How far should a teacher investigate?

[PD-Jnr]

Alright, Last night there was a fake twitter account made of me tweeting about inappropriate things. One other students name was mentioned. I'm not really bothered as it is a few friends having as laugh. However today in last lesson someone shouted "Sir, Do you use twitter and have you seen the @TwitterNameHere?" He replied saying "No" and took out his phone during the lesson to find out what is was about. The lesson came to a hault and he began to browse through the 14 tweets while everyone was talking and not filling in a sheet. He was laughing at some of the tweets and then asked if a student who had tweeted about the account in lesson time was in the classroom next door.

He left our classroom unattended and asked the student if it was him. Which it indeed wasnt, he then asked another pupil who had tweeted about it off them. He then got them to show there twitter which were both logged into there personal one. He then took one of the pupils phones and walked back into the class putting it on his desk. He has said that he will need to contact the Senior Staff. (He is only a music teacher)

Do you think he should be consulting the Senior Staff?
Should he be checking what students are tweeting on twitter?
Does he have the right to view a pupils phone?

Tomorrow we have been told that we will most likely have to write statements but I do not want the matter to go further, it was a joke afew friends had about me, nothing too serious. How the school has began to talk about it and its spreading fast. Around 6 people have removed everything about the twitter account from twitter etc and added privacy blocks to our accounts.
The teacher is the one who wishes for this to be taken further without consulting me in private. I really dont wish for it to go further. We are over the age of 13 so we are legally allowed twitter/facebook aswell etc

[Amy]

if they're pretending to be you then it's identity fraud (kind of)
so yeah, you should speak to a higher member of staff about it

[Sujan]

As they can but they cannot investigate a strong minded student....

[Sara B]

I'm not sure what UK laws are, but in the US we have anti-bullying laws. Cyber bullying is under them. We just had a student post some bad twitter and facebook things. The school didn't even have the chance to get involved. The parents of one of the girls whose image was used with a bad caption, called the police on the girl who posted the things.

I'm not sure if these inappropriate things were bullying, sexual, or about drinking or something, but there are certain things teachers are asked to do as part of our job. One of them is reporting misconduct. To not report it and have it come back on the teacher could actually get HIM in trouble. Let's say I hear about two kids fighting after school and posted it to youtube. If I found evidence it was true, I would need to go to my administration. The reason for this is if the parents found out I knew and did nothing, they could try to sue the school district. Your teacher is trying to cover his behind. And he doesn't need to consult you about it because this is his job. Just because it happens off campus does not mean it isn't something he gets to ignore.

[harwarda]

Sara B is right. This teacher has a responsibility to investigate. You may not be bothered by what people are posting, but there have been cases of students who were bothered enough to commit suicide. This isn't about you- it's about the bullies. If they are not caught now, they may do something worse to someone else.
What do you mean "only the music teacher"? He's just as important and responsible as any other teacher. In terms of what you should be learning to have a good future, music might be just as important as your other courses. Just ask the contestants on The Voice UK (although I am shocked at Ruth Brown being voted off!)