Thanks to the advent of social networking sites, schools are facing a new problem: dealing with teachers who have befriended their pupils on Facebook.
Out of the 336 cases heard by the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE), 43 featured issues concerning social networking or email, The Guardian reported. These cases saw 18 teachers struck off and 14 suspended.
But in reality, these figures may be much higher as only the most serious misconduct cases referred to the GTCE will be heard. Any incidents referred to the GTCE after August will not be heard unless there is the possibility of the teacher in question being struck off, due to the abolition of the council.
The teaching council has often been criticised for the relatively small number of teachers who have been struck off under its watch with education secretary Michael Gove saying he believed it did "little to raise teaching standards or professionalism".
In November 2011, teacher Daniel Redshaw was struck off after pestering a pupil with emails under the pseudonym "Bob Smythe".
Using the school computer to find out the girl's details, he plagued her with emails which included phrases such as, "will the hottest, well good looking [Student A] pretty plz let me have her number", and "[Student A] - the fittest (!!!) babe at school".
The GTCE does have a code of conduct which sets out expectations of conduct and practice for registered teachers and is "designed to guide teachers’ everyday judgements and actions".
Despite the code not containing any direct reference to the use of social media by teachers, according to GTCE registrar Paul Heathcote the following principles would be relevant when considering any kind of inappropriate conduct:
1. Put the wellbeing, development and progress of children and young people first
8. Demonstrate honesty and integrity and uphold public trust and confidence in the teaching profession
Heathcote added: "The Code exists to support teacher professionalism in a changing context and was produced following wide consultation with teachers and others with an interest in teaching and learning."
Teacher support network, an online site offering advice and help, has developed a guide to social networking sites for teachers.
"Don't add students as your Facebook friends," it says. "Keeping an appropriate level of personal separation between you and your students makes professional sense as well."