Teachers tell of rising tide of ‘trial by social media trolls’

ONE in five teachers say pupils and parents have made rude comments about them online.

Cases of pupils secretly taking photos up teachers’ skirts and posting them on social media are also said to be increasing.

The warnings that teachers are facing dispagaring remarks and offensive photos on social media were made by members of a teaching union at its annual conference in Wales.

Delegates at the NASUWT conference said they deplored the way comments about teachers could be made on social media platforms, often without any repercussions.

In a recent survey of members, nearly one in five (19%) teachers reported having had adverse comments posted about them on social media sites by pupils and parents.

These included comments about their competence as a teacher, comments about their appearance, and threatening behaviour.

While the vast majority of teachers (70%) did report the abuse to their employer, the police or the social network, effec- tive response to this abuse remained unacceptably low, the conference heard.

For those reporting to their employer, half (50%) of teachers said no action was taken against the pupil or parent, and 23% said that, while the pupil was disciplined or the parent was approached, they felt unsupported as it did not match the seriousness of the incident.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said: “Online abuse is no longer the preserve of pupils but increasingly parents, who don’t even bother to contact the schools with complaints, but post them directly online, subjecting teachers to ‘trials by trolls’. The impact on teachers is misery, humiliation, illhealth, loss of confidence and blighted careers.”