Teachers report widespread cyberbullying by pupils and parents
Two-fifths report they have been abused on social networking sites, while almost half of those felt unsupported by their school.
Teachers have been issued with death threats, accused of serious crimes including paedophilia and rape, and subjected to sexist and racist abuse, according to a poll revealing widespread cyberbullying by pupils – including some still at primary school – as well as parents.
The scale of bullying by pupils on social networking sites against those trying to educate them is suggested in an online survey due to be released on Saturday by the teaching union, the NASUWT, at its annual conference in Birmingham being held over the Easter bank holiday weekend.
While the majority (60%) of pupils involved were between 11 and 16, others were younger – with one reported incident involving a five-year-old. Parents were also using social networks to comment about them, according to 16% of teachers.
The report also highlights the lack of support felt by many teachers after they report incidents to their school.
Of those who took part in the survey, more than two-fifths (42%) said they had been a victim of cyberbullying. Of these, 61.2% said they had been subjected to a pupil writing an insulting comment about them on a social network or internet site, 38.1% said a student had made comments about their competence or performance as a teacher, and 9.1% said they had faced allegations that they behaved inappropriately with pupils.
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... (The Guardian - 07 April)