Teachers Want Mobile Phones Treated As Offensive Weapons

The UK teachers union, the NASUWT is calling on the government to categorise mobile phones as "potentially offensive weapons" when on school property. The rather extreme moves comes from the increase in pupils taking photos of teachers and uploading them to social networking websites such as MySpace and Bebo. At a meeting of the DfES Cyber bullying Task Group the Union pressed for the proposals it has already put to Ministers to combat these activities to be taken forward.

Chris Keates, General Secretary, said "Pupils who once had to content themselves with exhibiting poor behaviour when face to face with the teacher, now increasingly use technology from a distance to support their indiscipline."

"Pupils using these sites are afforded anonymity. Teachers are named, exposed to ridicule and subjected to false and malicious allegations. Their health and self-esteem is affected. There is real potential for their careers to be damaged should prospective employers decide to trawl the sites.

"These sites are fed by pupils' misuse of mobile phones. The time has come for mobiles in schools to be placed in the category of a potentially offensive weapon and action taken to prevent their use by pupils while on school premises.""

Posted to the site on 27th June 2007