Is It Unconstitutional?

It seems that there is an issue building up regarding teacher-student communications. In Missouri, a state law prohibits teachers from having private communications with students over the internet. This triggered a teachers’ association to file a lawsuit naming the state, the governor and the attorney-general as defendants.

A Senator from Missouri defended the new state law, saying that it does not violate free speech or any other rights. These were the grounds stated in the teachers’ complaint, filed by the Missouri State Teachers’ Association. The Senator said that the law doesn’t stop any means of communication. It only prohibits private communication between educators and students who are minors. Teachers and students are allowed to communicate over the internet only if parents, administrators and the general public can view the internet site.

With the adoption of the law, schools are required to fine tune their policies to comply with the law. Teachers, through their association, reacted negatively, and said that banning this kind of contact is unconstitutional. Trying to explain their opposition, the teachers cited the vagueness and broadness of the act. According to them, there are no clear boundaries between which conduct is permitted and which is not. They added that the law seems to curtail the exercise of the First Amendment rights, including that of free speech and association among others.

The Senator who sponsored the bill wondered why the teachers are now against it. She said that these teachers even helped with the drafting of some of the language in the act. She commented that the teachers seem to be suing over their own work. In response, a spokesperson of the teachers’ association defended the group and explained how the opposition came about. He said that the teachers did not review the final language of the social media provisions.

Actually, this prohibition is just a part of the larger bill that is intended to prevent sexual abuse by teachers on students. Such incidence is sometimes rooted in a private relationship between them that eventually goes overboard. On the teachers’ side, they contend that the majority of their private online contact with students is education-related. In general, this kind of relationship can be helpful, especially for shy students or those who have difficulty with assignments.

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