What to expect from social networks at school

Kudos to College Community schools for developing social networking guidelines for teachers.

The College Community school board recently adopted a new social networking policy that should help teachers and students keep sight of the line between appropriate and inappropriate communication in the squishy, informal world of social media.

The policy cautions teachers to use only school-supported and monitored networking tools, and to avoid "friending" or "following" students on other popular sites like Facebook and Twitter.

I'm glad to see more Corridor schools giving serious thought to how they can teach the benefits of social media while avoiding some potential costs. As I wrote in a column last May, boundary-blurring social media relationships can lead to all kinds of complications. Here's what I wrote back then:

Call me an old fogey, but if our schools are training kids to be the leaders of tomorrow, one of the things they ought to be learning is proper communication.Rarer, but much more important, is the fact that the boundary-blurring informality of digital communication can open the door for unscrupulous adults to prey on kids. It's another point of access for trusted adults to push inappropriate conversations, possibly relationships, with kids - something we've seen here in at least one recent case.

Rarer, but much more important, is the fact that the boundary-blurring informality of digital communication can open the door for unscrupulous adults to prey on kids. It's another point of access for trusted adults to push inappropriate conversations, possibly relationships, with kids - something we've seen here in at least one recent case.

"That case" was the one brought to light last spring -- that a former Benton Community School teacher was e-mailing and instant messaging junior high school-aged girls in some disturbing and inappropriate ways.

Thankfully, that teacher was the exception. But one that is serious enough to demand a rule.