Crossing Boundaries

I'm a teacher--been a teacher for about a year and a half and today I may have just crossed the line. My current tenth graders are the same students I had last year and so we've become extremely close. The other thing you need to know about me is that when I get bored, I get into a lot of trouble. Suffice it to say, today was the last day before Spring Break. In the kind of school I work at, days before major holidays are days with very low attendance. So, I put my students on laptops to make up class assignments since I am putting my grades in this week. Well, since all the students were on laptops, I had absolutely NOTHING to do. So I started joking around with two of my students who are a couple, off and on. I personally think the girl in the relationship is getting VERY played. I had noticed the night before that they were not in a relationship on facebook even though she was writing about him in her status, etc... (I'm friends with my students on facebook because it allows me to be accessible to my students at all times. My population I teach is very affective. When you show you care, and see them as a person rather than a stereotype, they are more likely to be invested in the content you teach. And trust me, as a math teacher in high school math where content just seems more and more irrelevant, any opportunity for investment is very welcome.) So I wrote one thing--it's not official until it's on facebook. I was in college when Facebook came out, and EVERYONE knew that you can't claim ANYBODY unless it was on FACEBOOK. So, you and him/you and her could be everywhere together, you could buy him/her lunch, dinner, give her the world and buy her an engagement ring. If it's not on facebook, it's not official. He never accepted the relationship.

Well, suffice it to say, she fell back and they are no longer together. Now, did I cross my boundaries? No, I don't think so. I am a Black teacher. I am a Black female teacher. I teach young females who make decisions that are far beyond their years. And so they deal with issues that are clearly out of their league. So, if I seem something that will cause pain, I MUST say something. So, the reason I said what I said is because she should not be getting played by some young boy in the 10th grade! You have to look out for your fellow Black sister!

I feel bad for my male student of course--but I must support my Black female student. I'm glad she decided to give him his space until he was able to man up.