Jason Bateman,Not just Justine's little brother

HOLLYWOOD — The stars stepped out in fine form on Monday night to support Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman's R-rated body-swap comedy, "The Change-Up." Reynolds and Bateman were joined on the red carpet by their lovely lady co-stars Olivia Wilde and Leslie Mann, along with surprise guest, Reynolds' pal Sandra Bullock.

In the spirit of the life-swapping element in the film, MTV News asked the attendees what other actor they'd like to swap careers, if not bodies, with, if given the opportunity.

"I would like to be Robert Redford," Wilde said. "I think being Robert Redford would be really nice. And also directing as well as acting, and doing Westerns as well as all sorts of movies, then living a really good life, starting a film festival. I would take Robert Redford. I wouldn't miss a day of my Robert Redford life."

Mann settled on Oscar winner and Hollywood legend Shirley Maclaine.

"That's a good one, right?" she said, adding that Maclaine's film classics "The Apartment" and "Terms of Endearment" are two of her favorite movies of all time.

"I think Jeremy Renner has got a nice thing going right now," Bateman said of "The Avengers" and "Hurt Locker" actor.

Phase II: 'Didn't you used to be Jason Bateman?'

“Valerie” (renamed “Valerie’s Family” and then "The Hogan Family" after Valerie Harper left), went off the air in 1991. And then … then came a little dry spell

This Can’t Be Love” was a TV movie with a dazzling cast, but it’s tough to stand out alongside Katharine Hepburn and Anthony Quinn. He landed major parts on “Simon,” “Chicago Sons,” George & Leo” and “Some of My Best Friends,” but do you remember the plot of any of those shows? Neither does anyone else.

For a while, it looked grim.

Phase III: Who knew Jason Bateman was so funny?

“Arrested Development” was the game-changer. Bateman's Michael Bluth became one of the iconic characters of the first decade of the new century, and the actor more than held his own alongside a strong cast and excellent writing.

But don’t forget about his appearance in “Dodgeball.” That was Bateman at his absolute funniest. He and Gary Cole stole an otherwise forgettable film in their role as broadcasters, and as ex-Dodgeball legend Pepper Brooks he cut loose in a way that he doesn’t get to now that he’s…

Phase IV: Jason Bateman … one of the best supporting actors around

Bateman isn’t likely to carry a film, unlike his “Change-Up” co-star Ryan Reynolds.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio,,born November 11, 1974 is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator (2004). In addition, he has won a Silver Bear, a Chlotrudis Award and a Satellite Award among others, and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.[

Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, DiCaprio started his career by appearing in television commercials prior to landing recurring roles in TV series such as the soap opera Santa Barbara and the sitcom Growing Pains in the early 1990s. He made his film debut in the comedic sci-fi horror film Critters 3 (1991) and received first notable critical praise for his performance in This Boy's Life (1993). DiCaprio obtained recognition for his subsequent work in supporting roles in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and Marvin's Room (1996), as well as leading roles in The Basketball Diaries (1995) and Romeo + Juliet (1996), before achieving international fame in James Cameron's Titanic (1997).

Since the 2000s, DiCaprio has been nominated for awards for his work in such films as Catch Me If You Can (2002), Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), Blood Diamond (2006), The Departed (2006), and Revolutionary Road (2008). His latest films Shutter Island (2010) and Inception (2010) rank among the biggest commercial successes of his career. DiCaprio owns a production company named Appian Way Productions, whose productions include the films Gardener of Eden (2007) and Orphan (2009).

A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for his activism. His romantic relationships have been widely covered in the media. Following a high-profile relationship with Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen, he was in a relationship with Israeli model Bar Refaeli.

Early life and family

DiCaprio, an only child, was born in Los Angeles, California. His German-born mother, Irmelin (née Indenbirken), is a former legal secretary, and his father, George DiCaprio, is an underground comic artist and producer/distributor of comic books. DiCaprio's mother moved from Oer-Erkenschwick at the Ruhr, Germany, to the U.S. during the 1950s, while DiCaprio's father is a fourth-generation American of half south-Italian (from the Naples region) and half German descent (from Bavaria in southern Germany). DiCaprio's maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken (1915–2008), who was born Yelena Smirnova, was a Russian immigrant to Germany. In a 2010 conversation with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, DiCaprio stated that his grandfather was also Russian, and added: "So I am really half-Russian".

DiCaprio's parents met while attending college and subsequently moved to Los Angeles. He was named Leonardo because his pregnant mother was looking at a Leonardo da Vinci painting in a museum in Italy when DiCaprio first kicked.DiCaprio was raised Catholic. His parents divorced when he was a year old and he lived mostly with his mother.

DiCaprio and his mother lived in several Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Echo Park, and at 1874 Hillhurst Avenue, Los Feliz district (which was later converted into a local public library), while his mother worked several jobs to support them. He attended Seeds Elementary School and graduated from John Marshall High School a few blocks away, after attending the Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies for four years.

Career,Early career

DiCaprio's career began with his appearance in several commercials and educational films. After being booted off the set of children's television series Romper Room for being disruptive at the age of five, DiCaprio followed his older stepbrother Adam Farrar into television commercials, landing an ad for Matchbox cars at 14. In 1990, he got his break on television when he was cast in the short-lived series based on the movie Parenthood. After Parenthood, DiCaprio had bit parts on several shows, including The New Lassie and Roseanne, as well as a brief stint on the soap opera Santa Barbara, playing the young Mason Capwell. His involvement in Parenthood and the daily soap earned him a nomination for the Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor each.

Personal life

DiCaprio is a close friend of Tobey Maguire, whom he met while auditioning for the Parenthood series in 1990 and is a longtime friend of both fellow actors Kevin Connolly and Lukas Haas, and Titanic and Revolutionary Road co-star Kate Winslet. He was a childhood friend of the late Christopher Pettiet.

His romantic relationships have been widely covered in the media. DiCaprio has dated women including model Kristen Zang on-and-off for several years, and British model and socialite Emma Miller. In 2001, he met Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen with whom he had an on-and-off relationship until their separation in 2005. DiCaprio began a relationship with model Bar Refaeli in November 2005 after meeting her at a Las Vegas party thrown for members of U2. In the course of their trip to Israel in March 2007, the couple met with Israeli president Shimon Peres and visited Refaeli's hometown of Hod HaSharon. The relationship was on hold for a period of six months starting in June 2009; in early 2010, the romance was rekindled. In May 2011, it was reported that the couple had ended their romantic relationship, although still remaining friends.

DiCaprio owns a home in Los Angeles and an apartment in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan. In 2009, he bought an island in Belize on which he is planning to create an eco-friendly resort. He also owns an apartment in Riverhouse, an eco-friendly building overlooking the Hudson River in Manhattan.

DiCaprio's first film of 2002 was the crime-comedy Catch Me If You Can, based on the life of Frank Abagnale Jr., who, before his 19th birthday, used his charm, confidence, and several different personas, to make millions in the 1960s writing bad checks. Directed by Steven Spielberg and co-starring Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken, the film was shot in 147 different locations in only 52 days, making it "the most adventurous, super-charged movie-making" DiCaprio had experienced yet. Catch Me If You Can received favourable reviews and proved to be an international success, becoming Dicaprio's highest-grossing film since Titanic with a total of US$351.1 million worldwide. Roger Ebert praised his performance, and noted that while "DiCaprio, who in recent films  has played dark and troubled characters, is breezy and charming here, playing a boy who discovers what he is good at, and does it. The following year, DiCaprio received his third Golden Globe nomination for his work on the film.

Also in 2002, DiCaprio appeared in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, a historical film set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of New York City. Director Scorsese initially struggled selling his idea of realizing the film until DiCaprio became interested in playing protagonist Amsterdam Vallon, a young leader of the Irish faction, and thus, Miramax Films got involved with financing the project.Nonetheless production on the film was plagued by blown-out budgets and producer-director squabbles, resulting in a marathon eight-month shoot and, at US$103 million, the most expensive film Scorsese had ever made. Upon its release, Gangs of New York became a financial and critical success however. DiCaprio's acting was well-received but remained overshadowed by Daniel Day-Lewis' performance among most critics.

Forging a collaboration with Scorsese, the two paired again for a biopic of the eccentric and obsessive American film director and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes in The Aviator (2004). Centering on Hughes' life from the late 1920s to 1947, DiCaprio initially developed the project with Michael Mann, who decided against directing it after back-to-back film biographies in Ali and The Insider. The actor eventually pitched John Logan's script to Scorsese, who quickly signed on to direct.Altogether, DiCaprio reportedly spent more than a year and a half in preparation for the film which was not necessarily shot in continuity because of actors and locations schedules.

2008–present

In 2008, DiCaprio starred in Body of Lies, a spy film based on the novel of the same name by David Ignatius, set in context of the Middle East and the War on Terror, unfolding the story of three men battling a terrorist organization, and each other. Directed by Ridley Scott and co-starring Russell Crowe and Vince Colosimo, DiCaprio dyed his hair brown and wore brown contacts for the role, which he chose to pursue because he considered it a throwback to political films in the 1970s such as The Parallax View (1974) and Three Days of the Condor (1975). The film received mixed reviews from critics, and at a budget of US$67.5 million, became a moderate box office success, grossing US$115 million worldwide.

The same year, DiCaprio reunited with Kate Winslet to film the drama Revolutionary Road (2008), directed by Winslet's then-husband Sam Mendes. As both actors had been reluctant to make romantic films similar to Titanic, it was Winslet who suggested that both should work with her on a film adaptation of the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates after reading the script by Justin Haythe, knowing that plot had little in common with the 1997 blockbuster. Once DiCaprio agreed to do the film, it went almost immediately into production. He noted that he saw his character as "unheroic" and "slightly cowardly" and that he was "willing to be just a product of his environment. Portraying a couple in a failing marriage in the 1950s, DiCaprio and Winslet watched period videos promoting life in the suburbs to prepare themselves for Revolutionary Road, which earned them favorable reviews. For his portrayal DiCaprio garnered his seventh nomination from the Golden Globes.

DiCaprio continued his run with Scorsese in the 2010 psychological thriller film Shutter Island (2010), based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. Co-starring Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo and Michelle Williams in supporting roles, the actor played U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels, who is investigating a psychiatric facility located on an island and comes to question his own sanity. With US$41 million, the film opened at number-one at the box office, giving both DiCaprio and Scorsese their best box office opening yet.

Also in 2010, DiCaprio starred in director Christopher Nolan's science-fiction film Inception. Inspired by the experience of lucid dreaming and dream incubation, DiCaprio portrays the character of Dom Cobb, an "extractor" who enters the dreams of others to obtain information that is otherwise inaccessible. Cobb is promised a chance to regain his old life in exchange for planting an idea in a corporate target's mind.DiCaprio, the first actor to be cast in the film, was "intrigued by this concept — this dream-heist notion and how this character's gonna unlock his dreamworld and ultimately affect his real life.Released to critical acclaim, the film grossed over US$21 million on its opening day, with an opening weekend gross of US$62.7 million.

Environmental activism and philanthropy

A committed environmentalist, DiCaprio has received praise from environmental groups for his activism. In the past, he has opted to fly on commercial flights instead of chartering private jets, and it was reported that he drives a hybrid car and has solar panels installed on his house. In an interview with Ukula about his 2007 film 11th Hour, DiCaprio cited global warming as "the number-one environmental challenge.

At the 2007 Oscar ceremony, DiCaprio and former Vice President Al Gore appeared to announce that the Academy Awards had incorporated environmentally intelligent practices throughout the planning and production processes, thus affirming their commitment to the environment, and on July 7, 2007, DiCaprio presented at the American leg of Live Earth. In 2010, his environmental work earned DiCaprio a nomination for the VH1 Do Something Award. The awards show, produced by VH1, is dedicated to honoring people who do good and is powered by Do Something, an organization that aims to empower and inspire young people.

In 1998, DiCaprio and his mother donated $35,000 for a "Leonardo DiCaprio Computer Center" at the Los Feliz branch of the Los Angeles Public Library, the site of his childhood home. It was rebuilt after the 1994 Northridge earthquake and opened in early 1999. During the filming of Blood Diamond, DiCaprio worked with 24 orphaned children from the SOS Children's Village in Maputo, Mozambique, and was said to be extremely touched by his interactions with the children. In 2010, he donated $1,000,000 to relief efforts in Haiti after the earthquake.

During the 2004 Presidential election, DiCaprio campaigned and donated to John Kerry's presidential bid. FEC showed DiCaprio gave $2300 to Barack Obama's presidential campaign in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, the maximum contribution an individual can give in an election cycle.

In November 2010, DiCaprio donated $1,000,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Society at Russia's tiger summit. DiCaprio arrived late after two near-miss flights, causing Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to describe him as a "muzhik" or "real man".

In 2011, DiCaprio joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund's campaign to free Tony, a tiger who has spent the last decade at the Tiger Truck Stop in Grosse Tete, Louisiana.

Filmography

Acting

Film

Year Title Role Notes

1991 Critters 3 Josh

1992 Poison Ivy Guy

1993 This Boy's Life Tobias "Toby" Wolff Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Emerging Actor

1993 What's Eating Gilbert Grape Arnie Grape Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Emerging Actor

National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

1994 The Foot Shooting Party Bud

1995 The Quick and the Dead Fee Herod, "The Kid"

1995 The Basketball Diaries Jim Carroll

1995 Total Eclipse Arthur Rimbaud

1996 Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – Romance

Silver Bear for Best Actor

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (Shared with Claire Danes)

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (Shared with Claire Danes)

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

1996 Marvin's Room Hank Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

1997 Titanic Jack Dawson Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actor – Drama

MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo (Shared with Kate Winslet)

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (Shared with Kate Winslet)

Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

1998 The Man in the Iron Mask King Louis XIV/Philippe

1998 Celebrity Brandon Darrow Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Hissy Fit

2000 The Beach Richard Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Drama

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry (Shared with Virginie Ledoyen)

2001 Don's Plum Derek Filmed in 1995

2002 Catch Me If You Can Frank William Abagnale Jr. Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liar

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Italian Online Movie Award for Best Actor

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

2002 Gangs of New York Amsterdam Vallon Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (Shared with Cameron Diaz)

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Liplock (Shared with Cameron Diaz)

2004 The Aviator Howard Hughes Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor

Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Italian Online Movie Award for Best Actor

Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Drama

Nominated—Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Visual Effects Film

2006 The Departed William "Billy" Costigan Jr. Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble

Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actor

Gransito Movie Award Best Actor

Italian Online Movie Award for Best Actor

National Board of Review Award for Best Cast

Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture

Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year (Also for Blood Diamond)

Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Empire Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor

Nominated—People's Choice Award for Best On-Screen Match-Up (Shared with Matt Damon & Jack Nicholson)

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Drama

Nominated—Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor

2006 Blood Diamond Danny Archer Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year (Also for The Departed)

Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association for Best Actor

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Drama

2007 The 11th Hour Narrator/Producer Documentary

2008 Body of Lies Roger Ferris

2008 Revolutionary Road Frank Wheeler Palm Springs International Film Festival Award for Best Ensemble Performance

Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association for Best Actor

2010 Shutter Island Teddy Daniels Italian Online Movie Award for Best Actor

Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor – Horror/Thriller

Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year (Also for Inception)

Nominated—National Movie Award for Performance of the Year

Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor (Also for Inception)

Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Scream Awards for Best Horror Actor

2010 Hubble 3D Narrator Documentary

2010 Inception Dom Cobb Scream Award for Best Science Fiction Actor

Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Actor of the Year (Also for Shutter Island)

Nominated—Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble

Nominated—Empire Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Irish Film and Television Award for Best International Actor

Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actor (Also for Shutter Island)

Nominated—People's Choice Award for Favorite On-Screen Team

Nominated—Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast

Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Actor

Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Scream Award for Best Ensemble

Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best WTF Moment (Shared with Ellen Page)

2011 J. Edgar J. Edgar Hoover Post-production

New Missouri law on social-media 'friending' confounds teachers

New Missouri law is making it illegal for teachers to correspond privately with students via social media. For instance, Facebook chat between a student and their teacher would be considered illegal while a wall post would be fair game. What's Trending Live raised the question: Are private student/teacher interactions online all bad?

Panelist Trend Hunter TV's Jeremy Gutsche found this particular law a good thing, saying private interactions "gets a little weird" and that he doesn't think "it's really necessary for a teacher to have private conversations in that social setting of Facebook."

Actress Brea Grant disagreed asking, "Can't we just trust our teachers? If we don't trust them then they shouldn't be in the school system."

Shira pointed out that some the concerns about one on one online conversations might stem from fears over how new social networking tools are, "starting to infiltrate our lives more."

Of the teacher opinions online, a Missouri teacher named Randy Turner rang loudest when she wrote a blog post arguing that she and hundreds of teachers will have to "trash years of work because all teachers are potential criminals" in Missouri Senator Jane Cunningham's view.

Some local and national media have interpreted the social-networking measures to mean teachers cannot become “friends” with students or contact them in any way on Facebook.

The ACLU, meanwhile, has raised concerns that the language may be so restrictive that teachers could not legally open an account on networking sites used by students.

Bill sponsors and state-level education groups, however, contend the language does allow teachers to have presences on the sites, to be friends with students and to send them messages — but only if those messages are public and readily visible to parents and school administrators.

“This law in no way stops communication with students,” said Sen. Jane Cunningham, the St. Louis County Republican who sponsored the bill. “In fact, we encourage social-media contact with students. We just require it to be appropriate, meaning it is not hidden from parents or from school personnel.”

Cunningham said private online messages represent a “pathway to sexual misconduct” that should be closed off to ensure children’s safety.

But since the bill’s passage, teachers, officials representing school districts and educators and legal groups have raised concerns that the law could limit legitimate communication, sow confusion among educators and perhaps even generate a legal challenge.

Randy Turner, an eighth-grade English teacher and prominent blogger from Joplin, Mo., said teachers communicate with students through internet sites because that’s the venue students are most comfortable using.

“Right now, Facebook is the way they communicate,” Turner said of his students.

Sometimes those communications might be public posts about class work or clubs, he said, but other times students may have specific questions about homework, grades or problems with other students — issues better suited to a private conversation.

“If you have a student who’s having a problem in a particular class, they don’t want to tell the whole world they’re having a problem,” Turner explained.

Turner, who frequently writes about education issues on his blog, accused the legislation of “targeting classroom teachers.”

In practice, he said, the bill probably would confuse teachers about what is and isn’t allowable online conduct and stifle legitimate and valuable conversations with students.

The few bad teachers who do seek to prey on students, he argued, will be able to maintain illicit communications through any number of other media, whether it’s e-mail, text messages or a hand-written note.

“The people who are targeted — the people who bring disgrace upon the teaching profession — this isn’t going to do a thing to stop them,” Turner said.

Although the legislation as a whole received support from several education and teachers’ organizations, some of those groups have since questioned the social-media language.

Otto Fajen, a lobbyist for the Missouri National Education Association teachers’ union, said his organization would have preferred less specific language in state law, so that school boards would have more freedom to set teacher-student communication guidelines in their own communities.

“We would’ve preferred a little more hands-off approach at the state level,” Fajen said.

Similarly, officials at the Missouri School Boards’ Association aren’t sure why the law focuses on social-media communication.

“The bottom line is … our policy on communication is not as concerned about the method of the communication as about the content of that communication,” said Kelli Hopkins, an associate executive director for the association.

Cunningham, however, maintains that sites such as Facebook represent a unique threat to school-age children and must be addressed specifically.

“If social media are a pathway to sexual misconduct — which we have found that they are — then eventually (this law) is going to stop the whole problem,” she said.

But several observers have suggested the legislation could face a legal challenge on First Amendment grounds.

Under the ACLU’s interpretation, the law may go too far in its attempts to limit inappropriate communications between educators and students, said Tony Rother, legal director for the ACLU of Eastern Missouri.

“This is like taking a sledgehammer to kill a fly,” Rothert said. “It silences a lot more speech than is necessary to address the actual problem.