Teachers and social networking

When searching for my for my name on “pipl” I found a couple of links to my name. I was not surprised to find that my facebook page was the first thing to be listed.
Such popular networking sites such as facebook and myspace are easily accessible. I feel that my face book information is rather secure, as I have my profile set to private. Therefore only friends of which I have accepted can view my information and pictures. I would feel comfortable with students seeing the information I have listed, as I have not divulged any personally incriminating information. However, I do not feel it would be appropriate for students to view my pictures as many of them have evidence of alcohol consumption. Again, as long as my profile is set to private and I screen who I accept as a friend, I do not foresee there being a problem. However, I am less familiar with myspace and their security measures, therefore I have deleted my myspace profile.
Other posts that I found on “pipl” was my grandmothers obituary from the local newspaper in Scappoose, “The Spotlight,” which has an online periodical. Also I found a link to a roster from a national basketball tournament I coached at down in San Diego last December. Both of these links obviously serve no harm to my professional credibility, however, finding this information was a great reminder of how my personal information could easily be accessed by my students.
After reviewing the article, “Have You Googled Your Teacher Lately,” I was most drawn to the section regarding the teacher who used facebook to communicate with her students. I think that although it is a nice gesture of wanting to provide further instruction outside the classroom, there could be other avenues for attempting to do so. Other possibilities could include e-mail or possibly instant messaging for a quicker response. I think these tools should be school endorsed and monitored. For instance, there is some gray area with instant messaging. Therefore, there should be a time frame for when it is appropriate to engage in such forms of communication.
I think that because teachers are serving their community and largely influencing the youth population, that they should be held to community standards even when it comes to their personal life. Kids learn by example therefore they should be able to look up to their teachers as role-models, and parents should be able to trust that their kids are not being wrongfully influenced. In order to hold this ideal, I would expect for there to be clear community standards for which a teacher should conduct themselves in public. I take this this into consideration when protecting myself and my job. I understand that by living in a small town there is a microscope that I will constantly be under. News that is either positive or negative travels fast. To stay clean in the microscope, I will really have to keep my professional and private life as separate as possible. It is important to realize that wherever I am at, I am still a reflection of the school and the community.

Link to my face book page
http://www.spotlightnews.net/news/print_story.php?story_id=124405011136251500)
My grandmothers obituary
http://www.spotlightnews.net/news/print_story.php?story_id=124405011136251500
A roster from a basketball tournament
http://www.basketballtravelers.com/images/brackets/surf/2008BoysSlam.PDF