No more school ‘friends’ allowed

I don't think many teachers are necessarily complaining about not being able to be friends with students/parents on Facebook. In fact, most teachers are aware that other school systems throughout the country have a similar policy. I'm guessing any complaint is to the effect that so much power has been taken from them already, and now here is another example of how anyone outside of a classroom treats teachers as if they are idiots. I'm not talking about the BOE in this case because it just makes sense to have some sort of social media policy to avoid liabilities in the future. I'm talking about the people in the community who are so quick to jump to conclusions that teachers are even offended by this. Sure, a few random teachers scattered throughout the nation have acted inappropriately in recent years. Does that mean all teachers are inappropriate? Of course not! Look at the ratios, people. Most teachers I know would only have a student or parent on Facebook simply because he or she doesn't want to hurt their feelings when they send friend requests. Have you ever sent a friend request to someone and have it ignored? Even if the teacher responds apologetically, it still will sting. Ultimately, it's up to the teacher if he or she is willing to risk being friends with a student or parent, and it is that teacher who will have a consequence for any unprofessional behavior. If a teacher acts inappropriately, then discipline that teacher. Quit lumping all teachers into this big group and making them feel even more devalued. Sadly, none of the decisions for our kids are being made by teachers anymore-the people who are with them for most of the day. No, the decisions are made by administrators and board members who just don't know these kids like the teachers do. They all mean well, but we really need to manage our frustrations with the education in general and start looking at things we can do to really improve it such as eliminating NCLB. I'm saddened by all the comments from parents accusing teachers of being whiny and telling them to get back to work. These teachers go to bed at night praying for your children because they love and care about their safety and success. Yet, they get beaten down daily by the media and the public despite all of the improvements they've made over the past few years. Their paychecks are reduced through never-ending furlough days and increasing insurance costs, and yet now they are expected to not only buy their own supplies but also the actual paper they copy all of the requirements handed down from the administration such as constant pretests and posttests. Their personal liberties are being "advised" by their employer in addition to this. Should teachers be friends with students and parents? Probably not. Do the majority of teachers have the common sense to not act inappropriately on Facebook, especially after the Payne incident? Of course. Let's work on raising these kids together, not beating each other down. It really does take a village to raise a child, and if the gap between teachers and parents gets any larger, we're in big trouble. Kids need security, and even though some parents may feel their children's teachers are idiots, they should realize those teachers are a huge part of their children's lives. To see tension between the parents and the teachers, in addition to any conflict between them and the community, really just unsettles the kids. Seriously, let's all do what's best for these kids and stop bickering about nonsense. Have some faith in the highly educated people who have chosen to stay in this community because they love and have faith in your kids.