Ethical Dilemma; to share or not to share, that is the question.

Teaching in and of itself is fraught with a minefield of ethical dilemmas. We are the caretakers of the future, people place their children in our care, to which we must not only educate but safeguard their physical, emotional and moral wellbeing. “Teaching in schools has long been considered a moral activity (Wilson, 1967; Tom, 1984; Goodlad, Soder and Sirotnik, 1990) largely because it is recognized that how teachers fulfil their public duties influences the lives of vulnerable young people.” Hall, A. (2001)

Ethical dilemmas are everywhere in today’s education system, and more and more, simply saying no is not an option. Teachers are turning more frequently to their peers for advice and support as social media, the internet and technology has made the sharing of what was once private so easy. Nowadays everyone has a mobile device, almost always with photographic capabilities, and texting. So what do you do, texting has made communication almost detached and impersonal far less than a phone call anyway. Which leads me to my first dilemma.

My mobile phone number. I have never handed out my number as the potential for students getting hold of it, or having a parent constantly texting, was in my mind crossing the line. I am their child’s teacher, I care about their wellbeing and will work with the parent to insure the best possible outcome. I am a pretty private person by nature so when a parent rang the school and left a message for my number I was resistant. I spoke with my principal as often schools have policies as well but he saw no problem with it, I felt I had to give out my number. So what do you do? Do you say no? Create a wall between the parent and the school? In this case I have been lucky, the parents who have had my number have used it respectfully, only when needed and only during school or afternoon hours. For some parents it has been away of staying in touch with the school and opened communications between home and school. So what do you do?

Another major issue is social media. Where do you draw the line? More and more schools are having to deal with the fall out of cyber bullying, perpetuated out of school, over social media and bought back into the school. Students hunting you down and sending friend requests, then demanding to know why I haven’t accepted them. Students accessing social media at school when they are not legally old enough to have an account. Do we have the right to say no when their parents have said yes? Social media has opened the floodgates of access and accessibility.

In regards to social media with my class it has actually been a relatively simple solution, honesty and alternatives. In regards to friend requests I simply explain that my FB is my private life, shared with family and close friends. Yes they are my students and I care about them but I won’t be accepting their requests, they accept this. Social media access at school is more complex.

In regards to accessing social media at school the policy is, it is not legal for them to hold an account therefor it is not legal for them to be accessing social media using school equipment or while they are in our care. Plain and simple. What I have done is created safe alternatives, such as google classroom and ClassDojo.

There is no easy solution we must stay safe and keep our students safe.