Mary Burbank, director of secondary education at the University of Utah, said she hasn't seen the fear rise to the level of keeping students from choosing teaching as a profession.

The students are required to take an education law class where issues such as social networking sites, texting and touching are all addressed.

"We want teachers who are sensitive and caring toward students, but personal boundaries need to be drawn very clearly," Burbank said. "It's a fine line of knowing how to interact with another person and keeping that professional boundary."

There are 26,000 active educators in Utah. Approximately 100 complaints are filed against teachers each year. About half of those complaints are considered serious enough to investigate. Some kind of discipline is taken in 80 percent of these serious cases, according to state office of education data.

The majority of weighty cases investigated during the past eight years were sex-related, including 70 cases of "sex with a student," according to state office of education records.

A new law, approved by the 2008 Legislature, requires that teaching licenses be revoked permanently if a teacher is convicted of a sex crime with a child.

The State Board of Education also recently implemented stricter rules regarding arrests and background checks of education employees.

Contributing: Linda Thomson

E-mail: astewart@desnews.com