NEW ALBANY, Miss. - Technology can be a powerful tool but it can also be a dangerous one. Now, after three northeast Mississippi teachers have lost their jobs for sending inappropriate text messages to students, those dangers are becoming more apparent.

Many school districts are setting new rules and policies to insure that their teachers and students don't get mixed up in what seems to be a growing trend.

"We began a couple of years ago by having an attorney talk to all of our staff members and warn them about the dangers of personal texting, especially to students," Superintendent of the New Albany Public School District, Dr. Charles Garrett explains.

It's a move that State Department of Education Officials are encouraging - schools should be pro-active against student-teacher texting, regardless of the intention.

It's advice that many districts, such as New Albany, are taking.

"We just told them not to text, one on one, a student," Garrett says. "And what we have said is, if they really need to, to at least text that student and then cc the athletic director if it happens to be a coach, or cc the principal or cc some adult so that there can't be any confusion that this was meant to be a private conversation that could be misunderstood or headed in an inappropriate direction."

Some school districts, like Lee County and Tupelo Public Schools have implemented an official policy prohibiting personal electronic communication between students and teachers. Other districts, such as Itawamba County and New Albany, are working to craft one.

"In with other districts we're working on that type policy now," says Garrett. "On one hand we want to implement something that protects students and staff but on the other hand we don't want to inhibit technology to the degree that it hurts our education program. So finding that line can be difficult sometimes, but we are working on it."

In some cases educators are offering alternatives.

While texting is not allowed, New Albany's students and teachers can use public forms of electronic communication, such as Twitter.

"We have really encouraged our staff to use Twitter," Garrett explains. "It's a wonderful way to get information to the community in a public way that no one can construe as being more private or misconstrue as being inappropriate."

With homework assignments and ball game cancellations posted for all to see, no one has an excuse.

Mississippi School Board Association Attorney, Jim Keith, says if you look at the inappropriate relationships that have developed between staff and students over the last four years, every single one of them was characterized by an extended text messaging relationship.