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‘Who wants Miss to die?’ Teachers speak out about social media abuse

“Who wants miss to die? Click like.” This comment – posted by a 12-year-old school boy on Facebook – is just one example of online abuse being experienced by teachers in Scotland.

The NASUWT’s annual Big Question Survey Scotland has revealed that 68 per cent of Scottish teachers have had insulting comments about them as teachers placed on social networks.

The union’s general secretary, Chris Keates, said that many of the comments were “too obscene to repeat”. She added: “Teachers’ performance, appearance, sexuality and their families are all now apparently considered fair game.”

At its annual conference in Scotland last week, the NASUWT launched a quick guide for teachers to help them understand what they can do if they are being targeted.

The survey of NASUWT’s Scottish members revealed stories of pupils sending sexually explicit text messages to teachers, parents posting abusive messages on Facebook, and digitally manipulated images being posted online.

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