Girls top boys for cyber bullying
Fed up teachers are calling for an investigation into the deteriorating behaviour of girls after observing a rise in the incidence of cyber bullying.
A half of all teachers surveyed by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers claimed that they had observed a worsening in behaviour over the past two years, with one in five now believing they were worse than boys.
The findings come amidst anecdotal evidence that girls are more adept at harnessing social media to bully fellow pupils below the radar of authorities.
Tactics employed included isolating individual pupils from groups, spreading rumour and making disparaging comments.
Some teachers have been alarmed by an increase in the incidence of pupils taking photographs and shooting videos in the classroom with their smartphones.
One teacher observed: “Girls are often sneakier about misbehaving, they often say nasty things which end up disrupting the lesson just as much as the boys as other children get upset and can't focus on their work."