Number of UK teachers facing online abuse rises sharply in past year

The number of British teachers facing abuse on social media from parents as well as pupils has risen sharply in the past 12 months, it has been suggested.

School staff are being confronted with sexist, racist, and homophobic remarks, as well as offensive comments about their appearance, competence in the classroom, and malicious slurs, according to teachers’ union Nasuwt.

In one case, a photo of a teacher was posted online with the word “bitch” underneath, while in another, pupils used the name of a heavily-pregnant school worker to post insults, the teaching union said. There were also examples of parents hurling abuse through social media, including personal comments about teachers or their families.

The union said the figures were “deeply worrying”.

Overall, 60% of the almost 1,500 union members polled said they have had comments or information posted about them on social networks, related to their work as a teacher. This is up from 21% in 2014.

Of these, nearly half (48%) said the remarks were posted by pupils, 40% said they were put up by parents, and 12% said both parents and pupils were responsible.

Some 62% of teachers said pupils had posted insulting comments, while just over a third said students had taken photos or videos without consent. A third received remarks about their performance as a teacher, 9% had faced allegations from pupils about inappropriate behaviour, and 8% had been subjected to threatening behaviour.

Over half (57%) of pupils responsible were aged 14-16, 38% were aged 11-14, a fifth were 16-19, and 5% were 7-11.