With the UK article where teachers were told not to accept their students' FB friend requests, and the local article where Spencer Ng, an election candidate, faced accusations of inappropriate behaviour towards his former students, this issue of teachers and students being connected to each other on FB is a current topic. I stand by my opinion that teachers should have nothing to hide on their profiles. What I mean is, they should maintain a clean character as associated with their vocation. Why have separate accounts or restrict profile features in order to appear clean, when one is clearly dubious in character? Why be afraid of accepting their students' friend requests if one's conscience is clear?
A teacher posted her student's essay on FB and made some disparaging remarks on it. I think that defies the trust put upon her by the student when he handed in his essay. If his essay is good, on the contrary, reading it out in class or giving copies of it out to the students is a better method of compliment on it. I would still not advocate the idea of posting it on FB. I am more appalled by a teacher who made a comment on NA students on the network. It may have been meant to be positive but it can mislead people into thinking that these students are seen by him in a negative light, especially with the use of "tumours". Both these teachers should have known better that FB is a place where many people can read their posts, especially if they have not adjusted their privacy settings. They should learn to be sensitive to the feelings of their students when posting anything about the latter.
I agree with a teacher who said that teachers are "role models" and can "understand (their) students better" through FB. It allows them to create a sense of rapport with their students and at the same time, they do need to maintain boundaries with the latter, according to a university lecturer.
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