Teachers have no business talking to students online

If a teacher wants to maintain a personal Web site, he or she should enjoy the same First Amendments rights as every other American adult.

But it?s fairly easy to see where floodgates to potential problems can burst open when students post comments on their teacher?s Web site. This comes dangerously close to crossing the line of what is an acceptable student-teacher relationship.

A Web site maintained by a Warren County High School teacher illustrates this point. One comment on the site, claiming to be from a 16-year-old male student, says, ?i?m really goin to like your class i can tell already your not like the rest of the teachers.?

While this could be taken as an innocent comment, it can also be taken as suggestive. If there were any signs the teacher responded to this online posting in a sexual way ? which she didn?t ? it would be grounds for termination.

I?m by no means questioning a teacher?s right to live life to the fullest, to maintain a fun-filled life away from school. I am, however, adamant that a teacher?s fun-filled life should not include sexual contact with a student.

As we?ve painfully seen in recent years, this goal is difficult to achieve. Whether it be locally or nationally, teachers have been charged with having sex with students seemingly every week.

We should not enable these relationships to form with even greater ease by allowing teachers to chat with students on Internet sites.

If teachers want to maintain a Web site, that?s certainly their privilege. If teachers want to chat with underage students on that Web site, they don?t belong in the classroom.