By Lucy Caulkett-
Cyber bullying of headteachers must be stopped in its tracks. News that a number of female headteachers and female teachers are subjected ti cyber bullying must be addressed, and quickly. Sources from Schools Week- the outstanding investigative online publication that inform on education have informed The Eye Of Media.Com of a growing problem that contributes to the poor mental health of many female teachers and headteachers doing their best to give pupils the best education they can,
”This is a growing problem that must be addressed urgently, our source who insisted on anonymity said. Teachers must not be subjected to this kind of hate and victimization, it is simply unacceptable”.
The story of Hannah Wilson, an executive headteacher of a secondary and a primary school in Oxfordshire, has been used to illustrate this ongoing crisis. She featured in national press over her schools’ inclusive kitchens that serve halal meat.
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Hannah Wilson is the Executive Headteacher of Aureus School & Aureus Primary School, part of the GLF Schools trust. She is also the Strategic Lead for the GLF Teaching School Alliance and the Sub-Regional Strategic Lead for the SE Women Leading in Education Network for Oxon, Berks and Bucks (NCTL).
An inspiring and visionary leader, Hannah Co-Founded a grassroots gender equality movement and is a National Leader for #WomenEd.
After introducing a healthy-eating policy in her school that prohibited packed lunches, permitting only drinking water, she was subjected to disturbing cyber bullying. A parent complained to a local paper about her useful policy, and it was eventually picked up by the national media before going “viral” during May half term.
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Wilson said: “It went from halal, to packed lunches, to water, to my weight. ‘Who is she, with bingo wings to tell us how to feed our children?’, was the title of a Facebook hate campaign with 3,500 comments.” The hostile group proceeded to openly criticized her personal life because she is single and does not have children. Yet, careful assessment of Wilson’s idea show it was a positive and commendable step she was taking to develop pupils of her school.
We say to the parent who started the facebook campaign: who are you to challenge a well established headteacher trying to instill positive values you are incapable of doing yourself”? Many parents lack even basic secondary education, and need to realize that their children are being educated in one of the most advanced eras of education in the Uk for decades. They should co-operate with headteachers, not make their job more challenging.
Headteacher: Hannah Wilson Picture: Aureaus Primary Schol
SHAMEFUL
Such levels of victimization is shameful and ideally should lead to prosecution. Parents should be legally forbidden from naming teachers on social media in relation to a complaint, and should instead voice their complaints to complaints committee or the ministry of education.
With the recent revelation of high mental health suffered by teachers in school, behaviour of this kind must be addressed effectively. Another incident involving Keziah Featherstone, head of school at Q3 Academy Tipton, has also been mentioned. She was featured in the media after a pupil posted online a doctored image of Featherstone on holiday, and refused to take it down.
The student was permanently excluded over their conduct, but claimed to have been unfairly treated because of having dyed-red hair. Suggestions were made that the image of Featherstone, in which she had coloured hair, showed double standards.
“That week I was getting death threats and rape threats,” Featherstone said. “It mutates over time and get re-reported,” she said. Accounts like these are deeply upsetting and show that Britain still has quite a way to go to curb these types of behaviour. The Eye Of Media.Com is requesting that the Department of Education take a hold of these types of serious misconduct and legislate against it. Parents and pupils should be banned from naming teachers on social media for any reason. Prison terms should automatically follow breach of new laws put in place.
Parents should voice any complaints they have about teachers to a complaint committee or report it to Ofsted or the Department of Education. The import role played by teachers in educating pupils and establishing sound morals should never be undermined.
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