Teachers Beware: Facebook Usage is Dangerous

Or so says Justin Bathon at the Edjurist, on multiple occasions.

Actually, Justin has many valid points. I've had several discussions with administrators this year alone who have mentioned younger teachers are sometimes unaware of the dangers of Facebook, namely that it is open, easily traceable, and permanent. When teachers make the mistake of getting caught up in the forum, whether it be an avenue to vent, a place to post candid pictures, or a forum to show yourself as a fun-loving person, the line can be crossed very easily.

Perhaps the most famous case involves a teacher from Charlotte, NC, who on her Facebook page:

• Listed her hobbies as "drinking"
• Said her job was “teaching chitlins in the ghetto of Charlotte”
• Said she was "teaching in the most ghetto school" in town.

I suppose if you want to start a checklist of what not to do on your Facebook page, that would be a good start.

Prospective teachers take note. It was our policy when I was a principal to not only Google a person, but to fully examine their Facebook page, and I currently recommend that to administrators that I visit with. In recent days, one reported back to me that, upon visiting a prospective teacher's page during the summer, that teacher was immediately dropped from consideration (no comment as to why, which has unfortunately let my imagination run wild). And certainly, just because you are already hired does not mean that inappropriate actions via Facebook are okay. They are not only very strong grounds for dismissal, they are also easy data to gather, as opposed to non-digital evidence.

I'm not quite as strident as Justin on this; I do believe that educators should use the tool personally to become familiar with it, not only because it can help them understand social tools to possibly use in the classroom, but also because it offers many positives to a person's life. It helps them become connected and collaborative with others that they normally would not have. But what is a non-negotiable is that teachers need to have an understanding of digital citizenship, at the very least because they are expected to help their students have an understanding of digital citizenship.

The NEA is similar to my thinking. They have posted both on the benefits of social networking in the classroom (despite the myths) as well as some of the professional pitfalls. Those two articles are great resources to share with your teachers.

And, if you would like some more, below is a brief presentation on the dangers of Facebook.

Five Ways Facebook Can Get You Fired

View more presentations from Paul Dunay.

And perhaps my all time favorite, someone actually getting fired via Facebook. Add this one of what not to do to the above list.

School Technology Policies with Matt Carver

Matt Carver, director of legal services for School Administrators of Iowa, met with Heartland's technology coordinators at their April meeting and hit upon several issues in schools:

• Overall, there is no "silver bullet" when it comes to technology policies. If a policy isn't working for a district, they should change it so that it fits their needs.
• That said, he recommended every district have a policy that states a student needs permission from an administrator or his/her designee to capture images or video in school. Not to make classroom projects involving visual literacy more difficult (teachers can be the administrator's designee), but to guard against cyberbullying and trying to "trap" teachers.
• He also recommends that schools post a reminder pop-up window when students log into a computer (as well as a physical sticker on the computer) that states schools have the right to monitor usage.
• There is no law that states districts must keep every email made by employees. Email is like any other correspondence and can be discarded like any other correspondence (like throwing away hall-pass slips). What should be kept is an overall record of when people logged in to send/receive email.
• When a district should keep all emails is when an event occurs that could possibly lead to future litigation. Carver mentioned the district would be expected to have communications that occurred after it became apparent to them that such an issue was serious that it could lead to litigation, not before. Moreover, it would be in a district's best interest to have those emails to squash unsubstantiated claims by other parties.
• The district could put forward a policy for teachers to keep records of emails that fit into certain categories (i.e. communication with parents) for a length of time (5 years) and can delete other communication that doesn't fit into those categories.
• All districts should have a conversation about what teacher-student electronic communication is appropriate. Friending in Facebook is a discussion starter for schools. He strongly urges all communication from teachers to students is done in an official form (static webpage) or via phone.
• While schools do have quite a bit of leeway in search and seizure of student property, a cell phone accidentally going off is not reasonable suspicion that allows a faculty member to search through the phone.
• Sexting is the new hot-button issue. Very important: all creating, possessing, or distributing of photos of a naked student is against the law. Administrators should never transfer a photo from a student's cell phone to their own computer as evidence in their investigation. They should instead have a like-gendered person document in writing the picture that was found, and then delete the picture. The phone should not go home with the picture still on it, regardless of the action the school takes in the situation.