Teacher resigns over porn scandal

IT has been confirmed that a teacher at Benjamin Pine Primary School in Pinetown has resigned after he showed pornography to a group of pupils at the school.
An anonymous spokesperson for the school confirmed the reports saying, “I can confirm that the educator has handed in his resignation letter and will not returning to the school. The online report was accurate,” she said. She has asked to remain anonymous as the Department of Education has instructed staff not to comment.

The incident occurred three weeks prior to the school holidays, after a group of Grade 6 pupils assembled to preview a slidesshow presentation. The laptop that was prepped for the presentation was allegedly inoperative and the teacher in question opted to use his personal laptop. When it was plugged into the projector the pornographic images were relayed onto the screen. When the teacher realised what was happening he reportedly promptly unplugged the laptop.

The source also told the Highway Mail that the pupils who were exposed to the pornographic imagery has been sent for counselling. “The pupils are coping well. All of the pupils were offered counselling. Luckily a lot of the pupils did not get to see the images. The few that felt that they needed counselling was able to speak and write about what they saw and how they are feeling. We have been very open with the Grade 6 pupils’ parents regarding the incident. We did not try and hide it from them,” she said.

Earlier in the year outrage swept across social media after media alleged that a teacher from Johannesburg unwittingly showed pornography to a group of Grade 10 pupils while viewing porn on his laptop. The teacher claimed that he did not know that his laptop was plugged into the projector at the time.

Tim Gordon, the national CEO of the Governing Body Foundation, was shocked by the latest incident. “We cannot turn a blind eye. It is deplorable that educators, who should be role models to the pupils are at times at the core of such incidences. Every possible care must be taken to prevent such incidences from occurring in the future,” he urged.

Gordon encouraged parents and staff to remain vigilant to protect the pupils, and emphasised that teachers need to “understand” their role in society as role models and uphold their ethical responsibilities and values.

“Pornography is very prevalent. It has almost become a pandemic in normal day to day interactions. It is a negative effect of the open society that we live in. Technology has significantly increased people’s access to such material, and it is something that we as a society need to be concerned about,” he said.

However, Gordon believes that incidents where pupils are exposed to pornography through their teachers are isolated cases. “We do not have any information that would suggest that there is an increase of such cases,” he said.

Isaac Luthuli, the media liaison officer for KZN Education MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni, confirmed that the Department of Education has begun an investigation. “We condemn any act of indecency, whether against a student or teacher. A classroom is suppose to be an environment conductive for teaching and learning. Should it happen that the teacher  in question intentionally displayed naked pictures he should be bought to our books. Our beloved department doesn’t tolerate any wrong doing from anyone,” he said.