UK: Teachers who have consensual sex with pupils should not face prosecution, says union

Article here. Excerpt:

"Child protection experts reacted with fury last night after the head of a teachers' union said staff who have sex with pupils over 16 should escape prosecution.
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Teachers who have sex with sixth form pupils are only guilty of an 'error of professional judgement' and it is unfair to put them on the sex offenders register, she insists.
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Dean Dainty, who was 16 when he had a sexual relationship with his 22-year-old drama teacher Nicola Prentice, says the teacher's abuse of her position wrecked his life.

In an interview for the programme he said: ‘Looking back now, I wish it had never all happened. It affected me in a big way, my personality and things, and I started to do stupid things after it and not be myself.

'It took me a long time to get myself back together – I suppose it took a piece of my life away really.’"

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As a man who has worked in the educational system for twenty years, I would just say this --

Any teacher, male or female, who sexually preys upon a student should be banned from ever teaching again.

That is a complete violation of the trust that a teacher must create with her/his pupils.

You could talk about who has the power.

That can get complicated, because some girls are very sophisticated. And some boys would love to be "taken advantage of..."

But there is no way to justify a teacher having sex with a student.

At least not until the student graduates.

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To show this websites agreement, or opposition? I'm not sure how this is a MEN'S issue, since both men and women offend.

Personally, i'm in favour of this. Once the student is above the age of consent, i don't think they should suffer criminal charges.

However, like the poster above, i think they should be banned for teaching for life.

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The only reason anybody is even considering this is because women are getting caught left and right. I guarantee that if only men were doing this, there wouldn't be any call for mercy.

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