Should Teachers ‘Friend’ Students?

Should students and teachers ever be friends on Facebook? School districts across the country, including the nation’s largest, are weighing that question as they seek to balance the risks of inappropriate contact with the academic benefits of social networking. At least 40 school districts nationwide have approved social media policies. Schools in New York City and Florida have disciplined teachers for Facebook activity, and Missouri legislators recently acquiesced to teachers’ objections to a strict statewide policy. In the New York cases, one teacher friended several female students and wrote comments including “this is sexy” under their photos, investigators said. A substitute teacher sent a message to a student saying that her boyfriend did not “deserve a beautiful girl like you”/ AP . More here. . (AP photo: Nkomo Morris, a Brooklyn teacher of English & journalism, has about 50 current and former students as Facebook friends)

Question: Should teachers & students be Facebook Friends?