JEFFERSON CITY, MO (WACH) -- In a measure designed to “protect children from sexual abuse,” by setting boundaries on the relationships between students and educators,  lawmakers in Missouri have passed Bill 54, dubbed the “Amy Hister Student Protect Act,” a reference to a student who was abused by teachers several decades ago.

The new law states that teachers may not have any online private communication with their students, unless that communication is monitored by both parents and administrators.  The law sets guidelines that “Teachers cannot establish, maintain, or use a work-related website unless it is available to school administrators and the child's legal custodian, physical custodian, or legal guardian. Teachers also cannot have a non-work-related website that allows exclusive access with a current or former student."

Tech blog Mashable.com says several questions will quickly arise from the new law, including if the state will now be allowed to have access to the personal computers owned by teachers.

Another gray area could be the verbiage that teachers are cannot have communication with “former students,” which means that a student and teacher potentially may not have a friendship 20 years after the student graduates.

From the case of Pamela Smart, who conspired with her 16 year old student/boyfriend to murder her husband, to the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, who had a child with her teenage student, and Steven Lindseth, who not only was charged with inappropriate conduct with a student, but bringing a gun into his school, relationships between teachers and students are not new with the introduction of social media.  According to a 2007 AP study, between 2001-2005, 2570 educators are no longer in the role, surrounding inappropriate relationships.

The Missouri law goes into effect on August 28.

What do you think about the State of Missouri passing a law that governs social communication between teachers and students?  Who should be responsible for a teenagers online activities?

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