adding teachers on facebook?

[Bill D]

You have to ask yourself one question, and it is an easy one:

Why?

You have left school now. It's like when a baby has its umbilical cord cut and is no longer reliant on the mother's placenta, or when a child is weaned off breast feeding, or when you stop getting an allowance and have to earn it with a paper round.

School gets you through the education part and (hopefully) has prepared you for life outside its comfortable womb. You now need to go out and get a job to make money in the adult world and, although it isn't easy to adapt to, you are no longer a student at a school.

If a teacher has a class of 20 students each day and teaches a different class each day, that's already 100 students.

Were you such a great student that the teacher going to remember you amongst all the others and really have any interest in continuing communications with you?

There is also the issue of "mutual friends". The reason that I have not befriended some of my old school friends on facebook is because amongst their friends are some ex class mates who I never liked back then and it is highly unlikely that I would ever want to find out if I like them now. I wouldn't want them to see my friends, what I post about, or anything about them. The same issue could happen if you befriend your teacher.

If there is a possibility that you may need a reference from that teacher, and the teacher is likely to leave that school in the near future, then I suggest that you take a note of his or her facebook page and you can always go back later and send a private message.

Remember also that the teacher is of a different generation and may not particularly enjoy reading potentially profane posts made to your wall by your friends. Would you be happy adding your mother and father as friends in Facebook?

Only you will know why you might want to have your teacher as a Facebook friend, but think carefully before doing so, because some people are insulted when you later remove them as "friends".