How disgusting is this

Absolutely shameful

Have teachers not always talked about difficult, badly behaved children they have to put up with? These WhatsApp messages just sound like rapid modern versions.

Sorry Avaline I thought teachers were on the whole intelligent, articulate people hopefully for young people to take a lead from , ummm

Teachers like everyone else have to let off steam sometime. Naming individuals is wrong but the general tone is just a case of venting frustration. No different to the way teachers have always sometimes spoken about their most difficult children.

Stupid to put it in writing. Some kids are dreadful but you keep it private and only in the staff room and if they are that bad they probably need some help. Wouldn’t be a teacher these days for quids , though. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

I would say whats app messaging about work has consistently been shown to be disastrous. It is common practice though. We have a work WhatsApp.

BlueBelle teachers have to let off steam. WhatsApp type messaging leads to abbreviations and rapid summaries using emojis. Surprised you're surprised at this.

Appalling behaviour. It is naive to think that all teachers are good, kind, understanding, discreet. They reflect our diverse population, bad apples everywhere unfortunately.

I do not blame teachers for letting off steam - they have always done so, and I have no problem with that.

As a SW, my colleagues and I might explode about a difficult client in the privacy of the office - that did not mean that we did not treat them with courtesy and professionalism - just that some were beyond exasperating and we needed the privacy of the office to download amongst people who truly understood. In no way did that influence our practice.

WhatApp has made those debrief sessions more permanent than the former verbal release.

nanna8

Stupid to put it in writing. Some kids are dreadful but you keep it private and only in the staff room and if they are that bad they probably need some help. Wouldn’t be a teacher these days for quids , though. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

I agree.
Think it, say it, but never write it. Just don't, (unless carefully in a professional manner). And that goes for comments about parents too.

Of course anything on social media, which degrades pupils is unacceptable and unprofessional. There is no excuse.
However, one group like this does not mean that all teachers should be tarred with the same brush. There are bad apples in every walk of life.

When I was teaching and IT co-ordinator, despite staff signing an annual statement, agreeing to be responsible and discreet in their social media activity, I discovered a conversation about a challenging pupil on Facebook, on an account which wasn't private. Anyone, including the parents could read the comments.

These professionals were so naive, they even had parents as friends. I spoke to them and advised them to delete the conversation, any similar ones and make their accounts private and informed the HT. They were lucky they didn't lose their jobs over it.

They never spoke to me for ages, until a colleague informed them that I had actually prevented them from losing their jobs.
Not condoning it, but there was no malice involved, they were naive, young teachers, venting their frustration about this violent pupil, who on one occasion stamped on my broken foot, which was in the process of healing. The office staff at the other end of the school heard my screams.

In my thirty years of teaching that was the only time I came across an incident like this.

The trouble is, once all the help "available" is in place, some children still need more and of course, as we are not properly supporting education or families we are letting down the young people.

As someone said upthread, teachers are exhausted and exasperated.

You only need to look at the lack of mental health services for children (and adults actually), the lack of parenting support (for those without the skills or in desperate situations)... also the effects of depression and deprivation cannot be underestimated.

Wouldn't put this stuff in writing but wouldn't be throwing stones at it to be honest. 🥺

Just not enough available to allow teachers to teach.

Maybe, if we get a new government we will get a new SureStart going? Not holding my breath though!

Agree NotSpaghetti the teachers were venting their frustrations etc. I wouldnt want to be doing their job at the moment. However it was totally unprofessional to put it all on social media.

I don't blame them for venting frustrations with colleagues but should be done privately. Teaching these days is difficult and doesn't sound as though any children were harmed by their indiscretions on WhatsApp.

There is nothing to say that these people are not brilliant teachers.
The job is so frustrating now and here we have a modern example of the venting of this frustration in the staff room.I wonder how this became public.

If you were t a teacher, try walking a mile in their shoes!
I was a teacher and never put such things into writing, WhatsApp wasn’t even a thing then, but texting certainly was, but I often discussed bad behaviour with other members of staff, and staff were very compassionate towards children, but frankly, sometimes some behaviours were very roundly condemned. I worked in an infant school in a difficult area, and we had some appalling behaviour at times. Try having a chair thrown at you at work for example, and see how you feel about that!

If you weren’t a teacher…..

I wondered that too westendgirl

Prospective employers were advised to check out candidates' Facebook profiles before hiring staff I seem to remember.
Just in case they had been photographed at a drunken orgy.

I thought WhatsApp was more private though. Did these teachers leave their phones lying around?

I thought WhatsApp was more private though. Did these teachers leave their phones lying around?.

I suspect someone blue the whistle.

Teachers have always let off steam in the staff room but to put it in writing on Whatsapp was stupid.

I understand why some of these things were said. You have to be in the position of having your classroom destroyed by a child on a rampage and then be told by the parent that it's your fault for not giving him enough attention. Or be called a mother f****r and be told by the parent that you must have taught him the word because he never heard it at home even though you know that he's been playing Grand Theft Auto. Or have your lesson totally disrupted by a child who is 'expressing his opinions' on your teaching skills.

Sadly the media is only too happy to show teachers in a bad light and these didn't just fall into a trap, they built it and threw themselves in head first.

I saw a big change in the general attitude towards teachers while I was in the profession. I started in the early 60's, in secondary education, when there was lots of support and respect for teachers. So much so that if you had to tell a child off , or give a detention the parents would support you in this . I saw a big change in the Baker (ED Sec under Thatcher)years . There was often bad press , downgrading comments from government taken up by the media, and so it went on.
I don't think teachers get the support they deserve. For a start it would be good to have a first rate Education Secretary.

It's only human to vent irritations, and talk about it to colleagues, but daft to put it on WhatsApp.