Every time we turn around, it seems there’s another story about a female teacher having sex with one of her male students. Almost invariably, these are younger, fairly attractive women who it would seem should have little trouble finding a more appropriately aged partner for their escapades.
Since we hear about it so often in this country, it would be easy to think of it as an American phenomenon. Well, it’s not.
The father of a boy who joined the ‘Mile-High club’ with his teacher on the flight home from a school trip today said the affair was only exposed after another pupil blackmailed them and told the headteacher.
The 16-year-old’s dad says his son did not want physics miss Eleanor Wilson investigated over the relationship that has left her teaching career in tatters.
Speaking to MailOnline, the father, who cannot be identified, said: ‘What I will say is he [the boy] didn’t want any of this.
‘He didn’t want her to lose her job over it. The relationship was only uncovered when another pupil found out about it and blackmailed her for sex.
‘He then told the school and from there it was the school who pursued the investigation, not my son.
Once again, Wilson fits the profile: young and attractive.
The age of consent in the United Kingdom is 16, so Wilson doesn’t appear to be guilty of the UK’s version of statutory rape. Also, the boy clearly consented to the intercourse, so that’s covered.
Wilson’s brother, however, argued that nothing ever happened and that Wilson was merely guilty of being attractive.
‘I know they made it up, because she was blackmailed,’ he said. ‘He made the story up and made it sound good. These teachers work hard all their life and go through years of courses and all it takes is one student to bring them down.
‘There’s no doubt about it – he had a crush on her. They were away on an educational school trip and she didn’t want anything to do with them, so they made stories up about her.
‘She’d already had enough of students giving her hassle because she was good looking. Good looking teachers get picked out by students and they get hard done by.’
Unfortunately, a panel disagreed, finding the student credible. They also reportedly found evidence that the fling wasn’t just a one-time thing. It’s alleged that Wilson and the student texted one another for some time afterward.
Yet if the relationship was consensual and the boy’s father doesn’t seem to want Wilson fired, why should she be barred from ever teaching again?
The reason is rather simple. By engaging in a relationship with one of her students, she was in a position to give preferential treatment to that student. It’s the same reason the military comes down harshly on fraternization cases within the armed forces. A teacher who has a relationship is less likely to give that student a poor grade and may also try to intervene with other teachers on the student’s behalf.
The problems a situation like that could create should be obvious.
However, it’s nice to see that other Western nations get to deal with this sort of thing as well.
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