A Missouri House committee has unanimously passed legislation that would remove confusing language from a new state law regarding the use of social media between teachers and students.
The bill was passed last week by the Missouri Senate. It’s being handled in the House by State Representative Chris Kelly (D, Columbia).
“We all know that the Internet, (a) tremendous wonderful tool, has some seamy applications to it, and one of those is inappropriate sexual contact with minors," Kelly told the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee. "It is, I believe, legitimate for society to attempt to govern that.”
The bill would require school districts in Missouri to adopt their own policies regarding communication between students and all school personnel.
A Cole County judge has blocked the language banning most teacher/student online messaging. But even if the House passed the so-called “Facebook fix,” it may not survive. In his special session call, Governor Jay Nixon (D) only asked lawmakers to remove the offending language and made no mention of replacing it with new language.
