According to a report by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) Pupils are increasingly using social networking sites to undermine and bully teachers.  Some pupils are even making malicious and unfounded allegations of sexual misconduct against teachers.

In one instance a pupil set up a profile under the name of a teacher and wrote on the profile that he enjoyed 'under age sex with both boys and girls'.  In another, pupils set up a Facebook group entitled 'Join this group if you think Mrs [name removed] is still a virgin.'



Pupils have also been caught uploading videos of teachers to YouTube.

In a survey of 630 UK teachers, nearly 1 in 6 knew of a colleague that had been the victim of a group set up to discuss or post abusing messages about them online.


A spokesperson for Facebook said that it was important for teachers and others to know where they could go for information on protecting themselves from cyberbullying online.

"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views, while respecting the rights and feelings of others," she said.

"Any content, such as bullying and harassment, which violates Facebook's statement of rights and responsibilities, the governing document for the site, will be removed."


A spokesperson from the Department for Children, Schools and Families said that this type of bullying is "absolutely wrong" and "should never be tolerated" and directed teachers to the guidance they published last year, which covers:

"the legal options open to them; protecting their own personal information online; setting out stricter rules on becoming online friends with pupils; and how to remove inappropriate material from websites.".


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