Finnish teachers suffer Internet bullying

HELSINKI, FINLAND: More than one in ten Finnish teachers say they have been harassed via the Internet, with a female upper elementary school teacher below 40 the most likely target, a study by Finland's Trade Union of Education showed.

While pupils and students are typically the senders of bullying messages via email, text message or social media, the study showed that guardians of children generate one third of such harassment at the lower elementary school levels.

The union said threats most often concerned the way teachers did their jobs, but also covered gender or appearances and even included death threats.

"The damaging impact that Internet bullying has on the teacher and the teacher's life are as severe as in other forms of disturbing behaviour, harassment or violence," Erkki Kangasniemi, the union chairman, said in a statement.

"As one may guess, when students express their own frustration, they don't understand what consequences may arise from bullying," he said.

Most of the 400 teachers across the Nordic country who took part in the study, conducted in April-May, had requested advice on how to manage if such cases occurred, and the union said it would not turn a blind eye to incidents.

"There can be serious consequences if it is a crime such as libel or an illegal threat," the union said in the statement.