Scenario 2
Mrs. Nelson is a 5th grade teacher at Xander Elementary School. Mrs. Nelson is very tech-savvy
and uses many forms of social media to communicate with her parents and students. At the
beginning of the year she asks parents to follow her on a communication app, Remind, so that
they can receive important text reminders about upcoming events. Remind is typically used for
group communication. For example, Mrs. Nelson might send out a reminder to the class that
they have a field trip and will need to remember to bring their lunch. After receiving a group
text, parents then have the option to respond individually to Mrs. Nelson and they can then
carry on a conversation in a private environment if they need to discuss more student-specific
information. Many of her students have their own cell phones and have also begun following
Mrs. Nelson on the Remind app. While Mrs. Nelson does not encourage this, she doesn’t
remove them when they do. It has never been an issue in the past, and she assumes it might
help them to know about upcoming and important events too. Mrs. Nelson is a very loved and
respected teacher, and she is known for providing a very safe and nurturing environment in her
classroom. Whenever a student is struggling with an issue, he or she knows that Mrs. Nelson
will listen and support them. Because of the precarious nature of 5th grade, students often
come to Mrs. Nelson with all kinds of problems. After sending out a Remind text about the
upcoming early dismissal day, a student, Maddie, responded with a private message to Mrs.
Nelson telling her that she needed to talk to her about a problem. Mrs. Nelson tells her to come
to her first thing in the morning, so they can talk before class begins. The next morning, Maddie
shows up early to class as instructed and tells Mrs. Nelson that she thinks something is wrong
with her because she doesn’t like boys the way her friends do, but she really doesn’t want to be
gay. She is afraid of what her parents and friends would say if she never likes boys the way she
thinks she is supposed to. Though she was a little taken aback by this confession, Mrs. Nelson
assures her that she will be ok, and that it is ok that she doesn’t have the answers to those
questions right now. Thinking about it later that evening, Mrs. Nelson was concerned that she
hadn’t been supportive enough in talking with Maddie, so she sends her a private Remind text
saying, “I want you to know that you are a very smart and beautiful young lady, and that won’t
change if you like boys or girls. I won’t say anything to anyone about our conversation.”
Questions:
- Identify the behaviors (if any) that you believe violate standards in the Educator Code
of Ethics. - Which standards do you think were violated? Explain your reasoning. If you feel that
no standards were violated, explain your reasoning. - Should Mrs. Nelson have handled this situation differently so as not to violate the
Code of Ethics, or (if you feel that there was no violation) to avoid her actions being
called into question?