Schools are turning to legal experts to create codes of conduct for parent WhatsApp groups amid concerns that abusive messages could lead to teachers taking legal action against their employers.
Head teachers reportedly fear they could be held responsible if parents use messaging groups to spread false claims or make racist, sexist, or homophobic remarks about staff.
Under the Employment Rights Bill, currently under debate in the House of Lords, employers may be held liable if they fail to take “all reasonable steps” to protect their staff from harassment.
Robert Lewis, head of the education team at top British law firm Mishcon de Reya, said that both state and independent schools have approached his firm to help establish guidelines for parent WhatsApp groups.
Head teachers reportedly fear they could be held responsible if parents use these messaging groups to spread false claims
FLICKR
This is despite the fact that teachers do not create or take part in these groups, although some may ask class reps to relay messages to parents through them.
Lewis, a former teacher and school safeguarding governor, explained: “Schools are very concerned about the impact on staff, and being held liable, for what’s been said in class WhatsApp groups and are implementing codes of conduct for parents.
“If a parents’ WhatsApp group was creating an intimidating or hostile environment for a teacher, for example horrendously homophobic statements, the school would, in theory, be expected to do something about it.”
According to government guidance on cyberbullying, schools have a legal obligation to safeguard the mental health of their staff, which includes “seeking to protect staff from cyberbullying by pupils, parents and other members of staff and supporting them if it happens.”
MORE LIKE THIS:
Many state schools are now urging parents to be more respectful on social media.
At Brunswick Park Primary School in Camberwell, southeast London, the WhatsApp group rules explicitly prohibit personal or abusive remarks about staff, children, or other parents.
The school has stated that, depending on the severity of the breach, it may bar parents from entering the school grounds and even “seek advice from our legal team/the local authority’s legal team regarding further action (in cases of conduct that may be libellous or slanderous)”.
The National Education Union - the country’s largest teaching union - advises that “staff resignation as a consequence of cyberbullying, in cases where the school has failed to take adequate steps to address the situation, may qualify for claims of constructive dismissal”.
Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levin were arrested by Hertfordshire police in front of their daughter and put in a cell for eight hours
PA
Recent findings from Teacher Tapp, a survey platform for teachers, show that 33 per cent of classroom teachers have chosen not to escalate incidents of poor behaviour in the past month due to fear of parental backlash - either in person or online.
Among headteachers, 15 per cent reported doing the same.
The move for a code of conduct comes after the parents of a nine-year-old girl were detained after complaining about their child’s primary school over WhatsApp.
Maxie Allen and Rosalind Levin were arrested by Hertfordshire police in front of their daughter and put in a cell for eight hours.
They were questioned on suspicion of harassment, malicious communications and causing a nuisance on school property.
After police carried out a five-week investigation, they concluded no further action would be taken.
Jonathan Ash-Edwards, the county’s Conservative police and crime commissioner, stated that it “shouldn’t have become a police matter” and has ordered a review of the case.
