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How far should you go? A teacher ponders her Facebook page. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images
How far should you go? A teacher ponders her Facebook page. Photograph: Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Don't tell teachers how to act on Facebook, says union

This article is more than 13 years old
New Welsh code for teachers using social networking sites is unnecessary, Nasuwt says, because we know what we're doing. Really?

The teaching union Nasuwt is mightily fed up with an attempt to tell teachers how to behave themselves on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.

The Welsh General Teaching Council has got right up Nasuwt's nose by issuing a code full of platitudes, telling teachers to "conduct their relationships with pupils professionally and appropriately both in school and out of school" and base their relationship with pupils on trust and respect.

The council says its new code, which will apply to nearly 40,000 registered teachers, follows consultation with members of the profession and outlines "for the benefit of parents, pupils, the wider public and the teaching profession itself, the high standards to which teachers in Wales adhere".

But Nasuwt's Wales organiser, Rex Phillips, said the code was being implemented "in the face of a consultation process that revealed overwhelming opposition to its introduction".

He said that "the GTCW has, once again, showed contempt for the views of the profession" and pointed out that fewer than 1% of registered teachers in Wales had come before the council of charges of professional misconduct.

"They don't need the code, people know how to act – that's why we believe it is unnecessary."

But there are teachers who haven't quite worked out that Facebook is not the best place to vent their frustrations. A Massachusetts teacher was forced to resign last month after parents spotted her descriptions of students as "germ bags" and parents as "snobby" and "arrogant". And there have been any number of stories of teachers posting pictures of themselves a bit squiffy or lacking sensible clothing.

On the whole though, teachers are terrified of getting it wrong. A poll conducted a year ago showed nearly half of teachers were worried that using social networking sites gave pupils access to their personal information. The poll, conducted by Teachers TV, found that 47% feared their personal life could be tapped into by their pupils via their Facebook profiles.

For many teachers, the issue is not their own behaviour but what their pupils are up to. Earlier this year, more than one in seven teachers said they or a colleague had been bullied by children spreading malicious rumours about them online.

One member of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers said a false Facebook account had been set up under the name of another teacher, claiming he enjoyed "underage sex with both boys and girls". A senior male teacher in a state secondary school said his Facebook page was hacked into by pupils who used it to send damaging messages to other children.

Mary Bousted, ATL's general secretary, said: "There have been some horrendous incidents of cyberbullying reported … which have made people's lives miserable.

"Schools and colleges need to have clear policies to deal with it, and make sure that pupils will face appropriate punishment."

So perhaps a code isn't such a bad idea after all – so long as it applies to both staff and students. What's your experience of the Facebook dilemma?

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