We would certainly agree that it is immoral for teachers to solicit students for sexual encounters via Facebook or other social media. But how do schools prevent this behavior? Missouri has passed a law that bars teachers from exchanging certain kinds of messages on social media sites.The bill also has provisions for reporting allegations of sexual misconduct by teachers and school employees.The law does, according to its sponsors, require teachers to make all messages public and visible to anyone when interacting with students.
Yet, here is the issue: The sponsor of this bill, Sen. Jane Cunningham, a St. Louis County Republican, maintains that "...Eventually this law is going to stop the whole problem." Somehow, this doesn't square with some politicians who eschew government intervention in our lives. In fact, some have urged a change in the law to allow local school boards to set policy regarding teachers' use of social media. Others have noted that teachers bent on reaching students for sexual liaisons will find other means of contact, making this law meaningless.
Now let's return, then, to the question of legislating morality. Is it effective? Not always and perhaps rarely. Should we, then, never have laws to prohibit immoral acts? And if we do, should we smugly assume that the law will do the trick? The answer I prefer is that, yes, we need to prohibit specific behaviour with the knowledge that some will find a way around it. Yet, if we are in any sense a moral society, then we must uphold commonly agreed upon virtues. Do you agree? Please comment.
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