A teacher in her 20s who made inappropriate contact on social media with former students has been found guilty of professional misconduct.
A school board investigation found seven allegations of inappropriate communication on Snapchat by six former high school students with another girl in the same area, reports RTE.
The council’s disciplinary committee also found that a teacher who had not participated in the investigation had breached the code of professional ethics for teachers.
The investigation’s chairman, Seán O’Neill, ordered that teachers, students, schools, or their general geographic location could not be identified.
A two-day investigation revealed evidence that the man worked at the school from September to December 2019 as an apprentice and later as a substitute teacher.
In particular, he stressed that the committee should take into account the age of the pupils who were in the early stages of their development and understand what is the proper interaction between adults and children.
However, Mr O’Sullivan said all the girls deserved credit for handling the situation in a very mature way, either by not accepting a teacher’s request to friend her on Snapchat or by having a quick chat with her online. When it was over, they realized who he was.
Mr O’Sullivan said the teacher was trying to pressure another teenager, whom he called his “favorite student”, to send a selfie.
The committee heard that the teacher’s behavior called into question his suitability to be a teacher.
“It is very unusual and disturbing behaviour for an adult to engage in at all,” observed Mr O’Sullivan, reports RTE.
The witness said that he became aware of the allegations against the teacher after contacting the students’ parents, but had no idea of the teacher’s whereabouts at this stage.
A student’s mother was heard describing a teacher as “a predator” at a pre-investigation meeting last month.
In a letter to the Board of Education, the man, who has been a registered post-primary teacher since 2019, claimed to have had mental health and alcohol problems for several years.
He said he was under a lot of stress at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic due to his father’s illness and the breakup of his relationship with his girlfriend, reports RTE.
The teacher publicly expressed fear of revealing his name because he had already received threats and insults, and had not told most of his family members that he would face a professional investigation.
He insisted he was a “good teacher” and “a good person”, reports RTE.
The investigation has been adjourned until a future date when it will hear conclusions on the appropriate sanctions imposed.
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