Women Is this appropriate? (Kind of a spin-off from the social media thread)

[gymgymgymnast08]

The social media thread got me thinking. Do you think it is appropriate for coaches to

a) be friends with their gymnasts on facebook/instagram when the gymnasts are currently on the team?

b) if they are friends with their gymnasts, post things that aren't necessarily inappropriate but things that you wouldn't want your employer seeing?

My opinion is that they shouldn't be friends with their current gymnasts anyway, especially some gymnasts who are not even technically old enough to have a facebook. You wouldn't be friends with your teacher on facebook, and I know the relationship between the coach and the gymnast is different but it still seems weird to me. But if the coach is going to be friends with their gymnasts, they should be conscious of the fact and not post pictures of them doing things that you wouldn't want their employer seeing.

Before we all had facebook, I used to see my coaches getting drunk at the hotel bar the night before we had to compete. It's not like that made me start drinking when I was a level 5 or anything, but I don't think that was sending me a good message.

I am friends with my old coaches on facebook and we will occasionally text, but I am in college now so I am no longer on their team. We were friends on facebook and we did text often when I was on the team and I never thought anything of it until recently when I saw one of the coaches post something about drinking lots of margaritas and then all these young teens and tweens from the gym liking the post!

 

[exgymnastmomx3]

The social media thread got me thinking. Do you think it is appropriate for coaches to

a) be friends with their gymnasts on facebook/instagram when the gymnasts are currently on the team?

b) if they are friends with their gymnasts, post things that aren't necessarily inappropriate but things that you wouldn't want your employer seeing?

My opinion is that they shouldn't be friends with their current gymnasts anyway, especially some gymnasts who are not even technically old enough to have a facebook. You wouldn't be friends with your teacher on facebook, and I know the relationship between the coach and the gymnast is different but it still seems weird to me. But if the coach is going to be friends with their gymnasts, they should be conscious of the fact and not post pictures of them doing things that you wouldn't want their employer seeing.

Before we all had facebook, I used to see my coaches getting drunk at the hotel bar the night before we had to compete. It's not like that made me start drinking when I was a level 5 or anything, but I don't think that was sending me a good message.

I am friends with my old coaches on facebook and we will occasionally text, but I am in college now so I am no longer on their team. We were friends on facebook and we did text often when I was on the team and I never thought anything of it until recently when I saw one of the coaches post something about drinking lots of margaritas and then all these young teens and tweens from the gym liking the post!

 

[exgymnastmomx3]

It's just a bad idea all the way around. In my kids gym, it wasn't allowed for coaches to be friends with gymnasts on fb. Ex-gymnasts okay. In the other gym we were at, the coaches just didn't do it. They were too smart to involve themselves with those kind of issues. IMO it's just opening yourself up for trouble!

 

[happychaos]

At our gym, many team parents, coaches, and gymmies (those that have an account) are all friends on Facebook. I have never seen a coach post something inappropriate, and I expect they wouldn't since they know who will see it. The coaches seem to like being "friends" with the parents, as they are often the ones sending the friend request, and will occasionally post pictures of the girls at practice or whatever. Seems to work out well at our gym!

 

[gymgal]

I personally don't have a problem with it. Sure, the coaches should be careful about what they post - but shouldn't everyone? Do you really want your paying customers (who trust you with their children's safety) to see/hear about you drinking too much the night before a meet?! Most people have their fb pages set to public anyway so kids/parents can see the pages if they choose to.

FB is just a real easy way to transmit info, videos, pics, and "here's to you" cheers for meets. However, I try to keep my comments on coaches' pages to only those relating to gymnastics and I let their personal friends converse on the more personal posts.

 

[COz]

You can set up friends lists in FB and either add friends individually to lists or when you add a new friend it asks you which list to add them to.
When posting, you can choose which lists can view the post, so it's actually easy to prevent personal (stupid drinking photos) posts from being viewed by employers/students/children.
This is how people with businesses manage an online social presence without it being viewed as too casual or inappropriate.

 

[2G1B]

I'm FB friends with some of my kids' coaches. My kids aren't old enough to have FB; but if they were I'd be fine with them being FB friends with these particular coaches. Probably not the younger (college aged) coaches though. I think that most of the older coaches know how to "behave" on FB. As a small business owner myself I tend to stop and think about if things I post on FB are OK and it seems like the coaches I'm FB friends with do the same (or they have different groups set up and I'm in a group that never sees inappropriate stuff...)

 

[Aussie_coach]

We do not allow our coaches to become friends with gymnasts or their parents on facebook. It results in an unprofessional environment, accusations of favouritism and many other problems.

 

[Rapunzel]

Our gym has a very clear policy on this - coaches and gymnasts shouldn't be friends/linked on social media.

 

[Kiwi]

I would be okay with parents being friends with coaches, as they are adults. I don't think coaches should friend gymnasts, for the same reasons as with teachers. I didn't know about the lists, will have to look into that.

 

[raenndrops]

Our Team FB page is private (and therefore, you have to be added by one of the admins). For someone to add you, you have to be FB friends. Our HC is not friends with anyone in our STATE! She got FB specifically so her family and friends in other states can keep up with her family.
I am friends with most of the gymnasts that have FB... but they are in my "gymnastics" group and my "juveniles" group. Generally, my posts are Rated-G and everyone can see them. If they are aren't for general audiences, I hide them from Juveniles. If it is something gymnastics related, I only share it with Gymnastics and Family groups.
For those gymnasts with FB whose parents don't let them be friends with adults (other than family), their moms are added as Admins so they can add their gymnasts.
We do this because people are less likely to access the team website and their e-mails... so they are likely to miss important information.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Our gym imposed a policy two years ago that coaches could not be linked with gymmies or their parents on social media.

At first, when I was "unfriended" I was almost offended, but I soon realized why and it makes sense.

 

[vagymmomma]

I am surprised by how common the restrictions are at gyms. Most of our optional gymnasts (only those who are old enough) and many parents are friends with the head coach. I've never seen anything even close to inappropriate. I love the pictures which are very team oriented (not focusing on individuals successes except at regionals and nationals).

 

[coachmolly]

I am friends with several of my high school gymnasts on FB, largely because that is the place where they see updates on practice times and meet info most quickly. I am okay doing this because anything I post is very G rated. And even though I'm not likely to post anything that wouldn't be appropriate for the middle/high school crowd, I do take the time to think carefully about what I post/share on FB just in case. And I do not request to be "friends" with them, it needs to be initiated by the gymnast/gym parent.
That being said, I do know coaches who are friends with younger gymmies (elementary/middle school age) who post pictures of themselves drinking, partying, dressed provocatively, and posting things that do not set the best example for children. I'm not saying that they can't do these things because they happen to work with children, just that if they have made the choice to be friends with gymmies on FB, they need to watch what they post- or not be friends with them. I haven't asked them, for all I know they could keep the more adult content hidden, and I certainly hope they do.
I don't think coaches being friends with gymnasts/parents is a necessarily bad thing, but coaches need to understand the risks and consequences of what they're doing, and realize they need to exercise extreme caution if they choose to add their gymnasts as friends.

 

[profmom]

Many parents are FB friends with coaches at my kids' gym on the girls' side. The coaches on the boys' side don't link up with the parents on social media. I've never seen a coach post anything inappropriate.

 

[emorymom]

At our gym, many team parents, coaches, and gymmies (those that have an account) are all friends on Facebook. I have never seen a coach post something inappropriate, and I expect they wouldn't since they know who will see it. The coaches seem to like being "friends" with the parents, as they are often the ones sending the friend request, and will occasionally post pictures of the girls at practice or whatever. Seems to work out well at our gym!

This is similar to our boys' team behavior. The coaches either use separate Facebook accounts to separate their personal and coaching life, or aren't really using Facebook for their personal life.

 

[emilykatherine]

I'm friends with both my coaches on Facebook, to me it's like being friends with my mom, to me they're my 2nd mom and I don't find it weird at all.