Some time ago, we reported that a UK teachers union was trying to shutdown YouTube in the UK because teachers were being bullied and humiliated by students.  I have little sympathy for teachers who find themselves bullied as it is generally the teachers not cut out for the job that get bullied.  A real teacher inspires students to learn but carries just a little bit of menace.  They do not take guff from teenage swine.  Teachers are adults and as such should be responsible for dealing with their own problems, not whine about having to give students their contact details.

When it comes to students being bullied, however, I have a great deal of sympathy.  As a teacher, I have borne witness to a great deal of student-student harassment.  As a student, I always gave as good as I got, so I did not have too many problems.  Still, I was growing up in the days before YouTube.

In my time, the closest parallel to cyber-bullying was telephone bullying.  Victims would be targeted with prank phone calls.  In the days before caller-ID, the chances of being discovered were minimal.  Bullying over the phone was often in the form of the same taunts that were issued in the school hallway, but with telephone-bullying at least you could put the phone down.

People forget that with cyber-bullying, they have options too.  It is not rocket science to figure out who is behind a harassing video.  If someone posts something on YouTube, a simple report is generally enough to land them in a bit of hot water.  If they post something extremely offensive and you have the budget for it, there is always the possibility of legal action.  Video footage is hard evidence; use it against the person that created it.

Stamping out cyber-bullying is not rocket science; it does not need experts, seminars or meetings.  It just needs a little common sense and some chutzpah on the part of their victims.  As for UK teachers unions claiming that their members are victims, I say this: teachers who cannot deal with unruly students should be in a different job.  Respect is earned, clearly they are not earning it.