Ciaran Kavanagh, of Gaelcholáiste Reachrann in Donaghmede, Dublin, said cyber bullying is something that “hits you in the heart”.
Mr Kavanagh spoke out about his experience at teachers’ union ASTI’s annual convention in Wexford, where members unanimously passed a motion calling for tougher laws to prevent online abuse and harassment on social media.
The Dubliner said he never wanted to go through something like that again.
“You lose all sense of logic,” he told delegates. “You think you’re able to put up with it, but schools are, by their nature, happy places. When you hear kids laughing at a video circulating, you automatically think they’re laughing at you.
“You feel like every time you turn a corner, when somebody looks your way you feel that they’ve seen this video, this concoction, that was made just for someone’s amusement. You feel that it’s directed at you. It got to the point where I considered leaving the school.
“You know that you’re stronger than that. You think you can put up with the comments, the sly digs, but when it happens in such a public sphere in such an open way, it’s heartbreaking.”
Mr Kavanagh said the matter was reported to gardaí and the perpetrator identified. However, he chose not to find out who the student was because he feared it would affect his future relationship with his pupils.
He said the management at his school had been very supportive.
“Every part of your heart and soul goes into the job, and then you start to question: What did I do, what did I say, how did I upset them to make myself this figure of ridicule?”
Mr Kavanagh urged his fellow teachers to support the motion and “put a stop to this issue”.
ASTI general secretary Kieran Christie said it was a “shocking statistic” that nearly one-fifth of members had experienced cyber bullying.
Other teachers told the conference that careers were being ruined by online abuse.
Sinéad Corkery, of the Dublin south-central branch, said that despite numerous education programmes teaching students about safety and respect online, harmful information continued to be shared.
The posting of salacious and malicious pictures could cause great harm and distress, she added.
“Complications can arise where a teacher is subject to harmful content posted anonymously or under a pseudonym,” she said.
“People can post material anonymously on Instagram, Snapchat, X and TikTok, and such platforms facilitate this behaviour. The process for taking down pictures is slow and onerous.”
