Social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo have grown in popularity among the Irish population in the last few years. The worldwide online social networking phenomenon has more than 200 million active users worldwide and is open to everyone over the age of 13. 

Teachers are becoming aware that they may find themselves in the same virtual social sphere as their students.

ASTI representative Gemma Tuffy confirmed that the Association has been receiving queries about the appropriateness of sending texts to students.

"Some teachers have asked us if it was all right to text students if they were taking a group on extra-curricular activities such as a school trip," she said.

"That is perfectly fine and reasonable."

However, if the issue were to show signs of becoming a problem, the teacher should refer it back to the school and the school's IT policy, Gemma said.

"It's really important [for teachers] to maintain a professional relationship that would be consistent with relations in a classroom," said Gemma.

"If teachers are constantly receiving 'friend' requests, they could take it back to the school and refer to the 'netiquette'. This would cover communication with students online."

While there is no definite set of rules about virtual engagement between teachers and students, Gemma stressed that it is important for a teacher "to keep a personal facebook page separate from any that the class might establish for a school project." (Herald.ie)