15 Relationships and Communications with Students
All communication with students is monitored by the prison. The Learning Management System (LMS) we use in our courses is set up to allow a channel of monitored communication for the class. If tutors and instructors need to communicate something to their students outside of instruction time, it can be handled through the LMS or via a DOC staff person (if that person is in the room during a session).
No communication outside of the LMS and classroom is allowed, and the students are aware of this rule. Please let the OBB program manager know if you receive any messages via phone, social media, email, or mail from students. Students sometimes send requests through CorrLinks, the email communication system that people in prison use to communicate with family and friends. Please do not accept these requests, which are outside the bounds of approved communication. In rare instances, students may ask a third party to contact you (for example, they may ask a family member to send you an email on their behalf). This is also strictly prohibited, so if this occurs, please contact the OBB program manager right away.
Please do not friend or follow any of our students, their friends, or their families on any social media platform. People in prisons are not supposed to have access to social media, but it can still happen, and/or their families may set up accounts for them.
Please also restrict communications to class or education-related matters. However, as rapport and trust building is essential for creating a conducive learning environment, it is necessary to be personable and relatable to students. The rule of thumb is that it is acceptable to share general personal information, but not specific details such as names of family members or where someone lives. See this article and the Instructor Learning Module (Module 2) under ‘Part IV: Additional Resources’ about building connections in a prison setting.
Please do not accept anything from your student. This includes personal letters to you and letters that they would like for you to mail. Mailing something that does not go through the prisons’ screening system is illegal. If we are involved in communicating outside of the monitored communication channels, our program can be shut down.
Please do not give anything at all, even a pencil, to students, unless all students are receiving the same items and those items have been approved by OBB and the prison as a class material or supply. If a student asks you for a personal favor that does not relate to class or academics, you must decline. Students might also send you messages through the LMS that seem personal. If you are given information by your students and you are not sure about what to do, tell the OBB program manager.
Student X had a great rapport with tutor A, and had begun to stay beyond tutoring sessions to ask questions and prolong conversation. Knowing that tutor A was pursuing a degree a foreign language, Student X asked for a foreign language dictionary from tutor A so they could study, too. Tutor A explained that OBB team members cannot provide any extra school resources to individual students, nor can they provide materials that are unrelated to the course. Tutor A also reinforced the time boundary with Student X, reminding them that tutoring ends at a specific time. Student X understood these rules and accepted the situation.
Ask DOC security staff for permission before shaking hands with your students. In classrooms, it is typically okay. After leaving the classroom, do not touch your students. Touching, shaking hands, or patting shoulders outside of the classroom can be easily understood or misinterpreted as passing items between two parties, and such an interpretation may result in negative consequences, regardless of the true circumstances. Once, a student was put into segregated housing as a result of being patted on the shoulder by an instructor outside the classroom.
Building trust can be challenging in the prison setting. Please be respectful of students’ reluctance when discussing topics like race, or anything that might trigger students’ past trauma. Avoid discussing or investigating student convictions and gang affiliations, as these can be particularly sensitive topics, and you could wind up uncovering information that negatively impacts your ability to be objective in the classroom.