Cyber-bullying taskforce will find solution

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Schools Secretary has said that they will find ways to shield teachers from cyber-bullying.

Speaking at the NASUWT conference, Schools Secretary Ed Balls has told delegates that the cyber-bullying taskforce for England will try and find ways to stop pupils targeting teachers.

Balls said that the cyber-bullying of teachers will become a "serious disciplinary offence". This is in response to calls from union bosses who want mobile phones classed as potentially offensive weapons and a ban on online allegations.

"Bullying is never acceptable and we will do all we can to prevent it in all its forms," Balls said.

"The law requires head teachers to take action to prevent all forms of bullying. It also gives school staff statutory power to punish bullying whether that occurs in or out of school.

"We already give schools advice on the practical measures they can take to tackle bullying, including guidance on dealing with cyber bullying. But I want to go further."

Until now, the government taskforce has focused on how cyber bullying in England affects children.

The general secretary of the NASUWT, Chris Keates, said she welcomed the news that the taskforce was to look at teachers' experiences.

"I am pleased the government accepts that we need strong policies in schools which focus on teachers.

"Increasingly, teachers' lives are being destroyed by what pupils are doing."

She added: "Pupils who once had to content themselves with exhibiting poor behaviour when face to face with the teacher, now increasingly use technology to support their indiscipline.

"Relying on industry self-regulation to resolve this problem is the equivalent of waiting for hell to freeze over."

General secretary of the education professionals' union, Voice, Philip Parkin, said cyber bullying is "an invasion of privacy from which it can be difficult to escape".

"The victims of cyber-bullying need protection, and we hope that the Government and the cyber-bullying taskforce can introduce real and enforceable measures to do that," he said.

"I am looking for the government to take a strong lead and compel the websites concerned to remove offensive or malicious material immediately."

Parkin also said that feedback from students is right, but only in a responsible way in an appropriate environment.

"Freedom of discussion is a two-way process that is tempered by responsibility and it should not include threats or intimidation or be one-sided," he said.

"In a democratic society we are allowed to criticise but it is not considered acceptable to incite others to murder, or to intimidate with racist, sexist or homophobic remarks, or to ruin reputations with baseless accusations. Bullies are often cowards and those who hide behind anonymity in such circumstances do not have the courage to stand by their remarks."

The Conservatives' shadow schools secretary Michael Gove said: "We have repeatedly said that head teachers must be given a general power to ban items in school that they think contribute to violence, bullying, and disruption.

"If head teachers think that children should hand in phones at the beginning of the day, they must have the power to enforce it.

"The government should make the simple change to the law we've been proposing instead of talking about more reviews and taskforces."