Mr. Feeny: Setting Social-Media Boundaries With Students

Remember the popular 1990s show “Boy Meets World?” Imagine the beloved educator George Feeny more than a decade later, when his social-media inexperience gets him into an uncomfortable situation with students.

George Feeny taught Cory Matthews, Cory’s girlfriend Topanga, his best friend Shawn, and even Cory’s older brother Eric, from kindergarten through their years in college. Throughout the years, he offered the gang a great deal of sincere advice. As time wore on, however, Mr. Feeny’s relationship with the kids grew increasingly difficult.

Ironically, Mr. Feeny has been quoted saying that the line between friend and teacher should never be crossed. But when he hit the social media scene, he couldn’t help obsessively commenting on the kids’ Facebook photos and tweets, offering what started to feel less like advice, and more like attempts to control them.

“Cory, your hair looks dry in this photo. Are you using the conditioner I told you to buy?”

“I see you’re at the beach, but it doesn't seem like you have enough sunblock on. Do you even care if you get skin cancer, Shawn?”

“Eric, your new beard looks scruffy, but I can fix that with my mustache comb and a pair of scissors!”

“@RealTopangaMatthews, should you really “favorite” so many of these “Breaking Bad” posts? #Disturbing #MethIsNotCool #WhereDidIGoWrong #TiskTisk”

Mr. Feeny’s missteps went beyond commenting. He also posted numerous overly personal images, often editing himself into school photos featuring the foursome. In these photos, he was often shirtless.

Image courtesy of Flickr / author Alan Light

As Cory and his friends grew into adulthood, they unanimously decided to block Mr. Feeny on social media. The educator was swallowed by severe depression and now spends all his time strategizing to win back his former students.

It didn’t have to be this way.

Mr. Feeny failed to understand that when he posted, he reached an audience that extended through a vast series of connections, even though individual Facebook profiles had privacy limits.

He shouldn’t have friended the students, let alone posted anything about them that could be perceived as embarrassing. What Mr. Feeny thought was simply oddball humor, the kids perceived as stalking behavior. In fact, he’s lucky they didn’t report him to authorities.

“He’s completely embarrassed himself, and he may end up never teaching again,” lamented his school colleagues.

How could Mr. Feeny have avoided problems?

EducationWorld offers several resources to guide educator use of social media:

Educator Rules for Personal Use of Facebook and Twitter
Social Networking Tips for Teachers
Managing School-Sanctioned Social Media Use
Do Texting and Facebook Belong in the Classroom?

Article by Jason Cunningham, EducationWorld Social Media Editor
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