Hull Teachers in Facebook Row

Many people from Hull have read with amazement the fact that Westcott Primary school teachers have used the Facebook site to make derogatory comments about their pupils and the people of the Hull area. My first thought was that it was a “schoolboy error” to use a public forum to make such vile remarks as “inbred” and “thick” and the equally horrifying comment of “inbreeding must damage brain development”. These seem like such horrible comments and phrases that could be heard in the school playground rather than used between teachers and the people from Hull that I have spoken with, have found it incredibly insulting and worrying that such people are teaching our children.
Networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, are commonly used now and of course if used in the correct way can play a helpful and educational part in our lives. The other side of the coin however, is that they can be misused to cause harm and to abuse. This is mainly because they can be used in the safe comfort of the home and it is an immediate way of communication. Therefore, it matters not if you write something say after a glass or three of wine, the writing is on the wall and out there for public consumption as soon as you click send.
The Westcott teachers were prejudicial in their comments, that it is unacceptable and suspension is the correct course of action. This case has now hit the major newspapers and this is very regrettable as Hull appears to have had in recent times a bad press throughout the UK and for our very own teachers to make such disparaging remarks is very hard for the people of Hull to take.
It is of course not the first time a teacher has used Facebook in a thoughtless way; a dance teacher used Facebook to tell a young girl of 13 that she was kicked out of her dance school and a Grimsby teacher in 2009 was suspended after calling her teenage class “bad” on the site.
The Westcott teachers in question have shown a lack of respect, which is what we try to instil into our children, we don’t expect teachers to be taught this too. Making stupid comments on internet sites can have legal consequences and everyone must be aware of this when commenting on them.
In these days where bullying and name calling either in person or on cyber space seem to be an all too common problem amongst children, it is then such a shame that these particular teachers have not set a very good example themselves.

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