Thoughts on "Don't teach so close to me"

There is a school of thought that teachers should keep their distance from students in order maintain "professional" in their teaching, with which I disagree. I feel that there is much more to teaching than just shoving information at your students and expecting them to memorize and repeat on tests. My idea of a good teacher is someone who loves their job enough and cares about the younger generation enough to go the extra mile to develop personal bonds with their students outside the classroom. The better a teacher gets to know their students, the more likely it is for him or her to do a successful job. The logic is quite simple: students tend to work harder for teachers that they like. Once they acknowledge the fact that the teacher cares about them as a person and not just merely another name on the attendance sheet, they will more likely have the urge to engage in the lecture and devote their time and effort to their homework in the anticipation of sharing it with their teacher. It is also true the other way around: teachers can derive joy from and take pride in their ability to muster the attentativeness and willingness to learn out of their students and that will motivate them to work harder in the future. When it comes to any social relationship, not restricted to ones in learning environments, the line can definitely blur at times, but only if we let it. Otherwise, it is my belief that with good intentions and careful consideration, the benefits of a close teacher-student relationship most definitely outweighs the potentially harmful drawbacks.