The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Pitfalls and Precautions is a series that aims to educate teachers on professional conduct issues by highlighting situations addressed by the ATA Professional Conduct Committee.

Parents and guardians entrust their children to the care of teachers every school day. In most cases, parents are assured that positive and nurturing relationships are developed both in the classroom and during school sanctioned extra-curricular activities and field trips. Unfortunately, there are a few bad apples that abuse the teacher–student relationship and do not treat their pupils with dignity and respect or are not considerate of their circumstances.

A high school teacher crossed that trusted line when she engaged in inappropriate relationships with two of her students. In regard to the first student, the teacher discussed her desire to get stoned with him when he turned 18. Further, she used social media to communicate frequently with the student and engaged in a variety of inappropriate discussions related to drugs, alcohol and suicide.

In regard to the second student, the teacher sent multiple partially nude pictures of herself and received pictures of the student performing an act of self gratification. Horrifically, she engaged in conversation with the student while he was performing the solo act. This teacher also went so far as to allow the student to control, via an app on his cellphone, a sexual gratification device that she owned.

These perverted actions and abusive relationships with these students grossly violated the teacher–student relationship as well as the trust that both the parents and society placed in her as a teacher. As a result of her actions, the teacher was declared permanently ineligible for membership in the Alberta Teachers’ Association. A recommendation was also made to the minister of education to cancel her teaching certificate. The Association communicated the cancellation of the teaching certificate to the Canadian Teachers’ Federation as well.

Teachers have a responsibility to treat all of their students with respect and dignity and be considerate of their circumstances. Through her abhorrent and repugnant actions, this teacher failed to do so. Further, teachers are to act in a way that maintains the honour and dignity of the profession. This teacher’s loathsome and detestable actions failed to do so and brought dishonour and disrepute to the teaching profession. ❚