Parent bullies target schools

TEACHERS across Queensland are facing vicious cyberbullying attacks from frustrated parents and students almost daily.

In a submission to the Premier’s Anti- cyber- bullying Taskforce, the Queensland Teachers Union warned cyberbullying had become a “serious workplace health and safety issue that is harming our members”.

The union says parents are frequently posting aggressive comments on social media groups when they are unhappy with an issue at the school.

These comments are often personal, unfounded and shared widely, undermining the reputation of the teacher.

“This is a very real issue for our educators and can be immensely damaging,” the union says in its submission.

The claims of the widespread cyber- bullying of school staff comes as a top legal expert warns teachers to be careful about what they post on their own private Facebook accounts.

Rachel Drew, a partner at Holding Redlich Lawyers, said Queensland teachers have been forced to defend themselves against allegations of inappropriate conduct because of social media posts uploaded even before they started in the profession.

“We’ve represented teachers who have had allegations made by students and parents which relate to material students have found on teacher’s social media, prior to when they became a teacher,” Ms Holding said in video made for the Queensland College of Teachers.

“Teachers should be very conscious that anything they put on social media platforms is permanent, ( and) students are clever. If they have an issue with a teacher or even if a student has a concern about a teacher, that information can be accessed, it can be made as the basis of an allegation against a teacher and it can affect the teachers employment,” she warned.

The Bulletin understands teachers have even been queried about fairly innocuous private social media posts, like writing, “Thank god it’s Friday,” or posting a photo of themselves settling in on a Saturday night to mark some assignments with a glass of wine.

Queensland College of Teachers director John Ryan said his organisation investigates extreme cases of inappropriate online conduct, and to date has only suspended the registration of one teacher for material posted on their personal social media page.

It related to a teacher posting hateful and pejorative comments about women.