Teacher-student relations: How far is too far?

January 30, 2009 • written by Amber Batsch, Co-Editor-in-Chief  
Filed under Feature

        The question of how far is too far in a teacher-student relationship has been an age-old question. Although the law has many obvious boundaries, the question of where the line has been crossed varies from person to person.

        For social studies teacher Dan Holder, a teacher-student relationship is similar to an employee and employer relationship. They can be friends as long as the word “friend” is described in a certain way.

       “If you define friend as someone who always wants what’s best for you, than a teacher is your friend,” Holder said. “If you define a friend as someone who just wants to make you happy and tell you what you want to hear, then a teacher is not your friend.”

        Senior Bobby Wendlick agrees that students can be friends with their teachers as long as the relationship does not become “more than friendly” between the pair, such as constantly hanging out both after school and during school.

       Spanish teacher Jessi Raile does not agree with Holder and Wendlick that students and teachers can be friends.

       “I feel like you have to be friendly with your students, but not friends,” Raile said.

        She thinks students need to trust teachers, but there needs to be a separation from friendship.

        Raile’s students know certain things about her, like how she works at Scheels, but they do not know anything about her personal life.

       With the start of Web Sites like Facebook and Myspace, which show personal information about people, the question becomes whether it’s OK for teachers to add students as friends.

        Raile disagrees with the idea of teachers adding students on Facebook. Since she is “absolutely against it,” she is “super blocked” and turns down any requests from students, adding she does not want to know that much about her students.

        Senior Alexis Metz agrees with Raile that teachers should not add students as friends on Facebook.

       “I think teachers adding students on Facebook is a little weird because that’s meant for friends or family, not a teacher and student thing,” Metz said.

        Contrary to Raile and Metz, Wendlick thinks its OK for teachers to add students as friends on Facebook because it’s just like talking with your friends.

        Holder also believes that is OK to add students on Facebook as long as teachers do not say something on their site that they would not say in the classroom.

        “I think that if a teacher has a Facebook site, they should interact with their students as though they’re in the classroom,” Holder said.

        Sophomore Bethany Booth thinks teachers and students can be friends, but feels that teachers have certain standards they need to follow to avoid favoritism.

        “Being friends with a teacher doesn’t change the fact that you’re a student,” Booth said.