To add teacher on social media?

[CocoBean22]

DD finished school last week and the teacher she had is moving to Australia to live and teach there.
DD has become very fond of the teacher and would like to keep in touch and is sad that she is leaving the school and moving away.

Is it acceptable to add teacher on social media to stay in touch now that the teacher has left the school and moved to the other side of the world?
Or is it still not appropriate?

No she’s 11. Very inappropriate!

God no. Ex h is a teacher and lots of my friends, they all have fake names on SM.

God no. It’s a job. Leave her alone.

Absolutely not and I am amazed you even have to ask. It is lovely that your DC had a positive experience with this teacher, but they are a teacher not a friend.

The opposite of pink Floyd..The wall.
Oi kid leave that teacher alone!
😁

I have an old teacher as friend on my FB, not on my kids’.

If she accepts, she should be reported. Don't try this.

Of course you can add her, I have many parents of former pupils as my friend on FB, it's lovely to see how the kids have grown up. I'm friends with the parents, not the children. If she doesn't want to accept she won't, it's really not a big deal!

It's weird how black and white this is now. I suppose it has to be these days.
But when I grew up in a village quite a number of the teachers were my parents friends and so we regularly saw them socially and even now, 30 years after they taught me, I still catch up with them when I am back home

God please don’t. Totally cringe.

Absolutely not OP. What are you even thinking?

Absolutely the case in our school to keep SM private. Many staff have altered their names to stop being discovered and have generic pictures as their profile picture.

No, just no.

Use it as a 'teaching moment' for your child, about social media, how people move on in life and that's fine, boundaries etc

The teacher is moving to Australia and OP (an adult) is adding her, not her child. Honestly mumsnet is so odd sometimes.

In my last school loads of staff lived in the same area and were already friends with the parents before their kids even went to school. How is it a safeguarding risk??

Why would the teacher want your daughter knowing what she gets up to in her private life? Or you, for that matter? Let her go off to her new life without the toe-curling embarrassment of having to say no to your request.
All kids have favourite teachers who leave. They're a bit sad to begin with, until a new favourite comes along. In fact if your daughter is 11, won't she be starting a whole new era of her own soon? Encourage her to concentrate on that.

It’s perfectly fine. I have a few teacher “friends” and there are a couple where the line is blurred as to whether they are teachers or whether they are parents of my DC’s friends, but there are some who are definitely there in their capacity as a teacher only. This includes both school teachers and teachers from a hobby.

Of course, the teacher may choose not to accept the request, but it still doesn’t hurt to try.

Absolutely not. It’s so, so strange.

Within six months the teacher will have forgotten your daughter. Teach your daughter to have some health boundaries

Lots of children are fond of their teachers then go separate ways. The child has to get over it unfortunately

it still doesn’t hurt to try
No idea why you would put someone in this uncomfortable position. It comes across quite desperate tbh.

If you and dd were moving to Australia would you think it was normal for teacher to request you on social media to keep in touch?

I dont want my teens friends (or my friends teens) who I am close to on my social media never mind children I know in a professional capacity seeing my posts.

Absolutely not.

Absolutely not, completely inappropriate. Would you expect the same for any Y6 pupil when they leave primary school? Your daughter needs to understand that some relationships don’t last forever.

If you are time travelling back 20 years ago when I was at school then yes it was fine. But then my IT teacher was struck off.

In 2026 no, even if others are doing it, it’s not an appropriate professional boundary

Boundaries woman, boundaries!

That’s not true. It’s fine once students have actually left. I’ve been teaching for 30 years and follow the marriages, babies other life events of former students via Facebook ( although these days they don’t use FB).