[Teachldsseminary] [CHAT] Instructor-Youth Email Policy

[E. Keith "JB" Howick, Jr.]

CES might have an email policy, but my Handbook does not have a global 
Church policy about instructors contacting children and youth via email.

However, we live in a world that treats adult-child misunderstandings 
with decreasing tolerance.  This is reflected by the Church taking 
stronger and stronger stances to avoid compromised relationships between 
children/youth and adult instructors (c.f. the recent changes in Primary 
staffing policies).  I believe that the majority of Church members are 
trustworthy in this matter, but it's not the majority the Church is 
worried about.  As useful as email is, the fundamental problem is that 
parents rarely see the contents of emails sent to their children.

If CES doesn't have a global no-email policy today I wouldn't be 
surprised to learn about one in the future.  If local CES coordinators 
do allow instructor-youth emails, I recommend teachers follow Sister 
Maynard's example and copy each student's parents on every email.  I 
would even recommend taking the step of securing permission from each 
student's parents so that you know they know what's going on.

Pres. Howick
Wallace Branch