughter -- she is my friend on Facebook and therefore I can see and hold
her accountable to what she chooses to post.

I do have teacher friends who allow their students to be their friends on
Facebook.  They also are extremely careful about what they choose to post
but feel that they are setting an example of appropriate behavior on a
social networking site. That is their choice and I respect it -- it's just
not what I choose to do.

I don't think there is a "one size fits all" answer to this but I think we
all need to be respectful of each other's decisions.
---
Our alumni office has a FB page that we can keep in touch with former
students through.   That way, they aren't contacting us via our personal
accounts.
---
When I read the original post and subsequent responses, I began to wonder,
in an effort to avoid the problems with encouraging the use of Facebook or
My Space by underage students, if a blog would serve in a similar way as to
what is desired by those using social networking sites.  I understand there
are differences between these two tools, but I am also concerned with the
issue of teachers on social networking sites with students.
---
I have found this discussion fascinating. After seeing the UC Merced page, I
might try to start one for my school library.

However, my personal facebook is just that: personal. I use the privacy
settings to keep myself as hidden as possible. Here's a great list of tips
for your privacy settings:
http://www.allfacebook.com/2009/02/facebook-privacy/
My favorite is the friends list. I have one for my family and one for my
closest friends, so then when I post things like pictures of my son, I'm not
sharing them with people I haven't spoken to since high school.

Of course I do remember that nothing is truly private and don't post things
I would be embarrassed if students or future employers were to read.
---
"Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary and
is just a natural part of the way the world works.

Anything that's invented between when you're fifteen and thirty-five is new
and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.

Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of
things."

-Douglas Adams

I've included the Douglas Adams quote I usually run with as my signature
here at the beginning today.

I've had GREAT LUCK using FB with my students.

As a HS drama director, I recently created a FB group for my cast/crew. This
did not require me to "friend" them. I was able to alter rehearsal
schedules, share t-shirt designs, provide rehearsal notes. I had 99% buy-in.
(One student was computer-free.) When we had our first tech rehearsal, 100%
of props and costumes showed up. (You probably don't know how revolutionary
that is unless you do drama.) Kids even took it upon themselves to set up
times to run scenes on their own. At the end of the show, I disbanded the
group.

I DO have former students that are on my "friend" list. Most of them have
been graduates for more than five years. I put them on "limited profile" and
consider all of my FB communications public. Consider it the digital
equivalent of the after-school "drop-in." You really can't understand how
nice it is to find that my students are doing well and being successful.

So--am I taking risks? Probably. But I think remaining transparent and
public in  my communications helps assuage my fears here. Remember--every
communication I make can be seen by every other person I communicate with.
Which is riskier? An after hours communication with no witnesses at my desk?
Or an on-line communication with a dozen witnesses?

Also-I've been asked to be in charge of my 20th college reunion. Any guesses
what I'm going to suggest using as an organizational tool?

Using/not using FB is a matter of personal choice. Like any technology tool,
It can be used professionally or unprofessionally.
---
There seems to be a difference between creating a group on FB for a specific
purpose and using your personal FB account to socialize.  Creating a group
seems like a better way to include students or former students.
---
Interesting discussion. I am taking part in an online book study of
Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice. One of the chapters we
have recently discussed is written by Harvey Daniels about the positive
effects of teacher/student letter writing. Mr. Daniels lists nineteen
benefits of teacher/student correspondence, all of which could also be said
of virtual communication. One of our book study members (an administrator)
cautioned that some teachers would need some training/guidelines to know
where to draw the line and some parents may object or be suspicious of this
informal dialogue. To be sure, with all of the "relationships" we see in the
news, I could understand why they may. So, I think that all of us in the
education business must be aware of the limits and where to draw the line
between professional and personal contact with students whether it be in
person or through written communication, in print OR online.

I can see the need to be familiar with the online social networks
"workings." I have considered joining one or both of the major ones just to
learn how they work and how to set them up for safe or private
communications. However, I think this is not my primary role as a librarian
so I haven't found the time to do so.
--
wow, I must be terribly unprofessional:  I have a facebook account, a
twitter account, and I play <gasp> World of Warcraft!  None of them have
anything to do with my work life, and I think I should be allowed to have
another side of life without being called "unprofessional."
--
Until I am FORCED to use these Web 2.0 tools, I am not going to concern
myself with Web 2.0.  David has alerted us to a pitfall of these tools.  I
am probably the devil's advocate but seems blogs etc are  sophisticated,
advanced personal web pages.  Holders of personal web pages have been
commenting for years and now technology has allowed for readers to comment.
I fail to see the hype.  PLEASE no flames or blasting my comment. I am
entitled to my comments and opinion.  SOme teachers still can not open
email.  These teachers would certainly turn their head on Web 2.0.   Yes, I
want to remain aware of the issues, but I don't see that "it is all that"
Seems more avenues for misuse.     Yes, I use wikipedia as a jumping off
point and its pictures.    Those who see the potential, my hat off to you !
As with anything "to each his/her own."  Use it, encourage its use. My
current situation has not embraced it as many have. The most important issue
where I am located and others is TEST scores. Web 2.0 is definitely on the
bottom of many priority lists.    It is definetly en vogue !
---
I am the Teen Librarian in a public library.

I have many teens as Friends on my FB page. I post a "Cool Word of the Day,"
that they love, I post book reviews and  program announcements that have
more than quadrupled library program attendance (I haven't printed a flyer
in a year). Many of their parents are on my Friends list too.

I think Facebook is awesome. And it doesn't have all that crazy backgrounds
and flashy blinky stuff that My Space has that makes my head hurt.

--
I am bowing out of this discussion but i do not want to leave without saying
to younger educators or any new to the profession, please do not think you
are not professionals if you keep up with technology and students' use and
habits.Whether or not to participate in Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. is
a matter of opinion/taste and I do not advocate that we paint with a broad
brush. Thus, to use an English cliche, I would say to those that feel
otherwise, "we agree to disagree." But I am a professional. Working with
students is what I do and what I have done for far too many years to admit.
One can be professional and yet find benefits in online environments that
others may eschew. To each his own. I just want to speak out regarding the
professionalism label. It is not a cookie cutter thing. I would not question
another's professionalism based on whether or not he was a blogger, Twitter
enthusiast, Facebook member, or participant in other such communities.
--

Being a senior member of the profession, I have been friended on Face
Book by a couple of hundred of former students. They are kids I worked
with in the 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s-and, yes, including the present. I have
not trawled for one of them; they all found me.  I am honored when these
older friends want to share their lives/careers/family news, etc., with
me. Occasionally,  I have received comments via Face Book from my former
students telling me how I had taught them something they perceive as
valuable, and/or instilled the  joy of reading.  (Just as many express
similar comments about my wife's impact, as their former art teacher.)
Sometimes these comments come from the students I least would have
expected. And it is no great effort to "monitor" my postings.

IMHO, FB is Highly Recommended.
(It’s there. It’s wonderful.

I use Facebook to send birthday greetings to former students who are my
friends. Their friends (some of whom also were my former students) discover
 my greeting  there and may decide to make contact.)
---
I'm sure 20 years ago the same things were being said about the internet:
"stay away, it's unprofessional!"

There are MANY seminars being led by PROFESSIONALS on how to reach students
through blogging, facebook, myspace, twitter, etc.   These trainings are for
STAFF - teachers, librarians, administrators...professionals.   Our school
even uses U-Tube extensively for everything from video production classes to
social studies.   I love showing the chicken book video to kids, to give
them ideas on how to put together video book reports.   Just because it's
mainstream doesn't mean it's wrong or more dangerous.   There's as much
chance of hitting porno on those sites as on google, to be honest.

Ironically, the use of these sites during school time is limited to teachers
who have access to the district's override code, as all those sites are
blocked on our district server.   Kids often find proxy servers (such as
youngcheese.com) to get around our filter, but we do try to keep them off
these sites.  This is as much because it's a waste of instructional time as
it is a waste of our limited bandwidth.

All that said, I think a facebook account for our library would be awesome,
if I had time to put it together.  Even though my teen daughter says
facebook is for old farts, it's just one more way to be accessible to our
patrons.  I'd love to hear that one of our patrons spent time cruising our
library facebook page for reviews and links - it's just one more way to
reach them. What bothers you: the nature of the blogs, being accessible
around the clock, more work, or just the public nature of it all?

I've been taking a class in library science and have cruised, literally,
hundreds of library websites around the world in a search for the most
user-friendly, best-designed library homepage. I have found a lot of
libraries with facebook links that are very professional, and very
user-friendly.   On another, but related, note - many catalogs are
inaccessible and password protected, which I think does a disservice to
patrons.  How many of you are truly accessible to your patrons at home?
Aren't we all about disseminating information?
--
My comment was in relation to befriending our teens on facebook, myspace,
etc. My comment had nothing to do with the applications themselves. I think
you get into dangerous territory once you add your students as "Friends".
--
As with any new service and this is what is being proposed here, some
situational analysis needs to be conducted.
What is the purpose of the new service - FaceBook site say? Guidelines
and porcedures for use/interactions (because this is public domain)
maintenance and updating? Budgeting - workload, time and people, costs
for extra bandwirdth? How will we evaluate and monitor wehther the aims
& objectives/purpose has been achieved.

Too many times we set these things up without doing the planning. If you
intend to use these technologies to achieve curriculum
objectives/outcomes then this needs to be part of the assessment
process.

Q - I wonder haow many kids actually want us in this space which is
essentially a social space? I often think that we are rushing headlong
into this without asking some of the hard questions because the agenda
is being driven large corporations who have a vested interest in
educators taking this stuff on board to make more corporate dollars. We
need to come back to educational outcomes and essentials of service
provision for libraries.
--
(from Nancy Willard)
I strongly encourage districts to enact policies prohibiting school staff
from friending students on the social networking sites like Facebook and
MySpace, twitter, or instant messaging. My reasons for this are:

Flirting. These sites/technologies are places where young people flirt
(adults do also). We know that students get crushes on teachers. And the
younger teachers are the ones more likely to have students get crushes on
them - and to find online flirting to be part of their young adult social
norm. So often without even realizing what is going on, they get into
inappropriate relations with students.

There was a young teacher here in my community who was recently convicted of
sexual abuse of a minor. The relationship was fostered through MySpace. My
perspective based on some of what I was told is that the high school student
was as much involved in the flirting and relationship development as the
teacher - but he is the one now getting banged by other prisoners and facing
life as a registered sex offender.

When a student starts to flirt with a teacher online, that teacher faces
great risks - regardless of how he or she responds. If the response is warm
and friendly and someone else sees - arrest for sexual solicitation. If the
response turns the student down, the student is then hurt, the student's
work will suffer, and the student could exact revenge.

Friends. The normal activities of friending involves sending friendship
requests to friends of friends. So if a teacher friends a student, that
student is going to investigate and send friendship requests to all of the
teacher's adult friends. So, in essence, the teacher becomes the guarantor
of all of his or her friends - the material they have posted and their
social interactions with students.

I know of a school resource officer who was under criminal investigation
because he was friending students on MySpace and some of his other friends
had material inappropriate for minors on their profiles. Fortunately wiser
heads prevailed.

I think it is easier if you have a district policy prohibiting this -
because then you can turn down a friendship request without alienating
students who send requests.

I do think that email communications are alright - but only for school or
school activity purposes, not social. Teens only use email to communicate
with adults anyway.

Teachers should not think it is appropriate for them to help students engage
in responsible social networking by friending them on social networking
sites. This is not a teacher's job. This is a parent responsibility.

However, it is absolutely imperative that we shift how schools are using the
Internet so that we are taking full advantage of the incredible
instructional opportunities provided by these technologies. We can't prepare
students for their future in classrooms designed to serve our past!!! But
the "atmosphere" in these educational interactive communications or
educational web 2.0 environments must be very different. These sites are for
educational purposes - NOT social. When students go onto a job, they need to
know the difference between social online activities and professional.
Through these instructional activities, many lessons about taking care in
the material you post can be imparted.

We should not think that trying to enter the teen's online communities is
the way to protect them from harm. The instruction we provide on Internet
safety must be highly focused on empowering and encouraging positive peer
leadership. A few weeks ago my daughter showed me a Facebook group that had
been set up to denigrate a student - We hate J." I passed this on to the
principal and got it taken down. Before she showed this to me she had joined
the group to publicly post a protest, another student was also protesting.
If we can get a small minority of young people to not only understand the
risks and solutions - but to speak out and help their friends - we will be
moving in the right direction.

I will soon be releasing instructional materials for teachers, students, and
parents that address these issues more fully.

And, to prevent the need for the inevitable "can I forward" email ;-) yes,
feel free to forward this message.

--
Well before I retired in 2006, the state education department I was working
for had a policy about
the sorts of activities that teachers could engage in with students, and
those that were expressly
forbidden for their own safety, such as attending the parties that
inevitably follow Yr 12
graduation.  This grew out of a similar situation you describe where the
teacher appeared to be in a
compromising situation.  From memory, his presence was deemed enough for him
to be condoning the
drinking by the under-18 grads who were there.

No doubt the policy has now been updated to include the cyber environment,
and I would hope that the
teachers adhere to it.

Having been through an experience team teaching with a teacher who was later
convicted of a
paedophile offence, and agonising and turning myself inside out trying to
think if there was
something I could have done or seen to pick up on his predilection and
prevent the incident, I
cannot imagine why anyone would want to put themselves into that position in
either a real or
virtual world.

I do believe, that as educators, we should know about these sites and how
they work, because that is
the environment many of our students operate in out-of-school-hours but I
really don't think that
they will learn Internet etiquette or safety just because we demonstrate it
on our pages.  I think
that is something that needs to be explicitly taught - it is not something
they will pick up by
osmosis, just as they won't pick up good nutrition habits by seeing what you
have in your lunchbox.

I also believe that we should adhere to the T&C of these sites - I
understand that they are set at
13 because under that age, in the US, a person cannot enter into a legal
contract, or there is
something about your Privacy Act that makes 13 a 'magic' age.  I also think
there are other better
Web 2.0 tools that can be used more effectively to share library-based
information.

I am not a wowser - I do have a Facebook page, set up as part of the SLJ 12
Things course I did last
year.  But I only have three friends - my kids who live interstate - and I
have not even responded
to requests from some of my LM_NET colleagues to be friends with them.
 Nothing in my life is
important or interesting enough to be shared beyond my family.

This has been an interesting discussion and I am going to start it on the
Australian lists to see
what the local perspective is.
--

I've read this discussion with great interest and wondered what the
advantages might be to utilizing a Facebook or MySpace account to connect
with students, parents, etc. vs. a school library web-page that would be
open to everyone in the community, not just persons who have been invited to
view.?

This is another concern that might exist regarding having a Facebook or
Myspace page as some might interpret this (an invitation to view) as being
favoritism towards specific students where a school library web-page would
be equal and open access to all students, parents, etc.? When I was
undergoing my national board certification in library media back in 2004,
this was a big issue - equal and open access to information and?technology
for all students.?

 I know that there are different accounts and different privacy settings
available, depending upon how you wish to utilizie these social networking
sites.?

BTW,?we do process serving and investigation for different attorneys in our
state, and we have used both sites (Facebook and MySpace) to help track down
people (not former students) who are trying to avoid being served with
papers regarding divorce, foreclosures, etc.? We also look at the profiles
of the people who are visiting their sites to gain more information about
the work locations, social habits, family backgrounds, etc.? It has been
helpful in locating two defendants within the last month.? Neither of their
settings was set to "private" so we had free and open access to read all
their messages.?
--
Oh - it just struck me that there are likely a lot of you out there who
don't know that there are different types of Facebook accounts - the
majority of the library ones I've visited have been Facebook PAGES, not
Profiles (which are personal.)

Here's some example sites to visit if you want to know more:
http://chrisbourg.wordpress.com/2008/10/16/our-library-facebook-page/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ann-Arbor-MI/Harlan-Hatcher-Graduate-Library-U
niversity-of-Michigan/9636966042?ref=s<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ann-Arbor-MI/Harlan-Hatcher-Graduate-Library-University-of-Michigan/9636966042?ref=s>

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Stanford-CA/Green-Library-Stanford-University/
20755551473

Here's a facebook page from UCMerced Library that rivals any library
homepage I've seen, it's excellent!
http://ucmercedlibrary.info/faculty-staff-news-events/library-facebook-page.
html<http://ucmercedlibrary.info/faculty-staff-news-events/library-facebook-page.html>

David Lee King's helpful "what can you do with a library facebook page":
http://www.davidleeking.com/2008/10/09/what-can-you-do-with-a-facebook-page/

I think all of these pages are VERY helpful AND professional and a great way
to get feedback from our patrons on how we can improve our service, etc.
It's all about accessibility!
--
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 don¹t believe it would be professional if I
³friended² students there. And I personally wouldn¹t 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,
--
I do use Facebook to connect with friends and my adult kids and other family
members. Since I am retired from K-12 teaching, the odds of a former student
asking to be my friend are small. However if they did, I would refuse.

My Facebook information is one I'm sharing only with my circle of friends
and family. Former students who want to stay in touch may do so by email.

Years ago I taught in adjacent town to where I lived. My children were the
same ages as my students and in some of the same sports and organizations. I
shopped in some of the same stores as they and their parents did. I attended
church with some of my students' families. I did NOT enjoy the fishbowl
experience.

So I moved to another district 19 miles away and was much happier having a
private life separate from my school life. I feel the same way about my null
--
this really isn't a clear cut issue.  I respect
individual choice to use social network sites or not, as long as any
contact with students is professional.  Many adults think too little
about their digital footprint.

When it comes to social networking sites such as Facebook, I wonder how
students are going to learn responsible use, without engaged adults
providing feedback and advice.  I think about the research done by Dr.
Meg Moreno at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, regarding students at
risk.  She contacted teens with explicit content on their myspace sites
with messages such as: "You seemed to be quite open about sexual issues
or other behaviors such as drinking or smoking. Are you sure that's a
good idea? ... You might consider revising your page to better protect
your privacy. -Dr. Meg".  3 months later, a significant number of teens
contacted had revised their privacy settings or removed personal content
from their sites.  More here on her research:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/06/tech/main4700966.shtml.

If we block access to Facebook and Myspace during the school day, and
create policies
(http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6639197.html) and
legislate limits about who can contact students (proposed legislation in
Missouri), how on earth can we expect kids to learn responsible use?
Who do we think will teach them?  Too many of our students have parents
who are unaware of the risks.  Schools, by federal law, are responsible
for teaching internet safety.  Can this really be done effectively from
a walled garden?

Here's another take on teachers using social networking from CNN
Technology:  "Online student teacher friendships can be tricky"
available at:   http://is.gd/1qmR.  I like how the teacher interviewed,
Randy Turner, addresses how the tool is used, "Facebook and MySpace
aren't the evils that regulators should be after... Instead the focus
[should] remain on vetting the teachers being put in charge of the
nation's youth."  Teachers must be responsible for behaving
professionally when interacting with students, wherever and however.

As a teacher librarian, I do think it's important to demonstrate ethical
and appropriate use of tools.  I work in an elementary school- and
wouldn't consider friending my students, but I would consider friending
parents/guardians with a professional FB page if I thought this would be
an effective way to get the message out about new books, and school
events.  I run a Twitter feed for parent communication at school, too;
only a few parents use it, but it's another way of getting the word out
about what we do.  I keep this separate from my twitter account for my
PLN.

Unfortunately, complying with Terms of Service does limit which tools
are available to me in my elementary library classroom.  (Okay, let's
not talk about downloading YouTube videos for classroom use...).  To
simulate popular social networking, and give students an opportunity to
practice the safe internet use we're trying to teach, I originally built
 nings for book discussion groups; Ning TOS indicate clearly that the
platform is for age 13+, so I moved the discussion groups to Moodle:
much more clunky to navigate, much less cool to use.  (Hey, Steve
Hargadon:  how about an ed ning for kids?)  Is this frustrating, when I
don't believe that federal legislation (COPPA:  http://is.gd/PHL)
prevents students at risk from engaging in risky behavior online?  Yes.
But I comply and model acceptable use for my students.  Thank goodness
for tools like Voicethread Ed accounts, where I can explicitly teach
students the use of personalized, but non-personally-identifying avatars
and screen names, with use of a powerful teaching tool that gets
students engaged.

We need smarter legislation and policies, that actually protect kids.
We need to teach about the power of educational networking-  our kids,
our administrators, and our legislators need to know.  All this talk
about 21st Century education... it's ourI hope my own children will have
teachers who are willing to use all the
tools available to guide their learning-professionally and responsibly.
And I'll be asking to join their groups, too.
--
I recently dropped my Facebook account because I realized that (a) my kids
don't really like the idea and (b) "friends" can post photos purporting to
me that could be embarrasing.  I think creating a blog is the way to go if
you are going to communicate with your students.
--
I had a similar issue. A student asked to be my friend and before I rejected
them I explained why- it is my personal, outside-of-school life :) I really
don't care as far as what I post, but my friends don't all work with kids,
if you know what I mean. Then I started to get the teacher guilt; I am a
teacher 24/7, aren't I? Shouldn't I be teaching them computer etiquette and
what better way then through their real experience? So, I also considered
opening one as a teacher and allowing students to be my fiends. I haven't
done this yet. He only requested about 2 weeks ago. I am glad to know
someone else has had this same quandary.
--
I personally love Facebook, but when a 10-year-old daughter of a friend
asked me to be her "friend" this weekend, I replied  "I will ALWAYS be your
friend in "real life", but I do not think that I can be your friend on
Facebook. I don't think that Facebook is right for someone your age since
there is alot of grownup stuff on it. Please be very careful, and never talk
to anyone that you do not know".

(I have a 10-year-old son, and I would never in a million years allow him to
be on Facebook!)
--
I share your decision not to be friends with students and young former
students on facebook.  Because I DO want to be in touch with them, though
appropriately, I befriend them all on GoodReads, which is all about
reading.
--
I have a couple of students who are "my friend" on Facebook.  A number of
educators and administrators in my district are also on Facebook & I'm
careful to keep my Facebook postings "clean".  I only post things I wouldn't
mind a 5th grader knowing! I consider Facebook to be the most public of all
the social networking sites so I'd never post something along the lines of
"Guusje has a hangover".  When it comes to Facebook that's definitely TMI.
I do have some other friends who stray into TMI and I have them set so that
their feeds doesn't show up on my homepage.
--
I'm in the process of doing exactly that!  I have my account and am looking
for suitable pictures, etc.  Just keep in mind, it's one more thing that
will take up your time--email, Facebook, blog, twitter.

Even my school is setting up a Facebook page for alums to stay in touch and
I'm sure the parents will be involved.  It's the way of the future.

I say GO FOR IT!
--
This question was recently raised on another list and the T&C of Facebook
were pointed out ...

"This Site is intended solely for users who are thirteen (13) years of age
or older, and users of
the Site under 18 who are currently in high school or college. Any
registration by, use of or access
to the Site by anyone under 13, or by anyone who is under 18 and not in high
school or college, is
unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use. By using
the Service or the Site,
you represent and warrant that you are 13 or older and in high school or
college, or else that you
are 18 or older, and that you agree to and to abide by all of the terms and
conditions of this
Agreement"

Because of the ELEM tagline in your message, I am assuming your students
would be under 13 and
therefore ineligible to have an account.  If they do, that is their parents'
responsibility but you
would need to think carefully about how far you want to be involved.  And
what sorts of precedents
you would be setting in terms of the scope of your role.  Do we really
want/need to connect with
students in this way?
--
A friend of my daughter who is in 3rd grade invited me to be her friend on
Facebook.  I was very upset that her parents would allow her to have a
Facebook account.  I reported her to the Facebook administrators  as a user
that misrepresented herself in her profile.  She still has an account, but
it made me feel a little better.  The next time I see her I will give her
some more appropriate websites to join.
--
I am in a middle school and have a personal facebook account.  I have
a strict rule about not being "friends" online in any situation until
a student graduates from HS.  The only time I bent that rule is when I
was in a play outside of school (in a community theatre) with a former
student who was currently in HS.  If I communicate with any student
online, it is always through my school email account. If a student
emails me on another account, I send them a note from my school
account saying to email me again there.  We all have to be careful to
separate our personal and professional lives.  I am always conscious
of that since I am a single male.

If you plan to set a school or library account... I would clear it
with your administration first.
--
I replied to you that I had set up an account and was just now creating my
page.  The more I've delved into it, the more I've decided I'd rather keep
using my web page and blog.  There is no control over the ads and no option
to pay for an ad-less page.
--
Why is an elementary student on facebook in the first place? That would be
my concern.
--
A blog might serve your purposes better. I am currently having my students
comment on non-fiction books they recently selected for an assignment. In
the past, they have commented on their favorite books and I've used my
responses to suggest other books similar to the titles they mentioned. It's
an assignment, so they "have" to keep in touch with me.
--
I agree with the group that has discouraged a Facebook relationship with
students but I understand your interest in communicating with students
especially to encourage responsible technology and internet use.  I give
students my school email address for this purpose.  There is never any
question of whether the communication is appropriate because it's always
stored on some server somewhere and the emails are part of the public
domain.
--
I, personally, would not encourage it nor would I use it with my students.
However, I have created a blog for my boys' reading group and we post on
that quite a bit about what we are reading, suggestions for future books,
opinions, etc. There is also some commentary aside from our reading that
takes place and since I can monitor all the posts before they appear, it
works out quite well. Besides, the filters in our district do not allow
access to facebook.
--

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