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Oh, for the days when you welcomed a new employee by pointing to the restrooms and explaining the dress code. Perhaps you noted the supply closet and offered a reminder about work hours and vacation and sick leave. And maybe you gave a common sense reminder that work computers are for just that - work - and are not to be used for personal matters. Chances are, you didn't see the need to elaborate that they shouldn't download pornography. And never would it enter our minds to remind employees that they should not send naked photos of themselves to clients or customers, or in the case of schools, to students, or that they shouldn't "visit" or "friend" them on social media networking sites. The Derry school board has been reviewing a policy, created by the New Hampshire School Boards Association, that would restrict the use of social networking sites by teachers outside of school. While the Derry district already blocks social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace on school computers, the policy would say the school district frowns upon any use of these sites during school hours, including via internet-access cell phones. When the topic came up for discussion last month, one board member, questioning how much a school district should get involved in its staff's personal lives, recalled reading about a teacher in another district who was suspended for posting provocative pictures of herself on a Facebook page. Flash forward to last week in Londonderry, where a Londonderry High School English teacher and Hampstead resident was arrested after allegedly sending naked photos of herself to a student, as well as kissing him at school and offering to commit a sexual act. As shocking as this is, it's right in keeping with incidents throughout the country. The line between teacher and student should be clear to everyone involved, just as the line between adult and minor is. But apparently it's anything but clear to a surprising number of people. The idea of sending out naked photos seems outrageous on its own, but when it's a person in authority sending them to a minor, it takes on a whole new dimension. Many schools host assemblies to remind students that when they post information on a social networking site or use a cell phone camera to send pictures of themselves in compromising poses, they run the risk of reaching people far beyond the intended recipient, and could end up being labeled a sex offender. What apparently needs to happen next, and we hope it's already happening, is to educate teachers about the dangers of sending out naked photos of themselves and propositioning students. Who would have thought? _________________ |
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