High-school students caught secretly filming teachers: staff referred to counselling after abuse

Australia: TEACHERS are copping a social media barrage of hate after being secretly filmed in the classroom by students who then post the content online.

Serious incident reports recently released by the NSW Education Department reveal two students from different schools were disciplined and staff referred to counselling over the behaviour within just three days in April.

A female student from the Bathurst area filmed her teacher while she was being disciplined for an unrelated matter and quickly posted the recording on social media - where it "attracted a large number of derogatory comments", according to one report.

The school's deputy principal was given a transcript of what had been said about the teacher, who was completely unaware of the recording, and contacted the girl's father to have the posts taken down.

A worried parent later contacted staff to advise the video was still online and even more insulting posts had been made about it.

The student was "appropriately disciplined" and the teacher put in touch with the department's support services, the report said.

Two days earlier a girl from a Central Coast high school secretly took a picture of a female staff member in the classroom and posted the image on social media with a derogatory comment.

The post drew "a large amount of interest" from the student's network which also joined in abusing the victim, another report said.

The student was told to take down the offensive post and she was suspended from school, but

education officials later found the image was still accessible on the internet.

The incidents come as other reports from one term this year show students continue misusing technology in schools, including numerous examples of "sexting", bullying via social media and routine recording then posting of playground fights.

In March, one student from a high school in the state's central west started throwing objects, spat in a staff member's face and even grabbed a knife after a teacher confiscated his electronic tablet, which he had refused to stop playing with in class.

A legal bulletin the department issued in March noted recording without permission was generally not illegal unless for "indecent purposes" and it said blanket bans on mobile phones in should not be introduced, although schools generally require digital devices be switched off in classrooms and some ask students to hand them in to staff each day.

Adolescent psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said technology had an important place in classrooms but the latest trend highlighted a "failure of schools" to provide the right guidelines and discipline in the use of digital devices and social media.

"One of the things about the internet is it provides young people with another medium to show off, to get instant recognition, which is exactly what they crave," he said.

Secondary Principals' Council president Lila Mularczyk said students were "pushing the boundaries" with social media and technology, and it was up to both schools and teenagers' families to make sure young people knew their responsibilities.

"If (a mobile device) is not a requirement of the program and the learning process, it does not have a place in the classroom," she said.

An Education Department spokesman said students faced potential expulsion for taking images of students or staff without permission and officials made "every effort" to have material taken of the internet if it was posted there.

"Schools develop their own mobile digital devices policy in consultation with the school community, because parents have a significant responsibility to ensure their children do not misuse the technology," he said.

- dailytelegraph.com.au