Set boundaries for social media

We applaud Linn-Mar and Iowa City school districts for looking at ways to draw boundaries on use of social media for teacher interaction with students.

Social media tools like Facebook and Twitter may be a convenient way for educators and coaches to keep in touch with kids, but districts are right to set strict guidelines for their use.

As in any classroom situation, limits need to be defined, communicated and practiced. And reasonable protections must be in place to help guard against potential abuse.

Kids don't always know the limits of appropriate behavior - where the boundaries are between public and private information - unless they're taught. And districts must protect them from falling victim because of that ignorance.

Social media are enormously popular with young people in The Corridor, and play an increasingly large role in all our interactions at home and work.

So it's only natural that some local educators would look to social media tools to help them communicate with students in their classes or on teams.

Using sites popular with students is one way to make sure they get messages about schedules and assignments. It also offers an easy way for students to contact teachers with questions.

Other educators suspect that boundary-blurring, informal networking tool also might encourage inappropriate student-teacher relationships.

Individual teacher-student contact on these informal sites also can open the door for unscrupulous adults to prey on kids.

Teachers in some school districts have lost their jobs because of inappropriate use of social media.

At least two local school districts are looking at the issue to try to head off problems before they start. Other districts should follow their lead.

Linn-Mar School officials have been working on new social networking policies since this past October, ever since a few teachers brought up the question of whether it was appropriate for their peers to friend students on Facebook.

Iowa City Schools also are looking at existing policies to see if they need to be revised.

Linn-Mar Superintendent Katie Mulholland called social networking sites a “grayish area” that has some staff concerned.

But because it also has potential educational benefits, her district is looking at other ways to provide the convenience of social networking, while safeguarding against the risks.

One idea would be to create and use district-controlled software instead of existing external social networking sites.

We agree with any solution that helps students and educators learn and follow school-appropriate guidelines for social media tools.

Districts should define and communicate those boundaries now, rather than wait for problems to start.