A new policy allows teachers to access students’ google applications, as online relationships between students and teachers increase.

Google Applications is an online site that allow students to organize their academic life. There is a calendar, email, documents and more, and a new application called Dashboard that allows all of this information to be seen by teachers.

“I don’t know any teachers who are excited to check their students’ emails. And I don’t think the students are too happy either,” English teacher Mercedes Foster said.

Teachers can see all of the students’ information online, which not only makes students’ uneasy about what they send and receive through these Google Apps, but teachers are also worried that it may be a violation of their students’ privacy.

“I think that it is a huge invasion of the students’ privacy for any teacher to have the power to read what the student is receiving as an email, and to be able to see what the student has sent as an email, and be able to see what the student has deleted as an email,” science teacher John Savage said.

Many teachers, as Foster says, believe it is a violation of privacy of the students to allow the teachers to see every email that is being sent and received; every document that is being typed and shared.

Other teachers, such as math teacher Michael Cincotta, are not familiar with this type of application.

“I don’t use Google Apps. It’s new to me,” ╩Cincotta said.

Cincotta said it is better to use these Google applications for some subjects more than others.

“Handing work in by hand is easier in math. There are also few opportunities to turn stuff in online with math because I have to see work. Maybe for an english or history teacher, they could turn in papers, and there’s less paper use,” Cincotta said.

Teachers are also wary about this new policy, because they, too don’t have the privacy they want.

“It’s the same situation for the teachers. The administration can read any of our emails because they are our work emails,” Foster said.

This has not always been the case. Before online use with students and teachers was so common, this policy did not exist.

Administrators can now read all of the teachers emails that are being sent and received in order to ensure they are only being used for academic purposes.

“There’s no expectation of privacy when it’s a work email and that’s something that every student should get used to now, because that’s what they’re going to have to deal with in the real world,” said Foster.

Many students do not use their school accounts, but communicate online using Facebook or texting.