1. E-safety for Teachers Friday 2nd July John Smith EPICT Candidate Teacher

2. E-safety for Teachers In a 2007 survey conducted by ATL amongst its members: 45% of respondents had been attacked by students via email; 15% had received threatening texts; 10% had been upset by messages written about them on social networking websites.

3. E-safety for Teachers Improvements in technology have led to improved communication and instant access to information. However, this technology can be abused and leave teachers vulnerable to harassment from pupils which they have no control over. Harassment can take place in a number of forms: 1.Text messages. 2.Picture/video-clips via mobile phone cameras. 3.Mobile phone calls − silent or abusive messages; or stealing the victim's phone and using it to harass others. 4.Emails − often sent using a pseudonym or somebody else's name. 5.Harassment via social networking websites. *6. Chatroom harassment. *7. Instant messaging (IM).

4. E-safety for Teachers Harassment of teachers by students can lead to: loss of confidence; reduced effectiveness; loss of authority and credibility; stress-related sick leave.

5. E-safety for Teachers Here are some real-life examples of teachers being harassed by students, again from the ATL survey: Jane, a secondary school art teacher from Kent, responded to the survey. She said that she had found sexually explicit comments made about her by pupils on a social networking site and when she confronted the perpetrators, the comments intensified. She also found a forum had been created on an art website with the sole purpose of criticising her teaching. She said: ‘I managed to get the website to remove the content though this has really dented my confidence and made me feel physically ill for several weeks. I coped with it in the end, though I don’t feel it was ever properly dealt with as I could not identify the individuals that had posted the offensive articles.’

6. E-safety for Teachers Another respondent, Jim, a secondary maths teacher from Devon, said that parents had actually gone to the trouble of setting up a website themselves on which they could criticise and undermine staff at the school. He said: ‘It was clear that the sole aim of this group of parents was to destroy the headteacher’s reputation and character. Their website also referred to other members of staff in derogatory terms which have been highly upsetting and demotivating.’

7. E-safety for Teachers In February 2010, Andrea Charman, the headteacher at Lydd Primary School in Romney Marsh, Kent resigned from her position following threats of violence on Facebook following her decision to allow the school’s lamb to be killed for meat. She was eventually reinstated following overwhelming support from the local community.

8. E-safety for Teachers What can you do to protect yourself from being harassed by pupils? 1)Keep your security settings on social networking websites at the highest level. 2)DON’T give out personal email addresses or telephone numbers to students. 3)DON’T telephone a student at home on your mobile phone. 4)Exercise your power to confiscate mobile phones if you believe they have been used inappropriately. 5)Google your name + their High School regularly to check for inappropriate material.

9. E-safety for Teachers School Policy What should you do if you become aware of inappropriate material on the internet about you or another member of staff? (This advice is based on DCSF guidelines) 1)DON’T retaliate to or personally engage with cyber-harassment incidents. 2)Report incidents appropriately to your designated cyber-harassment lead at the earliest opportunity. 3)Keep any records of abuse – texts, emails, voice mail, web sites or instant messages. DO NOT DELETE texts or emails. Take screen prints of messages or web pages, and be careful to record the date, time and address of the site. 4)To deal with incidents quickly and effectively, students will be forced to remove inappropriate material, their parents will be contacted and appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.