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= Can we be friends? =

Facebook is a social networking phenomena. Since its birth in February of 2004 it has grown at a exponential rate. Facebook now boasts that it has over 400 million users, half of which log in to facebook each day. The average facebook user has 130 friends, a number that in all likelyhood exceeds the number of Face to face (F2F) friends they will have.

400 million
I am one of the 400 million people, I have a Facebook profile and I use this to keep in touch with my friends, though I do have well under the average 130 friends of the average user. As a medium for social networking and communication I find facebook to be without a peer. Its convenient, simple, straightforward and fun. This is why Facebook is rapidly becoming the standard for social networking. The people I have on my profile are those I consider to be friends in the F2F world. These are people I have known, shared experiences with and consider to be my friends. If an outsider was to look at my communications and wall posts they would often miss the point as they do not have the history that I share with my Facebook friends. Comments I make to my friends are often irrelevant or obscure without our mutual shared insight. Without the correct context such comments could be misconstrued.

My Students
Many of my students have facebook pages too. They use them the same way I do, its a social space they share with their friends. Like me they share experiences, relationships, photos and often much much more. Facebook for them is a lynch pin in their social fabric. It is how they arrange their social calendars, discuss their friendships and relationships and for many share their joys, tears and angst. The pictures they have of their social events, often involving alcohol, are posted to their wall, as are the candid snaps of them with boy or girl friends, acting badly or relaxing in the sun on the beach. Facebook for many is the cornerstone of their lives.

And this is where, as a teacher facebook, can present problems. What do we do if a student says “Can we be friends?” For me the answer is simple, No. Being friends on facebook with current students would, I believe, comprise my professional standards and place me, my school, colleagues and students at risk.

We are expected to build relationships with our students, but these are professional relationships appropriate to our role as a teacher and their role as a student. This trust that we establish, this repore we build is one built on boundaries that are in place for our safety and that of our students. Facebook is primarily a Social medium not a education medium. The students did not join Facebook for education, rather as a means of socialising with their friends. As such their use of the medium is orientated to socialising, the information that they share is social.

Professional Standards
Our professional standards should prevent us from socialising with our students. Our roles as loco parentus means we must act in that pastoral care/parental role. We are charged with our students safety. We do not allow them to act in ways that are illegal, immoral or likely to endanger them or others. We have a professional responsibility to protect ourselves and our teaching peers as well.

There is a dilemma on social networks with our pastoral role. If a student was observed by a teacher acting inappropriately, for example drinking, behaving poorly etc the teacher should act to protect the student. In a virtual world, such as facebook, we can see students presenting evidence of inappropriate behaviour, images of drinking, drunken behaviour, drugs and more. Are we obliged to then act in our pastoral care role?

What of the parties and gatherings planned using this social medium. I can think of many occasions when such arrangements would have put the student, their peers and their schools at risk. The after ball parties are one such common event. Should the teacher friend act? Is the teacher who views this and does not act liable?

Much of communication in the face to face world involves not only speech, but also intonation, pitch, gesture and body language. A spoken comment like “Oh that's a good idea” may be dripping in irony, clearly saying that the opposite is true. The same comment written in text can be easily misinterpreted. Writing a comment on a students wall can see an innocent remark taken in a completely different vein.

What of our privacy as teachers and social people? Would you want your students presented with a synopsis of your social activities, presented in short snippets often with out the context that make the report events relevant? What of your own pictures and relationships, are these suitable for sharing with those in your care. It isn't wrong for us as teachers to have a life beyond the boundaries of our schools, but we must be circumspect in how we share it.

For me having students as friends on my social network is unacceptable and I have a clear boundary, a line that I draw. I have former students who I am proud to have as friends, but I draw the line with existing students.

This doesn't mean I do not use social networks with my students. Far from it. Social networks are powerful education tools, which yield excellent benefits and learning outcomes. They are tools that the students are literate in their use of and that they find engaging. Of course I am going to use them.

The difference is maintaining a clear separation between social and educational networks. I would not intrude on the students social spaces. I leave Facebook to them. I do use purpose built social networking tools. Ning – http://www.ning.com – is such a tool that allows me to create, design, manage and moderate an educationally focused purpose built social network.

Students are invited to join and can as easily be removed. They can still customise their spaces, but because this is our space to moderate and manage, they do this within the guidelines and boundaries we set.