Jocelyn+B’s+2018+OpEd+Article

Why no teacher should engage in Snapchatting a student

I like Snapchat because it’s fleeting. I can send the occasional empowering selfie. I can base an entire conversation off of nonsensical defamiliarization. I can send a photo of myself crying while cooking eggs at 5:30 a.m. and rest knowing that the other party can only see it for six seconds. It’s a harmless app—but only when used correctly.

Examples:


For the most part, users communicating over this interface know each other personally; they could be siblings, friends, partners, or family. But as soon as a teacher steps into this mix, there becomes a unchartered gray area. Communications through social media tend to be public or semi-permanent. So, if a teacher comments on my Instagram post, every person who follows me would be able to read it. If a teacher were to send me an e-mail, text, or DM, I could refer back to it to reread the message. Everyone is fundamentally held accountable for what they send, word for word. Snapchat is different. It’s unable to be monitored, unless either party chooses to take a screenshot or save a message within the app. This lays the foundation for a lack of accountability among users. I know because I, myself, am guilty of partaking being careless with what I send because I can count on the fact that it’ll disappear.

Some teachers avoid following or friending students altogether on the internet to avoid any “sticky situations”; they don’t want to come across an inappropriate post from a student that could potentially call for administrative or legal intervention. Teachers have to realize that this discomfort that they feel is a two-way street. Just as a teacher doesn’t want to see videos of their students partying over the weekend, I would rather not see shirtless gym selfies or uncalled for commentary about ‘jungle fever’ from the account of an educator.

Frankly, it’s unnerving to see a teacher at Foothill consider themselves comfortable enough with students to regularly, sometimes solely, contact them on such a covert and discreet platform. It should arouse concern when word spreads that a teacher sent a Snapchat to a student at night, making questionable commentary about how she looks better with a full face of makeup. It should arouse concern when a teacher snaps a pic from the bottom of a student’s driveway late at night, asking to come in and hang out.

Because Snapchat was designed to be instantaneous and fleeting, it’s difficult to acquire proof of such accusations and stories. Nonetheless, falsified or not, the hearsay should be significant enough to raise some sort of concern from other teachers and administrators.

To avoid seeing posts that make me uneasy, I understand that I could easily hit the ‘unfriend’ button, but I refrain. Detaching myself from the problem doesn’t get rid of it; it just means it exists outside of my realm of consciousness. It should be evident that this sort of behavior from an adult who is in charge of caring for minors is bizarre and borderline dangerous. It’s bewildering to think that this behavior not only goes unnoticed by administrators, but it is also widely praised and encouraged by the student body.

Teachers are not our friends—they are our educators, our role models—and they need to act like it.

JB

P.S. self-plug! Read this article if you haven't already! It looks into teachers' and students' perspectives on the whole shebang.