IPPN

MALICIOUS students are using the controversial 'rate my teacher' website to bully other students by posting personal and hurtful comments about them online.

Some students are also setting up their own websites to say "horrible" things about fellow students, the National Parents Council (post primary) said last night.

The 'rate my teacher' site has attracted over 550,000 hits. It is still very busy even though second-level schools are closed - two days ago it had 731 hits.

Some 33 named schools are listed as having blocked access to the site on school computers. But there is nothing to stop the students using home computers to make comments about the teachers in these schools.

Alexandra College in Dublin is one of those listed on the so-called wall of shame. There are plenty of comments about named teachers in that school.

Many are positive but one named teacher was described as "ridiculously bad" and "should be fired".

There is no way of knowing if the comments are made by genuine students but it's also clear that not all of those rated are teachers. Both the Parents Council and the Teachers' Union of Ireland said they were aware of instances where the names of students were submitted as those of teachers and then personal comments made about them.

Declan Glynn, assistant general secretary of the TUI, said a number of executive members had reported instances of students being named on the website as if they were teachers. A number of students were listed and comments made about them from one particular school in the west of Ireland.

Parents' leader Eleanor Petrie said it was clear that the "moderators" who were supposed to monitor the comments were not effective in some schools. Users of the site were only supposed to comment on teachers but from the beginning, students' names were also put up on the site.

She said students were so proficient with the internet that some were setting up their own websites and making particularly horrible comments about other students. In one case, students were using the school's computer until this was stopped.

The TUI and secondary school managers have been advised they cannot take legal action to close down the 'rate my teacher' site. Education Minister Mary Hanafin has also said her department had no means available to shut down the site, as the worldwide web is international.

Click here to access the article on the Irish Independent website - unison.ie