How children torment teachers with smartphones – by one who has been a victim

Mobiles are a teacher’s worst nightmare – and not just because of the disruption they cause, says Will Yates. Now, they’re being used to harrass staff as well as children

Students have turned covert recordings of teachers into threatening YouTube videos (Getty)

A trainee teacher in the maths department was shifting from foot to foot outside the head of year 9’s office, glancing down anxiously at his phone. I stopped to ask him if he was OK.

Without saying anything, he showed me his phone screen. On it was an Instagram direct message request from an account with the name and profile picture of one of year 9’s most notorious students. It read: “Open for a surprise x.”

My eyes widened. There was nothing I could do to help him: he and I both knew that he was going to spend his afternoon phoning parents, sanctioning pupils, talking to pastoral staff, writing up safeguarding concerns – and trying to catch up on all the work he would be missing in the process. I patted him on the shoulder and went on my way.