ACS Social Networking Guidelines
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Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, Pinterest, Flickr, Snapchat, texting—social networking is here to stay and is growing exponentially. Facebook alone has registered over 2.6 billion users worldwide. Social networks help people create a sense of community as they connect with people around the globe.
Auburn City Schools Offer These Guidelines:
Failure to adhere to the ACS Social Networking Guidelines may result in personal liability based on negligence.
- Friending any currently enrolled ACS student is strongly discouraged by the school district. It is wise to protect your professional role as a teacher.
- Friending a parent of a student currently assigned to your class is strongly discouraged by the school district. Use discretion when posting comments and pictures.
- Post only what you want the world to see, even if your personal social media account(s)/website/blogs are restricted. Imagine your current students, parents, and your supervisor visiting your site—viewing your personal pictures, reading your posts, and examining your profile and friend list. Do your pictures reflect how you want your students to see you during school hours?
- Avoid posting comments that discuss or criticize students, co-workers or school policies.
- Online chats and discussions with students can be misconstrued and your words may be recorded and taken out of context.
- The district has provided Schoology for instructional purposes.
- Visit your profile’s security and privacy settings. We suggest that educators should have all privacy settings set to “only friends.”
- If you are tagged in a photo by a student or parent, we suggest you remove your tag. Protect your students and yourself.
- Weigh whether a particular posting/status update puts at risk your professional role and effectiveness as a teacher.
- Before creating any new accounts for classroom use you must consult your ITS per ACS AUP. Administrators and ITS are to be included in any classroom group.
- All social media accounts for classroom purposes should be made private under account settings, requiring ‘followers’ to be approved by the teacher.
- Always read the user agreements associated with any account creation. Note, especially, age requirements for users and ownership of material posted and shared.
- Accounts used for teacher/classroom purposes should be linked to the teacher’s website.