Missouri teacher sues state over ‘Facebook law,’ says she can’t contact her own child online. (illegal, school)

[FreedomThroughAnarchism]

Missouri teacher sues state over

Missouri teacher sues state over ‘Facebook law,’ says she can’t contact her own child online

"A Missouri teacher has sued the state over a new law that prevents teachers from contacting their students over the Internet, arguing that it will make it illegal for her to chat with her own child over Facebook.

The law, which has been nicknamed the Facebook law, prohibits teachers from having exclusive communications with students over non-work Internet sites. Students are defined as anyone under 18 who attend or used to attend the school where the teacher works. In her suit, Christina Thomas alleges that the Ladue, Mo., school district where she works has told teachers that they cannot have "exclusive communications" with their own children on Facebook if their children meet the law's definition of former or current student.

Thomas says the law is violating her rights under the 1st and 14th amendments.

Charol Shakeshaft, a professor of educational leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University, told the Huffington Post that the bill is a good way to tackle sexual abuse in schools."

[snip] Click link for rest of article.

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Yet another policy predicated on utilitarian rationalizations, which as is so often the case with intellectually vacuous utilitarian rationalized laws or policies, takes the form of trying to justify preemptively enjoining a broad range of peaceful and legitimate conduct simply to deter a very limited class of nefarious conduct. Such policies punish all the innocent people for no more coherent reason than the mere possibility that people could do something wrong.

So instead of having a policy which simply punishes parties who are actually guilty of the nefarious conduct which they seek to enjoin (i.e. preventing contact for inappropriate relationships which cross some social boundary - particularly criminal boundary), they simply want to punish all parties, including the innocent ones whos conduct falls outside the intended purpose of instituting the policy.

[DahomeyAhosi]

Originally Posted by FreedomThroughAnarchism

Yet another policy predicated on utilitarian rationalizations, which as is so often the case with intellectually vacuous utilitarian rationalized laws or policies, takes the form of trying to justify preemptively enjoining a broad range of peaceful and legitimate conduct simply to deter a very limited class of nefarious conduct. Such policies punish all the innocent people for no more coherent reason than the mere possibility that people could do something wrong.

So instead of having a policy which simply punishes parties who are actually guilty of the nefarious conduct which they seek to enjoin (i.e. preventing contact for inappropriate relationships which cross some social boundary - particularly criminal boundary), they simply want to punish all parties, including the innocent ones whos conduct falls outside the intended purpose of instituting the policy.

This law is insane. The internet doesn't turn people into pedophiles. They allow their teachers to be in physical contact with students in the class but prevent electronic contact. Oh logic where art thou?

[Marv101]

That law is indeed idiotic; what the heck are they putting in the water in Missouri anyway?

[KUchief25]

Yeah it's ok to send your kids to class with these folks all day long but no facebook!! What next is all I dare to ask.

[hammertime33]

What a stupid law. She'll easily win this one in court.

[Alltheusernamesaretaken]

It's a ridiculous law
but
...why can't she talk to her own kid on the phone or via text instead?
or, you know, the obvious,
IN THEIR HOUSE?