Parents of students suspended from a high school near Newcastle for cyber-bullying have taken to social media to accuse the principal of an "over-the-top" reaction.

More than 50 students from Toronto High School, in Lake Macquarie, were suspended for their involvement in a game that involved posting "negative, abusive [and] harassing comments" about other students on social media.

In a letter to parents on Friday, the school's principal Mark McConville wrote that students involved, including those who had "liked" negative comments about other students, had been suspended.

"Imagine if it was your child who opened up their Facebook account to find over 50 'likes' about a negative/abusive/harassing post about them," he wrote.

The response to the mass suspensions on social media has been mostly positive, but some parents said the school had overreacted.

One parent, Michelle Sharp, who said her daughter had been suspended, said she had "liked but never commented", and accused Mr McConville of "seeking a great headline".

"I support the anti-bullying that Toronto High School adheres to, but this situation is so over the top," she said. "My daughter liked but never commented on anything in this saga but is now labelled a bully," she said.

"Not happy that she is amongst the children now being labelled."

One woman, Astie Trives, who said her daughter had been suspended for "liking" a comment, wrote on the school's Facebook page that she agreed with the punishments "but don't like now that these kids are going to be tagged as bullies [and] vile".

Another, Christine Malone, asked if the suspension would go "on their record".

"My son wants to be a cop [and] having this on his record is ridiculous," she wrote. "I am also against bullying [and] my son had been spoken to [and] there [are] consequences but still ... it seems a bit much to suspend so many kids for hitting a like button. Could a detention not suffice?"

The Department of Education confirmed on Friday that more than 50 students had received short suspensions of up to four days and a small number had been given long suspensions of up to 20 days.

According to reports, the online bullying involved students posting a "status" expressing a negative opinion about another student, and seeking a certain number of "likes" before they revealed that student's identity.

For that reason, some people wrote on the school's Facebook that the students were being punished for "expressing curiosity".

However, the vast bulk of parents and social media commenters reacted positively to the school's tough stance.

"That Principal is clearly setting some positive standards in his school," Mark Hobson wrote. "I applaud Mark McConville and hope Toronto High realises what an asset they must have to be led by this individual."

"Awesome," Kylie Jones wrote. "Best thing I've ever seen a principal do".

Parent Nicole Charlesworth, whose son Nick was questioned but not punished because he had posted a positive comment about another student, said on Friday that the incident reinforced the dangers of social media for young people.

"My son's face was white when he came home, he was really shaken up by it," she said."I think the school's response was appropriate. This sort of thing needs to be nipped in the bud straight away."