Missouri: Newspeak Central!
Usually I avoid talking politics like the plague, but I am afraid I was so outraged by a recent law passed in the State of Missouri, that I have no choice but to voice my disdain and protest. Last month, Missouri officials signed into law SB54 , which makes it illegal for teachers to be "friends" with students on any social networking site that allows for private communication (cf. section 162.069). That means teachers and students (including past students according to the law) can't be friends on Facebook or can't follow each other on Twitter for example. SB54 is intended to crack down on sexual predators and stalkers--which would be fine if that's all the bill did--but the bill oversteps its boundaries and trespasses on the very rights of the students and teachers it seeks to protect. I object to SB54 for the following reasons: 1. It suggests (implicitly) all teachers are sexual predators, pedophiles, and child rapists who will manipulate and abu...