Social Networking

I believe that all teachers, or at least those that will be joining the workforce should establish some sort of social networking tool in their classes. Students today are obsessed with Facebook, blogging, instant messaging, and tweeting.  They can quickly maneuver around these different networks, interact and share interests with each other, and be more open about themselves.  Teachers should understand that these different networks could be used as an effective tool for connecting with students and a new way for students to learn.  According to Heather L. Carter in the article, “Have You Googled Your Teacher Lately?” high school teacher Alyssa Trzeskowski-Giese claims that, “Facebook has allowed her to establish deeper relationships with and understandings of her students because she can communicate with them beyond the four walls of the classroom.”  I have to agree with her and that having different forms of communication with students can help form closer relationships.  Many students may be shy to participate in class or communicate with the teacher.  A student like this may be more comfortable communicating through the use of the Internet.  Its time we work with social networking sites instead of shunning them.

           As a teacher, I think it’s important that I put a lot of thought into what precautions I use with the use of social networking sites.  It seems that it’s best to delete any personal Facebook or MySpace account and never worry about a student knowing things about my personal life that I’d rather keep private.  If I were to keep an account, it would be best to keep it private and delete any photos or comments that are inappropriate. I would never be “friends” with a student until they were much older. 

In the classroom, the use of a social networking site should be used for school only.  

Teachers should be put to a different standard than other professionals because of how close in contact we are with so many different children on a daily basis.  We witness so many interactions between students that we must be able to identify problems or help them when needed.  Also, teachers can have major impacts on the development of a student’s life and in some ways; students depend on teachers to help them become good citizens.  If teachers are not acting morally, children could follow in their footsteps and become immoral themselves. 

As for the Times article, “How One Teacher’s Angry Blog Sparked a Viral Classroom Debate,” written by Kayla Webley, Natalie Munroe made the mistake of commenting negatively about her students, although not specifically.  It’s ironic that Professor Daly’s friend got into the same situation, but less publicly.  I think Natalie made a huge mistake by commenting about her students.  With a teaching career comes the responsibility of emulating good morals.  We must adhere to this and have common sense to what could possibly be seen as immoral. 

 Cyber-bullying is a serious threat.  Brian Allen wrote for KSFY.com that in November of 2010, in Carrington ND, a student named Cassidy had committed suicide after excessive Facebook bullying.  This is one of several cases in America that an adolescent had committed suicide after being bullied on a social networking site.  Recently, it seems that schools and communities now understand how different social networking sites can be used harmfully among youth and are developing ways to educate students of the risks of using these sites inappropriately. 

In the New York Times article, “Online Bullies Pull Schools into the Fray,” by Jan Hoffman, there seem to be some discrepancies between how schools should handle cyber-bullying.  One principal stated that, “From a school perspective this is outside the scope of our authority and not something we can monitor or issue consequences for,” after responding to a student’s mother about her son being cyber-bullied.  This seems disturbing to me.  I think teachers should be on the lookout for any act of cyber-bullying.  Teachers have a lot of interaction with students and should have an eye open for anything that may be threatening to another student.  Teachers should have the responsibility of acting on anything that they may find offensive or hurtful to a student. 

If I were to use Facebook, or any other social networking site, I would make sure to educate my students about the risks and repercussions of using these sites inappropriately.  Classroom, and/or technology expectations would be addressed and shared with my students.  The students would understand that the network would be used for class and that all discussions and comments made on the site would be appropriate for the class.  A punishment would have to be set that would disallow participation of a class network if a student inappropriately used it.  Most importantly, I feel that the youth need to be educated on what is appropriate with the use of social networking sites.