Quality | 2010.04.19
Predators in the classroom | Frank Furedi
Our suspicious society has left teachers open to career-threatening false allegations of abuse
There is something deeply disturbing about the all too predictable manner with which one childish and malicious accusation can destroy a teacher\'s reputation, career and ultimately her way of life. Earlier this week Liverpool crown court found classics teacher Hannah McIntyre innocent of the charge of having sexual activity with a child. Her 16-year-old accuser walked away free to get on with his life. That option is not open to McIntyre, who stated that her teaching career was now in tatters.
Last month it was the turn of another teacher, Teresa McKenzie, to put up with the ordeal of an 11-day trial where she faced accusations of having sex with a 16-year-old boy in a toilet in the British library and a London hotel. She too was found not guilty, but it is unlikely that her life will ever be the same again. Unfortunately innocence in the eyes of law cannot undo the harm caused by salacious gossip and malicious rumour.
We live in a world where even informal hints of wrongdoing can spin out of control and destroy careers. The most flimsy of accusations are sufficient to incite a headmaster to suspend a teacher while the case is investigated. But even if the case is dismissed as having no foundation in reality, the accused teacher still has to contend with the "no smoke without fire" brigade. Moving to another school is one option for the exonerated teacher. Unfortunately some leave the profession altogether.
False accusations against individual teachers have a frightening impact on the profession as a whole. In a sense the status and reputation of the whole profession is on trial when one of their members stands accused. Time and again teachers tell me of their concern about being accused of inappropriate behaviour or of sexual misconduct.
Such concerns even afflict teachers in primary and nursery education. One Glasgow-based nursery worker told me that she feels scared about holding and touching the infants in her care in case her behaviour is misinterpreted. Within the teaching profession there is a widespread fear that a teacher\'s career can be blighted by false allegations.
In a world where it takes just an anonymous complaint to call into question a teacher\'s integrity, it is not surprising that sometimes they feel too insecure to provide their students with authoritative leadership. Inevitably the threat of being targeted by malicious accusation fosters a climate where many teachers feel defensive and are inhibited from acting on their instinct and professional judgment. So it is not simply the authority of the teacher but also quality of the classroom experience that is undermined by an inquisitorial climate.
It only takes a small childish lie to destroy a career. Children have always made fun of their teachers. But these days children freely describe teachers as "paedoes" and "perverts" and sometime when their rhetoric gets carried away relatively innocent lies mutate into hard accusations.
In one case a 14-year-old boy who made fun of his teacher\'s sexual proclivities was horrified to discover that the words he said in jest were used by others as solid facts with which to accuse his teacher. Fortunately, in this case, a very embarrassed boy had the integrity to acknowledge his stupidity and stop the rumour in its tracks. But it shows that it only takes a very small lie to destroy a teacher\'s professional life.
Sadly we live in a world where adult motives towards children are subject to suspicion and mistrust. A child\'s fantasy cannot be ignored. Sometimes teenagers use society\'s obsessive concern about child protection to have a pop at their teachers.
But there is little point in blaming children. Point the finger at those parents who are continually criticising their youngster\'s teachers. Some of them are all too ready to believe the worst about their behaviour. Parents need to regard teachers as allies who are jointly responsible for the socialisation and education of their children.
Instead of automatically accepting their child\'s criticism of a teacher\'s behaviour, parents need to query it. Before parents rush in to condemn a teacher\'s behaviour they need to carefully weigh up the facts and act on the basis that teachers, like anyone else, are innocent until proven guilty. That\'s the least that we owe to those entrusted with the education of our children.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/[...]achers-false-allegations-abuse
