Exclusive

TEACHER MISCONDUCT

‘Tip of the iceberg’ fears over grim sexual misconduct revelations in Irish schools amid expert’s ‘blind eye’ warning

• Published: 17:13, 19 Sep 2023
• Updated: 17:13, 19 Sep 2023

THE author of a report into sexual misconduct in Irish secondary schools has said her shock findings are just the “tip of the iceberg”.

The study – the first of its kind in Europe – revealed hundreds of examples of sexual harassment by teachers on kids.

It comes after a teacher in his early 20s was last week struck off after he sent inappropriate messages via Snapchat to teenage girls who were his former pupils.

One victim said they engaged in phone sex with the teacher when they were just 15.

Another student told researchers how a teacher took them to a private location “and lifted up my [shirt] to rub my breast and nipple to ‘help regulate my breathing’.”

And one girl told how an educator tried to kiss her at a social event, before later licking her neck when they were drinking shots.

Kate Dawson, lecturer in psychology at the University of Greenwich, said the findings were “extremely distressing”.

Dr Dawson told The Irish Sun: “People are outraged, rightfully so. School is meant to be a safe place.

“I have had so many emails from teachers saying that they’re concerned this is happening in their own school and they don’t know how to address it.

“So I do think that this is really the tip of the iceberg in terms of our understanding of this issue.”

A total of 593 respondents – 224 from Ireland and the 369 from the UK – completed the survey, which was led out by the University of Greenwich with support from University of Galway.

All respondents took park in the survey because they had experienced some form of sexual harassment or misconduct by a teacher during their time in secondary school.

HARASSMENT STORIES

The probe asked respondents – who had to be over the age of 18 – to share their experiences anonymously via various social media platforms, including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

One victim told the study: “My teacher was not long graduated and used to always say that if I wasn’t his student things would be very different between us. I was 14. He did this for many years, and I never knew how to deal with it. He’d make comments about my body, wink when walking past me.”

Dr Dawson told how harassment was only a “small part” of their experiences.

She said: “There were lots of instances of inappropriate touching. Teachers attempting to kiss their students.

“And there are a lot more severe and concerning examples that we have in the data set that we did not include in the report.”

‘CAN GET AWAY WITH IT’

Dr Dawson said that those who sexually harass usually do it because they “can get away with it”.

She said: “There would have to be, to a certain extent, I suppose some kind of culture of acceptance or at least tolerance. Turning a blind eye to things like this.

“By no means we’re saying that this is an issue of every school, but if it’s happening in at least one school, that’s too much.”

One in five respondents said that a teacher made unwanted attempts to pursue a romantic or sexual relationship despite their efforts to discourage it.

Examples of sexual harassment that appeared in the report included the telling of sexual stories or asking students about their sex lives.

‘SO INAPPROPRIATE’

Dr Dawson said: “A male member of staff said they liked a student’s breasts and when they said their nipples were hard, the students said that they felt uncomfortable.

“The male teachers then told them they should learn to take a compliment. This is so inappropriate.

“There were blatant examples that were happening taking place in front of other people.

“Teachers touching students, touching their leg and rubbing their leg. Or winking at them or making gestures like masturbation gestures.

“Or discussing sexual stories and staring at a student while they’re telling them. This is happening in front of a class with teenagers.”

Dr Dawson said it’s “bizarre” there isn’t more of a focus on sexual misconduct in teacher training.

TRAINING NEEDED

She added: “There’s actually no training on what constitutes harassment like the specific examples.

“We know that the younger staff members are more likely to do this.

“Other researchers have hypothesised that this could be because they’re closer to the student’s age, so maybe they think it’s more acceptable because they see them as a potential partner.

“There are examples of older teachers doing this too.

“But this is not by any means to a certain demographic. People who’ve experienced this, who are victimised, that’s not limited to a certain demographic either.”

One in ten experienced teacher-student sexual harassment by electronic means.

CONTACT ON DATING APPS

Dr Dawson said: “We know that some teachers are contacting their students on dating apps, like Grindr.

“There’s no ambiguity there if you’re using Grindr. Everybody who’s on Grindr knows what it’s used for.”

Dr Dawson revealed an upsetting consequence of the harassment is that students give up their favourite subjects to avoid a certain teacher.

And she said people can be quick to judge school drop-outs.

She said: “I think we can also be very cruel and victimise and victim blame students who, for whatever reason, drop out of school. But maybe there’s more to their experiences that we don’t understand yet.”

Very few respondents reported the harassment to their school.