A 37-year-old religion teacher was this week convicted in court of sending SMSs and internet chatroom messages with sexual connotations to his students. The court banned publication of his name, those of the students, and that of the private school concerned.

The name of the students concerned was banned to protect their identity and privacy; the name of the school was banned maybe to protect the students too, but more likely to protect the school, it being a private one, as opposed to a Church school; the name of the perpetrator was banned to protect nobody other than the 37-year-old teacher himself (who was a religion teacher, to make matters worse).

As a parent of two young children, I find it quite worrying that no thought has been given to protect all other children, who may well be future prey of this person.

Parents have a right to know that this man has no connection with their children, be it at school, at drama lessons, at football, at computer lessons or wherever. The fact that he was a religion teacher will make it even more likely for him to find a post at one of the several places where parents send their children so blindly.

Let us hope that this is an eye-opener, and that the ban on the publication of the man’s name will – if possible – be lifted, and that no such ban will be made in the future, unless absolutely necessary to protect the identity of the victims.

Amanda Mallia

Kappara