Can you ban staff from interacting with students over social media?

Social media can cause countless headaches for school leaders so it seems reasonable that some ban online interactions between staff and students – however, are they really entitled to do so?

Nathan Croot is a senior associate with Emil Ford Lawyers – he says schools definitely have the right to prohibit online interactions and encourages all education leaders to do so.

“Schools can, and should, ban personal interactions between staff and students over social media,” he tells the Educator.

“Most schools prohibit all personal contact between staff and students on social media because, if the school allows some contact, it makes it much harder to draw the line between appropriate and inappropriate behaviour,” he explains.

However, there are some circumstances in which online interactions may actually be beneficial to the school as well as staff and students.

“Some schools may want to use some form of social media for educational purposes such as assigning homework or facilitating discussions,” says Croot.

“These interactions may be permitted but schools should have clear procedures in place for the staff and students to follow.”