The Teachers Are Blowing Their Whistles!

Queensland private and state school staff made 12,339 reports of suspected child abuse during the period 1 July 2009 - 31 March 2010.

The final figure for the financial year July 2009 - June 2010 is expected to rise to more than 15,000.

3090 of the 12,339 reports were deemed worthy of investigation by the department.

858 of these 3090 reports were found to be true.

"In every circumstance in a state school where a staff member or non-staff member suspects a student has been harmed or is at risk of harm, they must report it," Acting Education Minister Karen Struthers said.

Ms Struthers said that if a teacher or principal "failed in their duty" (to report possible abuse) they faced disciplinary action, including losing their jobs.

Queensland Council of Parents and Citizens Associations president Margaret Black said teachers reported "even the slightest suspicion".

Of course Queensland children need to be protected from abuse.

But there is a need for some independent reseach into -

How is this requirement that teachers report "even the slightest suspicion" affecting -

 * teacher - administrator relationships, 

 * teacher - support staff relationships, 

 * teacher - parent relationships,

 * teacher - student relationships

 * and teacher - teacher relationships?

Are classroom teachers 'paid back' for reporting abuse by other teachers?

Are administrators making faux reports to 'pay back' classroom teachers who speak at staff meetings, try to deal with problems, etc?

Were the 3090 departmental investigations into these reports of a professional standard - can we trust these findings?

How much time and taxpayer money is being wasted investigating malicious / payback reports?

Danger signs, Tanya Chilcott, Schools Reporter, The Courier-Mail, pp.1-2, The Courier-Mail : 23 July 2010.

A former north Queensland teacher is suing the Education Department for a substantial amount because a student threatened her with a knife.

It's a pity every teacher whose career, marriage or life has been ruined by vindictive students' false accusations and claims of sexual abuse cannot sue the Education Department.

The Ethical Standards Unit of Education Queensland believes students' false accusations above teachers' protestations of innocence.

When the claims are proved false or the student admits to lying, the teacher is still ostracised and in many cases cannot get employment as a teacher again.

Not many want to work as a teacher again considering the treatment they receive.

The teacher cannot sue the student, even when the student has committed perjury in court, if the student is under 16.

B. Wilkinson, Malanda, Letter to the Editor, Talking Point, p.79, The Courier-Mail, 26-27 June 2010.

How many Queensland teachers have their health and their careers destroyed by students who make false / joke "allegations" against their teachers?

Or by malicious school principals who claim that "confidential" allegations have been made against teachers?

How many classroom teachers who disclose child abuse by another teacher are later "paidback" by having false allegations made against them?

What action has been taken by the Queensland Department of Education, the Queensland Teachers' Union and the Queensland College of Teachers to deal with students and principals who make false allegations about classroom teachers?

Children need to be protected from abuse.

But Queensland teachers also need to be protected from the lies of naughty children, aggressive parents and malicious school principals.

My wife was accused of "inappropriate touching" by a female student at her Brisbane high school.

My wife went through hell involving police before it was established that the student was a habitual liar, seeking revenge for having been given detention.

Yes, there are s-xual molesters in schools, but many allegations are just being made by students who are trying to get back at teachers.

I hope that the genuine cases are weeded out and sacked but many innocent people suffer from vexacious claims.

This is why many teachers suffer from depression and stress.

Skip of Brissy, Reader's comment 37 of 29, S-xual misconduct by Queensland teachers exposed, Alison Sandy and Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail : 23 March 2010.

The real fact is that most teachers who are the subject of "allegations" are innocent.

We leap to the defence of "abused" children - but we forget that children tell lies.

I know that for a fact.

Fifteen years ago, I drove a school bus and I tried to be friendly with the kids.

One eleven-year-old girl didn't have a father and in a small way I tried to be one to her while we were on the bus, looking at her work and being interested in what had happened at school.

Another boy whom I had reprimanded numerous times for bad behaviour told the teacher the girl was in love with me.

It was bad enough that I was interviewed, but the police went to he rhome and interrogated her in front of her parents.

I still feel bad at the embarrassment and damage this must have caused to her young mind.

What happened to the boy?

Nothing.

I'd had enough and I left.

I have never worked with children again, and I never will.

Anyone who does in this paranoid society is looking for trouble.

(John of Cairns - details below)

I had a similar experience.

I had arranged an excursion for three classes.

The bus company made a mistake and sent a bus that was too small.

I had to drive three Grade 7 boys to town in my car.

The boy who sat in the front seat next to me talked the whole way to town.

He told me that he had been kept down a year.

His dad was in the navy.

So his mother was on her own.

He told me what his dad thought about him being kept down.

He did not stop talking.

On the drive backto school that afternoon, he told me that the other two boys had been teasing him about the way that he had talked to me non-stop.

I took a quiet interest in this boy from then on - I gave him a part in an Indonesian play that I was producing.

I thought that a boy like him would have few good memories of school, and I thought that the play would be a happy memory for him.

He was not a brilliant student, but the part suited him really well and he did a good job.

We performed the play for the public in City Place.

After watching the play, his mother confronted me very aggressively.

You would think that this mother would be grateful that I had given her son a part in the play, but no.

Some months later she confronted me again.

This time she was angry because she thought that I had put her son on detention.

It had not happened.

But the mother continued to rage at me and refused to listen.

I wondered if her son had been talking about me at home and if she had become jealous.

To the best of my knowledge, this was the only parent at the school who ever complained about me.

But her complaints concerning me were the end of my career.

When you take an interest in a child who has problems, it is risky.

A problem child may have problem parents.

And you may be attacked.

But if you don't take an interest in the child you feel that you are not doing the "right thing" by the child.

John of Cairns, Reader's comment 33 of 39, S-xual misconduct by Queensland teachers exposed, Alison Sandy and Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail, 23 March 2010.

Vexacious complaints against Queensland teachers are rife, yet the person/s making the complaints are never held responsible despite ruining a teacher's career.

A good friend of mine who taught at a small country school was reported by a person who had no children at the school, but who took the opportunity as the neighbour to settle a fencing dispute.

My friend was stood down and investigated, with the claim being dismissed within a day.

The problem is the Chinese whispers that have ruined my friend's chance of employment in a small town where her husband and she had a home and lived.

No compensation, no redress on the perpetrator of this vexacious claim.

Andi of Aussie Aussie Aussie, Reader's comment 32 of 39, S-xual misconduct by Queensland teachers exposed, Alison Sandy and Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail, 23 March 2010.

No figures on how many false accusations were made against Queensland teachers then, Ryan?

I didn't think so, you ...

Oldfellah of Coral Coast, Reader's comment, More Queensland teachers banned for preying on students, Tanya chilcott, The Courier-Mail, 17 January 2010.

Despite the amount of money that teachers spend on union fees, they run the other way if allegations are made against you.

People with issues can misinterpret when reporting innocent actions ...

Then you're damned!!!

Teachers again, Reader's comment, More Queensland teachers banned for preying on students, Tanya Chilcott, The Courier-Mail, 17 January 2010.

I was sacked from my teaching job because false allegations were levelled at me.

I had worked as a teacher for 15 years in early childhood, a boarding school supervisor for seven years and outside school hours care for 11 years, all with high commendation.

None of this came into it, when these allegations were made by one individual.

My family, friends and I feel deeply let down by the biased legal system, the union ( for which I was a rep. at my school) and the education system for their lack of support.

Both the complainant and I know the truth and this never came out.

Teachers beware, I'd heard stories, but never thought it would happen to me.

This family cost me the job I loved.

Innocent of The Sunshine Coast, Readers Comments, S*x-accused teachers slip through, Alison Sandy, The Courier-Mail, 26 October, 2009

I am the wife of a man who was falsely accused and prosecuted for child sexual abuse. 

The allegations against my husband were thrown out of court as the "child's" lies were discovered.

The "child" was 16 years old by the time that the truth came out.

Yes, we do need to go after real child abusers.

But it is easy for children to make up stories for their own agendas, and under Queensland law, it is near impossible to stop the speeding train of prosecution.

After four years of hell, we are just thankful we made it through to the other end with our family and our marriage intact.

I finished high school 25 years ago, but I can still remember some of the teenage girls swooning and flirting with all of the young male teachers.

I felt so sorry for the teachers being put in that position.

Mel, Readers' Comments:Predatory teachers wreck lives, Sarah Vogler and Paula Doneman, The Sunday Mail, 16 August, 2009.