NUT alert over internet chat sites

TEACHERS have been warned against posting information about themselves on social networking sites because their bosses and pupils will look for details about their personal life on the internet.

Delegates at the National Union of Teachers annual conference in Harrogate were told that head teachers and school governors regularly check on-line for information about potential employees.

The union has issued new guidance for members warning them against befriending pupils or parents on social networking sites, and to think twice before posting information and photos about themselves, or their school, that they would not want others to see.

Amanda Brown, NUT assistant secretary for employment, conditions and rights told a fringe meeting at the conference that teachers could find that blurring the lines between their personal and professional lives comes back to “haunt” them,

She said teachers now have to worry about what is publicly available about them online, and if they are being watched by potential employers, pupils or parents.

Karl Hopwood, an online safety advisor, told the meeting he was aware of a number of examples where schools had checked up on teachers through the internet. In one case, he said, a group of newly qualified teachers had trouble gaining jobs, and the feedback they received from one head teacher was to look online.

One of the girls had a picture of herself with a pint glass on her head. After she removed the photo she got a job, Mr Hopwood said.

He also warned teachers to consider what they post online about their working life. He gave the example of a teacher who posted: “OMG must stop messing about and get my maths boosters planned as I go to teach it in about one-and-a-half hours.”

Ms Brown urged schools to have a clear policy on using the internet, and said teachers should always make sure they use professional email addresses when contacting pupils and avoid handing out personal phone numbers.

“There are issues around trying to make sure there’s a distinction between private personal life and public life and making sure they don’t blur into each other.”

The NUT’s guidance says teachers should “not post information and photos about themselves, or school-related matters, publicly that they wouldn’t want employers, colleagues, pupils or parents to see.”

It also warns against “befriending pupils on social networking sites”.