Bad Teacher is an unvarnished and often shocking look into the dark side of the New Zealand classroom. From the teacher who accessed pornography in class to the assistant principal who filmed up the skirts of unsuspecting girls with a pen camera, this book pulls back the curtain on some of the most egregious cases from the files of the New Zealand Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal. It is essential reading for every educator and parent, and explores the spectrum of misconduct:
- The Digital Frontier: Why social media has become the single greatest risk for Kiwi teachers today.
- Stories of Sex & Desire: Over a recent six-year period there were 148 cases of teacherstudent romances – and why the number is likely much higher. Accounts of bizarre fetishes like the teacher who paid students to have sex in his bedroom while he filmed them, to the assistant principal who gifted students sex toys at school.
- The Bullies: Cases of psychological torment where teachers used humiliation against children as young as seven – calling them ‘losers,’ ripping up their work, and telling foreign students to stop ‘pretending’ they can’t speak English.
- The Predators: Chilling accounts of ‘manipulating mentors’ using encrypted apps, Instagram, and Facebook to groom vulnerable students.
- The Strange & Bizarre: From the man who let students tug on his neck hair in class to the reliever who liked to tickle girls, and the teacher who claimed he sneezed so hard he ‘accidentally’ pushed a student into a wall.
- Practical Advice: Informs teachers and parents on how to spot red flags and ‘boundary drift.’
Robert Bartholomew has taught English at Tuakau College, History at Botany College, and Global Studies at Mission Heights Junior College. He holds a PhD in medical sociology and is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland. He is the author of 21 books including No Maori Allowed, now in its seventeenth printing
