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Seven-year-olds are posting abuse and damaging comments about their teachers on social networking websites such as Facebook, according to new research. Even worse, some of their parents are adding their comments. This is a serious escalation in the cyber-bullying of teachers. A British teaching union conducted a survey of more than 7,500 teachers. It found that almost half of teachers had reported abuse to the school, police or the website. Over 20 per cent of teachers felt they had been cyber-bullied in the past year. Three per cent of the comments were from under-elevens.

The survey revealed that 64% of the comments were made by pupils, 27% by parents, and the rest by both. Many were about teachers’ appearance, ability, and sexuality. The union's general secretary, said: "It is clear that steps need to be taken to protect teachers from the abuse of social media." She added: "Teachers are often devastated by the vile nature of the abuse they are suffering. Some have lost their confidence to teach…and have left the profession." Many teachers are afraid to report the abuse. They think it would lead to more trouble.