The Malta Union of Teachers yesterday urged educators not to interact with their students on social media.

Addressing the launch of the union’s anti cyber-bullying campaign, MUT senior vice president Marco Bonnici said teachers had to be responsible when using the internet around their pupils. “Do not add your students on Facebook, and do not interact with them online is a basic rule of thumb,” he said.

Yesterday’s campaign is the sixth launched by the union on the issue in recent years and included a video uploaded onto You Tube and a list of proposals which will be distributed to all schools. The suggestions included teachers not giving their personal telephone numbers to students and their parents.

Mr Bonnici insisted communication with students should be limited to school-based activities only. The proposals also urged teachers to be protective of their passwords and not leave any social media or e-mail accounts open around students.

In cases of ongoing cyber bullying, the union urged teachers not to fight back, but to report any incidents to child-protection and educational authorities.

Last Sunday, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he was concerned over recent reports of online bullying and called for a mechanism to protect minors. The solution, he said, did not rest with banning certain websites known to facilitate online hate, but was down to education. Malta, he said, would do well to consider how it could help children navigate the online world.

He said the government would also have to consider what support it could provide to victims of online bullying, adding that the two sides of the House could work with the Social Policy Minister, the President and the Children Commission on setting up a system to help such children before it was too late.