Rise of sex predator female teachers

the response time and coordination of resources will dictate whether the rescue will be successful,’’ said co-ordinator for SAR in Taranaki, Senior Sergeant Thomas McIntyre.

Coordination and constant communication between the various parties was key, he said.

Active exercises like this were crucial for the training of all those involved in real life search and rescue emergency situations.

‘‘Should this happen, they all know how to respond, and work closely together in a coordinated search,’’ McIntyre said.

As well as rescuers on site, the SAR command headquarters for the day was set up in New Plymouth.

All communication between the parties was logged, and search patterns were tracked so that at all times the Incident Management Team and crews on scene were aware of what was happening and when.

The log would be invaluable for all those involved, they can learn from the experience and improve for the future, McIntyre said.

McIntyre said the emergency exercise was also an opportunity for the people in the separate rescue entities to network and meet face-to-face. In real life they give it their all too, and the community can rest assured they are in safe hands, he said.

Taranaki Coastguard’s Peter Chapman agreed with McIntyre’s words about the value of the emergency rescue simulation and combined training.

It was only last month when one weekend coastguard answered several VHF radio calls for assistance and the Todd Energy Rescue boat was required to go out and bring two of those vessels safely back to port, Chapman said. An increase in the number of female teachers being accused of sexual acts against male students could be just the tip of the iceberg, a child protection expert says.

At least seven female teachers have been charged with misconduct or criminal charges in the past three years.

This week, a Bay of Plenty teacher, now 39, was charged with misconduct after marrying her former student, who is now 23, after they struck up a friendship while the student was in prison.

But a ‘‘romanticised’’ view of sexual contact between teachers and male students could be leading to severe under-reporting of cases, according to Child Matters spokeswoman Jane Searle.

‘‘I think what people have to be clear about is that there is no Romeo and Juliet romance,’’ Searle said.

‘‘This behaviour needs to be recognised for what it is, sexual abuse of a child.

‘‘It should be viewed exactly the same way as if it’s a male offender and a female victim.

‘‘It needs to be acknowledged that there is a certain process of grooming involved before the abuse begins. Part of the problem with that stereotype, that the offending isn’t as serious if it’s a female offender and a male victim, means that there’s probably underreporting of this. Because without that recognition of what that’s doing to the victim and the effects of it, then it’s much less likely that the victims will come forward ... so we don’t really know what the true statistics are.’’

Searle says the vast majority of teacher-student abuse is committed by male offenders, which perpetuates the myth that female teachers are not abusers.

The Education Council are in the process of developing a code of professional responsibility and standards for teachers.

although it’s in draft form, the council’s teacher practice manager Andrew Greig said guidelines for teachers are clear.

‘‘The number of teachers that come before the council is small. Although one is one too many and I want to ensure my kids are safe at school.

‘‘But there’s 100,000 teachers working in New Zealand so the number appearing before the council [for these types of charges] is small in comparison.’’

He doesn’t believe there has been an increase in these types of incidents, rather more principals and teachers are reporting them.

‘‘The draft is out there already and we really encourage teacher feedback on it.’’