Communication and interactions between teachers and students is a common thing in schools; however, when it begins to go outside of school is where it gets dangerous and out of hand. Teachers text-messaging, contacting students through social networks like Facebook or meeting excessively with specific students is inappropriate, unnecessary.

Rumors of student-teacher relationships in high school are not unheard of, with many of these happening through textmessaging. This is not to say that all teachers will commit this sort of act but the risk is there. Teachers having a student’s cell phone number provides a gateway that can too easily lead to inappropriate interaction. Whether this is instigated by the student or the teacher does not matter because the gateway should not exist. The point of class is for information to be communicated from teacher to student. If this communication is not working then either the teacher needs to do his or her job better or the student needs to apply his or herself to the class and give a legitimate effort to obtain the information. In the case that both the student is properly applying his or herself and the teacher is executing a satisfactory teaching method then the new guidelines permit that the principal or a parent may permit the pair to meet more regularly outside of class. Having this permission ensures that there is an awareness of a meeting and also prevents any sort of inappropriate action from occurring.

Students and teachers are given enough time to communicate face to face during school. But for a teacher to have students’ cell phone numbers or access to them through Facebook is absolutely inappropriate and has no need. The same goes for students having access to teachers in the same means. A student-teacher relationship should remain only that, student to teacher, and only during the school day.