Teaching union slams cyber-bullies

A LEADING Scots teaching union leader has hit out at the lack of effort to stop teachers being cyber-bullied by pupils.

Margaret Smith, president of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association, said too often nothing is done to tackle pupils who use social media and mobile phones to target abuse at teachers. She described the rise in the number of attacks as a “sinister development” over the past decade.

This has resulted in school staff subjected to “verbal abuse, threats and ridicule” with females “often subjected to grossly offensive comments regarding their personal lives which can be deemed nothing other than sexual harassment”, she said. “Too often nothing is done to combat this behaviour and pupils believe that their conduct is without consequence.”

She raised the issue as the union accused the Scottish Government of complacency about classroom indiscipline.