New research highlights the battle schools face against offensive online comments from parents. Amy Cook outlines four ways schools might address this issue

Recent findings from The Key show that at least 11,300 school leaders across the country have received negative or offensive comments on social media at the hands of pupils’ parents, highlighting that cyber-bullying is not just confined to young people.

In total, 46 per cent of secondary school leaders surveyed stated that they had received such comments. These attacks are not only upsetting for the staff involved, but monitoring these criticisms and attacks creates extra work – both during and after school hours – and it can risk unfairly damaging the reputation of your school.

So how can you tackle this issue head on? Excellent communication with parents is at the heart of the solution, so that you can build a more open trusting relationship between school and home. Here are four key points to help you make social media a force for good in your school.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here