Parents’ worsening behaviour on social media creating stress and heavier workloads, school principals say

Dominic Perrottet has flagged he is looking at boosting schools’ admin staff, while the NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president has called for dedicated social media staff to deal with parents’ behaviour. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

School principals in New South Wales say they need urgent help to manage increasingly poor behaviour by parents on social media, with online pile-ons and slanging matches creating unnecessary stress and increased workloads.

Almost 90% of NSW school leaders told the 2021 NSW Secondary Principals’ Council (SPC) survey that “social media hate campaigns” from parents were affecting their wellbeing and occupying their time.