Nothing unravels us more than a hurtful comment.  For many university teachers the qualitative comments collected from students are among the most constructive aspects of student feedback. Yet, from time to time, students write mean, offensive or malicious comments intentionally aimed at humiliating, undermining or threatening their lecturers. Belittling statements by students about our appearance, intelligence, racial or religious background hurt because we are surprised that some students resent our efforts to help them learn.

Senior Clinical Psychologist, Rachael Murrihy, from the UTS Health Psychology Unit suggests that a lack of inhibition arises from being anonymous. The anonymous nature of student feedback gives some students the confidence to say things they would not normally say if they could be identified. Students may be less inhibited in anonymous surveys because they do not see the hurt they inflict on the reader, reducing the likelihood that they will feel remorseful, as they might in a face-to-face interaction. Furthermore, the audience is unlikely to be the target of their comments as it is more likely that the student wants to denigrate the lecturer to their superiors.

The usual advice for this kind of written harassment is to try to ignore the comments and don’t let them get to you. If it is that easy, then this is clearly your simplest option. However, if emotional harm has been caused by something your students have written, then you need to ensure you have effective skills to respond.

You need to be relatively resilient to ignore hurtful comments. That is, you need to feel good about yourself and ensuring that you get plenty of exercise, eat healthy food, get plenty of sleep and avoid excessive alcohol can all help with your self image. Encourage positive thinking through positive self-talk rather than reinforcing self-doubt by thinking things like “They’re right, I’m ugly”. Remind yourself of your positive characteristics instead of dwelling on the negative.

It is normal to feel angry when someone attacks you personally. Whatever their underlying cause, hurtful comments are written to produce a reaction and it is best that students do not know that what they have written has hurt you. Don’t seek out students in your class to try to find out who wrote the hurtful comments or why. It is far better to express your feelings in more appropriate ways such as writing them down, listening to music or through physical activity.

Once you are over the initial shock that one of your students wants to denigrate you there are some further actions you might consider:

Decide whether you need professional counselling. If you are really upset and don’t know what to do about it, you should contact a professional counsellor.

Talk to your colleagues. Elke Stracke from the University of Canberra suggests that talking about your experiences and how you felt about receiving belittling statements can be a fruitful way of dealing with hurtful comments in student feedback.

File a complaint with the survey unit. Don’t think you have to deal with this alone. Your university requested this information from the students and needs be involved in minimising hurtful comments. Most universities have formal policies and procedures to minimise harassing and threatening comments in the workplace.

Try to short-circuit abusive behaviour in your students. Encourage good communication with your students by regularly collecting feedback from your class and showing that you take the students’ comments seriously. Don’t expect to be mistreated in student feedback and help student see their responsibility regarding giving constructive feedback.

Don’t look like an easy target. Look like a person who is physically and emotionally strong. Bullies are looking for vulnerable people to harass. If you find you are frequently attacked, take an honest look at whether you need to change anything about the way you are treating your students that might contribute to how your students are responding in their feedback surveys.

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