Passions: Drawing a fine line

“Teachers can tweak privacy settings while posting” By Ranjana Gyanchandani

“Teachers can tweak privacy settings while posting”

St Xavier’s Kolkata fired a professor for her Instagram post. The sitcom Friends (above) addressed crossing student-teacher boundaries in the ’90s

By Ranjana Gyanchandani

Ranjana questions, “Teachers have lives outside their classrooms. Do we question people in any other profession about their social media?”

There’s nothing wrong with a student being friends with their teacher on social media. It’s a great way to reach students about issues pertinent to them. And it’s so easy to tweak your privacy settings when you post something you don’t want to expose them to.

Students want to reconnect after graduation. I teach teens and accept requests only after they finish school, and understand the concept of freedom of expression. But I have colleagues who post pictures from their holidays, giving students a different perspective of their teacher.

Teachers have lives outside their classrooms. Do we question people in any other profession about their social media? Why can’t teachers have a life sans moral policing? Also, what my own children access is my responsibility as a parent.

Today, everything is out in the open. My students wanted my views on Ranveer Singh’s nude pictures. We need to be open to these conversations. But make sure the kids understand that freedom comes with responsibility.

Just one question: Would a male teacher be fired for posting a picture in a swimsuit?

“Teachers and students shouldn’t connect online”

By Nidhie Raj Singh

Nidhie says, “teachers need to understand that their students will see what they are posting and likely think that it’s okay to mirror that behaviour”

Since the internet has been part of their lives since they were born, kids today somehow always manage to access their teachers’ social media accounts.

Teachers need to understand that students will see what they are posting and likely think that it’s okay to mirror that behaviour. For instance, something like using too many filters on Instagram could lead to body image issues. Political, racist and classist posts are a strong no. And revealing pictures? Well, when a student sees a teacher in a different light and talks to other students about it, the equation in the classroom changes.

Students and teachers should not follow each other on social media. If the school or college has social media account, that’s the only online place for the two to communicate. Moral dilemmas also arise when a teacher sees something on a student’s account and wants to inform the student’s parents about it.

You can’t ask teachers to not live their lives. But even as a parent, I’m careful about what I post as I know my kid looks up to me and I am responsible for her.

Nidhie Raj Singh, 38, is a communication strategist and the mother of a seven-year-old.

From HT Brunch, August 20, 2022

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