NASUWT COMMENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND CHILDREN’S MENTAL
HEALTH REPORT
Commenting on the Education Policy Institute’s report Social
Media and Children’s Mental Health, Chris Keates,
General Secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union,
said:
“The NASUWT has been at the forefront of highlighting the risks
and implications for children and young people of the increasing
use of social media.
“As the report highlights, social media can have many positive
impacts for children and young people and has become an intrinsic
part of most young people’s lives.
“However, NASUWT research has found that 72% of teachers believe
that social media pressures are creating or contributing to
mental health issues in pupils. Teachers report that online
bullying is common among their students and that pupils routinely
use social media to share sexual or offensive images, videos and
messages.
“There is also a serious problem of pupils using social media to
harass and abuse teachers-nearly a third of teachers in the
NASUWT’s latest social media survey said they had received online
abuse from pupils in the last year.
“Perhaps more worryingly, half of those teachers who had been
abused online had received this abuse from parents. Therefore, it
is clear there also a need to educate parents as well as children
about the responsible and safe use of social media.
“While there is clearly a role for schools to play in helping
pupils to develop these digital skills, and many schools are
already doing valuable work in this area, schools need support,
input from experts and the resources to help children and young
people safely and sensibly navigate their online lives.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1,507 teachers responded to the NASUWT survey on the online abuse
of teachers & pupils in March and April 2017.
