A law signed into law last month in Missouri is making waves nationally, this week.

A
small part of the wide-ranging SB54, makes it illegal for teachers to be "friends" with
students on any social networking site that allows private communication.
That means teachers and students can't be friends on Facebook or can't follow each
other on Twitter for example.

All Things Considered's Michele Norris spoke to an eighth grade teacher from Joplin,
Mo., who opposes the new law. Randy Turner, who teaches English, said as teachers
your job is to reach out to students and that means going where they are and now a
days students have shunned e-mail and are using social networking sites to
communicate.
The larger bill, explained Turner, was passed with great support because it was
intended to protect children from predatory teachers. It was intended, he said, to
stop what is termed "passing the trash," which is when teachers who have had
inappropriate contact with students resign quietly only to be hired by another school.

But Turner argues instead of protecting children, this new law may be hurting them.
"We may be preventing them from talking to the very people who may be able to
help," he said.

In a story last month, Springfield's KSPR talked to a teacher from Nixa, Mo.
Band Director Craig Finger said he has no problem with the law, because the lines
between teacher and student are clear to him.

"... If you ask any one of these kids it's very clear we're not friends," Finger said. "We
don't friend any students. If you haven't graduated we're not friends. I think the only
people I've friended under 18 are my niece and nephew."

But Turner said that in the aftermath of the massive Joplin tornado that killed more
than 100, Facebook proved instrumental. He was able to locate 20 students to find
out they were OK, because he was friends with them on Facebook. Another teacher,
said Turner, who monitors the chatter on Facebook was able to stop a fight.

Plus, Turner says, a lot of other teachers believe this is yet another law that "seems to
be saying that children need to be protected from teachers."

Much more of Michele's conversation with Turner will air on your local NPR member
station on today's edition of All Things Considered. We'll also post the as-aired version of
the interview here a bit later tonight.
Update on Aug. 3 at 9:58 a.m. ET. The View From The Bill's Sponsor:
State Rep. Chris Kelly, the sponsor of SB54, told us the bill does not ban teachers
from communicating with students on Facebook or other social media sites. Kelly
said it bans private communication.

So, for example, while teachers and students can't be "friends," they can interact
publicly on the wall of a "fan page."

"I want the parents and the schools to be able to see the communication," said Kelly,
who added that both the American Civil Liberties Union and the teacher's unions
gave the bill an OK before it became law.
Kelly said the bill's intention isn't to stifle the relationship between students and
teachers, but he said if something is of importance, the "internet is no place" for that
conversation to happen.

"Important communication should not happen on Twitter," Kelly said.

Kelly added that inappropriate relationships between students and teachers usually
happen when opportunity abounds. He said this law simply removes that easy
opportunity.

Update on Aug. 3 at 5:57 p.m. ET. ACLU Statement:

The ACLU of Eastern Missouri disputes Kelly's claim that the organization backed
the bill. John Chasnoff, program director for the ACLU, told us in an email that they
"did not agree with the bill and took an official position against it."

He added:

Our position is that the law's language requires school districts to create a policy that bars teachers from
any use of Facebook or other websites that would allow private communications between teacher and
student.

The law's sponsors are reported to deny that their intent was so extreme. If so, it needs to be repealed. In its
current form, however, the law is an unconstitutional restriction on freedoms of speech and association.
USA EDUCATION

Missouri Facebook Law: why cant

teachers and students be friends?

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EMAIL
Christina Thomas and the Missouri Teachers Association are contesting The Amy Hestir
Student Protection Act. But what's behind the legislation?

By Jackson Buckley, Contributor AUGUST 23, 2011

Signed by Missouri governor Jay Nixon on July 14, and effective Aug. 28, The

Amy Hestir Student Protection Act would place sanctions on social media

communication between teachers and students in an effort to restrict

opportunities for "sexual misconduct." But the Missouri Teachers

Association filed a suit against the state on Aug. 19 and proclaimed the measure

deeply unfair.

The text under scrutiny states that "teachers cannot establish, maintain, or use a

work-related website unless it is available to school administrators and the

childs legal custodian, physical custodian, or legal guardian. Teachers also

cannot have a non-work-related website that allows exclusive access with a

current or former student."

Christina Thomas, a Ladue School District teacher who spearheaded the

movement, states that the "regulation violates the First and 14th

Amendments." And theres another, more personal reason for her anger:Thomas
claims that a section of the law would "prohibit her from communication with her

own child."

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The case brings up an interesting question: are there parts of youthful

development in which teachers shouldnt have a role? For example, in light

of Patti M. Valkenburg and Jochen Peters 2006 study, which found that

"adolescents use social networking sites as a way to gauge peer opinions about

themselves, which may consequently influence identity formation," is it safe to

leave students to the world of gossip without older voices to help guide them?

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PHOTOS OF THE DAY Photos of the day 02/08

Jesse Dwyer, who taught writing at a New Hampshire college, insists in a

blog that since teachers are expected to be public figures, and since their

audience is "by definition impressionable," a teacher's duty to young minds is

"especially important on Facebook where people are more connected and sharing

more often."

In an article for Edutopia, Judith Taack Lanierseems to agree. She writes that the

role of the teacher has evolved to become one of "designing and guiding students

through engaging learning opportunities." The result, she says, "is that the

abstract, inert knowledge that students used to memorize from dusty textbooks

comes alive as they participate in the creation and extension of new knowledge."
Drawing the line on where formal education ends is increasingly difficult, but its

important to remember that there is a reason the line exists. Impetus for the

'Facebook Law' is still fresh in many people's memory. Missouri teacher Amy

Jackson was arrested after a relationship with a student came to light in July, an

affair reportedly orchestrated on Facebook. And in May, a substitute teacher in

northern New Jersey was arrested after impersonating a student and engaging in

explicit conversation with other pupils on the social networking site.