The Front Page: After another sexual misconduct case, are our schools doing enough to keep students safe?

Disgraced former teacher Taurapa in Cheviot on Friday. Photo / George Heard

The recent story of a teacher engaging in an inappropriate relationship with a student has again sparked concerns for school students around the country.

The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal found a teacher, legally known as Taurapa but previously known as Connor Taurapa Matthews, to have engaged in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student.

NZ Herald senior crime writer Sam Sherwood has reported extensively on this case and tells The Front Page podcast that Taurapa first met the student when she was only 15 years old.

“Taurapa and the student were regularly communicating via social media as part of a te reo study group chat,” says Sherwood.

“He then began to message her directly and the conversation became more personalised and occurred outside of school hours. Then, when she turned 16 in April 2018, Taurapa gifted her a writing journal containing a poem entitled Words of Love. And then around this time, Taurapa began to talk to her about sexualised topics.”

This story eventually made its way to the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal, but Taurapa still taught at two other schools after this event took place.

“We’ve had no allegations come to light about his time at either of those schools at this stage,” says Sherwood.

When stories of this nature do appear in the media, they provoke a deep sense of concern among parents who are left wondering if they can even trust the people teaching their kids. So what systems are in place to protect students? And why does it sometimes take so long to see any form of justice?

Lesley Hoskin, the chief executive of the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, tells The Front Page each of these cases is deeply concerning.

“Every single case worries me,” Hoskin says.

“One case coming to us would worry me because of the detrimental effects on a young person, lifelong. If a student is feeling unsafe or if they just want to talk to somebody, then we should encourage that. And they should talk to their principal or people in their school in the first instance because those are the ones closest to what’s happening.”

Of added concern is that some of the worst offending seems to date back decades and can remain hidden for years before being uncovered, leading to questions about whether the system is working well enough to protect students.

“The system has been strengthened significantly over the years,” says Hoskin.

“There is now mandatory reporting. The principal must send us a report of behaviour that could be serious misconduct, but there’s always more we [can] do and we are always looking at that.”

Hoskin says that the Teaching Council regularly looks at previous cases to determine if the policies and laws in place are strong enough to function in a changing world.

• So how does the system actually work?
• How could it be improved?
• What should concerned parents do?
• How is social media changing in-school dynamics?
• How do you spot inappropriate behaviour?
• And should parents trust schools to keep their kids safe?

Listen to full episode of The Front Page podcast for a complete rundown on all these questions.

The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am. It is presented by Damien Venuto, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in business reporting who joined the Herald in 2017.

You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.