Following Sex Scandals, Districts Impose Message Ban

"The downside is that part of being a good teacher is having a good relationship with a kid. You have to get to know a child to form a relationship, and then education can happen. In fact, no learning will happen until then," he said. "But we have so many different avenues for educational communication, and have really incorporated technology in so many ways in trying to change the culture of how we educate students, that we felt we could do this for the safety of the kids." Lauderdale superintendent Hodges too admitted that communication via means such as text messaging could be beneficial for teachers and students, but said that possibility did not outweigh the risks. "Anything you do you try to use a common sense approach, but we felt you couldn't really leave a gray area. There were just too many problems that could occur."