Australia: Abuse cases deter men from becoming teachers

Submitted by Mastodon on Wed, 2013-05-29 03:34

Article here. Excerpt:

'HIGH-profile court cases involving allegations of male teachers committing indecent acts on children have created a steady decline in young men waiting to join the profession.

Last week a Mackay teacher was found not guilty of inappropriately touching an 11-year-old student.

Queensland Teachers Union president Kevin Bates said media attention on these cases meant young men considering becoming teachers were sometimes dissuaded.

"I don't see there's any way a young person couldn't but notice the public perception of men in teaching is one of doubts about the genuineness of the person's intentions," Mr Bates said.

"As a consequence I think there has been, over time, the effect of dissuading some men of choosing teaching as a career."

Mr Bates said over the past two decades, the percentage of female teachers had increased from about 70% to about 75%.'

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... high-profile...

Male teacher: Him: 30. Her: 16. Presumed guilty. Quick trial, guilty, 7-10 yrs. in jail, sex offender registration for life.

Female teacher: Her: 30. Him: 16. Presumed innocent. Trial repeatedly delayed. Psych eval. If found guilty, 1-3 yrs. in jail, suspended as long as good behavior. Out-patient psych treatment. Registered sex offender for 10 yrs.

So yeah, I can see how it'd be hard for young men to want to pursue teaching. But even if I actually wanted to work with kids, you couldn't pay me enough. One false accusation or even rumor is enough to ruin a man's rep for years. No way in Hell I'd ever work with kids.

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Submitted by Matt on Thu, 2013-05-30 01:26