ASTI to partner with social media platform TikTok to combat cyberbullying of teachers

ASTI general secretary Kieran Christie told delegates a sub-committee was working on combating the cyberbullying of teachers, including engagement with the social media short-form video site TikTok. Picture: Don MacMonagle

A teachers' union has set up an escalation process with a social media company to report the cyberbullying of teachers. 

Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) general secretary Kieran Christie announced the new process at the teachers' conference in Killarney as he spoke about the danger of cyberbullying.

Mr Christie told delegates a sub-committee was working on combating the cyberbullying of teachers, including engagement with the social media short-form video site TikTok.

He said a "community partner channel" had been established with the social media site, allowing the ASTI to escalate any issues. 

"The ASTI is now able to highlight/report content that could be considered harmful or in violation of TikTok’s community guidelines via TikTok’s community partner channel. 

"This community partner channel gives the ASTI access to an escalation process in the event that the normal TikTok reporting channel has not resolved an issue for an ASTI member, and once ASTI head office deems that the issue is of a threshold that requires urgent and immediate attention.

"Once a report is submitted by ASTI head office, TikTok will process the report.

This is just one aspect of the modern world that teachers live in and I can assure you that anything ASTI can do to support members in such circumstances will always be done.

Mr Christie said the union was also engaging with various bodies, including Coimisiún na Meán and the gardaí, in relation to cyberbullying. 

"An initial poster and associated guidance on prevention will be in schools for September, while work continues on the production of detailed information on what members should do in the event of being targeted online." 

At last year’s ASTI convention in Wexford, a motion was carried unanimously by 500 delegates to tackle cyberbullying.

According to a RedC survey, almost a fifth of Irish secondary-level teachers have experienced cyberbullying, with the majority of that behaviour coming from their own students.