B.C. teachers suspended over porn, twitter and sleepovers
Three B.C. teachers have lost their jobs in the past year because of complaints involving internet pornography, social media and inappropriate relationships.
According to the disciplinary summaries issued by the Teacher Regulation Branch, middle school teacher John Lindsay Davidson’s problems began in March 2011 when he hooked his laptop up to a projector for a lesson.
A student noticed a link on-screen marked "schoolgirl porn."
An RCMP investigation found a total of 14 such links on his computer with titles that included references such as "teacher" and "coach."
All the porn involved featured adults, but Davidson agreed to be stripped of his right to teach for at least 15 years.
In a separate case, an online relationship with a 17-year-old student cost high school teacher Jeffrey Frank Weening his right to teach for five years.
Weening was tutoring the student in English, but the pair began to exchange personal Twitter messages, texts and emails.
By early May 2011, they posted statements of love and vague conversations about a future together, according to a disciplinary summary posted online.
When the girl's parent found out, Weening asked the student to delete her Twitter account and said he would do the same.
Both Davidson and Weening were disciplined last December, but the results have only now been made public in the summer edition of the Teacher Regulation Branch's professional magazine, Learn.
Sleepovers cost teacher job
The magazine also highlights the case of an unidentified female teacher who allowed a student to spend nights in her home.
The pair slept in the same bed on at least one occasion. There was no physical touching or intimate contact, an investigation by the school district found.
It said the teacher had taken on a "caregiver" role with the student, taking her out for meals, linking arms with her, holding hands and hugging her.
It noted that however well intentioned, it was "not the role of a teacher to 'fix' the home life or personal situation of a student".
The teacher has since resigned and been stripped of her teaching certificate.
The disciplinary decisions were made by B.C.'s new Teacher Regulation Branch, set up by the Ministry of Education to replace the College of Teachers.