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Facebook And Ethical Violations

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Many teachers and students have begun to become "friends" on Facebook and other social media, but is this really ethical and safe? Many teachers and students feel that communicating with each other through Facebook is mostly beneficial. It provides a means to exchange questions and information virtually instantly in a format which is both stimulating and enjoyable. However, some parents and school officials are against it. They are concerned that this type of student/teacher communication blurs the line between a professional and a social relationship. Teachers and students who "friend" each other on Facebook can lead to serious ethical violations and should be prohibited.

One of the many ethical ways that this type of relationship can violate …show more content…

The student and teacher may become biased or even sexually attracted to one another, leading to conflicting morals. In the year 2012, there was an incident between a student and teacher on which, according to the author, Raychelle Cassasa Lohmann, "He saw pictures of her with friends and family, at the beach (in a bikini), and drinking and posted them on his Facebook for his friends to see. She later ended up getting fired and blacklisted from teaching." These forms of pictures or private posts, can be very humiliating and ruin a student-teacher professional relationship, because they change the image of one or both involved, thus leading to a change in the relationship or trust. This teachers consequence is only one of many available to those who do the wrong thing. This also shows that teachers and students being friends on social media can lead to an embarrassing, and questionable relationships which result in the teacher being blamed for the incident. Just like with Sam and his teacher from the previous paragraph, many students want to "friend" their favorite teachers, however by doing so, it can change their relationship and open both of them up to getting in a lot of trouble. On the United Education Association website, it states that there is a law, that "any online communication between a student and teacher that is found to be …show more content…

First, it can lead to changing the way the teacher and or student feels or sees the other. If the teacher becomes biased towards a particular student, it can lead to the student receiving special treatment, such as grades they didn't really earn. This would be unfair to the other students in the class. Also, it can make the teacher seem more of a friend than a leader. If the student views their teacher as a friend rather than an instructor, the student may damage their ability to achieve successful grades, it could also lead to an inability to perform as well as their peers do. Finally, it can even end with the student being taken advantage of. If a teacher takes advantage of a student, there are many legal and moral ramifications that can occur. Students and teachers being involved with each other on any type of social media can have dire effects. They can end up changing the student-teacher relationship, and even put the student at risk of not being successful in their further endeavors. However about half of the people who have been asked about this topic, believe that such communication can also be positive. This would include the student being able to receive immediate feedback for questions, catch up on assignments, and even access their homework. However, allowing students and teachers to communicate on Facebook, also exposes them to many other possibilities that aren't

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