TEACHERS are leaving the profession because of growing abuse from parents on social media, Holyrood has been told.

Laurence Findlay, corporate director for education at Moray Council, told the education committee there were a “myriad” reasons why teachers left - including salaries and workload.

But he added: “The one thing that has become very much a 21st century phenomenon is the notion of a teacher attack on social media where, for whatever reason, a parent or a group of parents take a dislike to a decision that a teacher or particularly a headteacher has made.

“They have run campaigns, sometimes covertly, on social media and these can be very damaging to a headteacher.

“That can be exacerbated in a small rural area where everybody know everybody as well and there are huge risks around that.”

In March, a survey found one in seven teachers had been subjected to attacks on social media from parents.

The poll of more than 1,000 members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association also found a quarter had been attacked by pupils.

Despite the concerns, 36 per cent of teachers said their school had no social media policy.

General Teaching Council for Scotland guidance on teachers’ use of social media will be updated later this year to reflect developments such as the increased use of Twitter and new apps.