Louisiana passed a similar law in 2009. However, Gov. Bobby Jindal has allowed individual school districts to decide how they will monitor communication between teachers and students.

The Jefferson Parish School System, where this reporter works, strongly encourages teachers to use school email accounts. If teachers need to text or call students, they are required to notify a school administrator within 24 hours of the communication. Parents also have the option of forbidding all communication between teachers and their children through personal electronic devices.

These laws come at a time when teachers, who are searching for innovative and creative ways to convey information, are recognizing the value of social media as a tool. More adults are using social media and teachers have discovered practical classroom applications. Many school districts, noting this trend, are scrambling to establish policies governing acceptable behavior.
Robin Phillips, web managing editor for the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University recognizes the need for guidelines.

“We are at a point where social media practices are evolving” she said. “They are a couple of years down the line, figuring out what makes sense in different communities in different organizations.”

Aaron Manfull, the media adviser at Francis Howell North School in St. Charles, Mo., is working with his school district on specific policies. “If your district wants to be progressive just shutting off communication is not forward thinking” he said.

According to a 2010 Pew survey, the average age of Facebook users is 38. In 2005, over 50 percent of Facebook users were between the ages of 18 and 25. As social network sites are reaching an older audience, teenage attitudes seem to be changing.

Teenagers used the term “creepy tree house” in the early stages of Facebook and Myspace to refer to adults attempting to join those networks. Today, more adolescents seem to welcome adult participation. Phillips has noticed the trend. “They see the value in having healthy adult relationships,” she said.

Coaches and teachers involved with organizations that typically meet after school face a dilemma. Scenarios such as verifying directions to a baseball field or answering a question about a camera could place adults in an awkward situation. Responding to a text or answering a phone call, could be in violation of school policy, whether the teacher realizes it or not.

Brian Heyman, a newspaper adviser at Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Mo., was unaware of the recent passage of Senate Bill 54. He said that he frequently communicates with students through methods that may soon be illegal.

“They need to be able to contact me whether it is a camera issue or they don’t know where the assignment is,” he said.

Randy Turner, a blogger for the Huffington Post and a teacher in Joplin, Mo., has been following the progress of Cunningham’s bill and noted a twist of irony in the debate. Days after a tornado ripped through Joplin, administrators and teachers, trying to locate the hundreds of students displaced, have relied on Facebook and Twitter, to ensure the families were safe.

“If this tragedy occurred after Aug.28, the day Mrs. Cunningham’s bill is scheduled to go into effect, we would still not know the fate of hundreds of our students,” he said.