Midweek Voting Debate
 

Teachers slammed for taking money from pupils' wallets to fund alcohol 'kitty' on school trip

A group of teachers were slammed by parents today after taking money from pupils on a school trip - to spend on alcohol.

Staff from Bishop Stortford High School in the UK took €5 from each pupil's wallet or purse to put into an alcohol 'kitty' while on a trip to France.

They then bought themselves a selection of alcohol as a 'reward' for looking after the 137 Year Seven pupils. :eek:

The 11-year-old boys only realised what had happened when the 12 teachers passed bottles among themselves on the journey home and thanked them for their 'gifts'. :mad:

After checking their wallets the pupils - who were on a trip to activity camp Club Correze in southern France - discovered they were each €5 short.

Headteacher Andrew Goulding has now vowed to refund all of the pupils and urged parents to 'draw a line' under the episode.

In a letter to parents he said: 'This is clearly a practice I cannot condone and the matter has been dealt with internally within the school.

'I have not taken this matter lightly and the school will of course refund the sum of €5 to each parent who wishes us to do so.'

But angry parents are calling for tougher action against the teachers involved.

One mum, who did not want to be named, said that spending the money amounted to theft.

She said: 'Some families only sent their kids off with €20 to begin with, so €5 is quite a big chunk out of that.

'It's not so much the amount of money as the principle - they took our children's money without their knowledge or consent, and I don't think that's right.'

Mr Goulding had previously tried to argue that his teachers 'deserve some recognition for the fact that taking students on trips is beyond the call of duty'.

But another parent - who also wishes to remain anonymous - said she was not convinced that the school had done enough to remedy the problem.

She said: 'All parents know that the cost of their son's trip does include the cost for the teacher to travel - we weren't born yesterday.

'But with that in mind teachers have a free holiday at parents' expense with the responsibility of looking after the boys.

'I would like to know what exactly dealt with internally means?'

Rodney Stock, the school's chairman of governors, said he thought the behaviour of the staff was unacceptable.

He said: 'The teachers were clearly wrong in appropriating money without the pupils' consent and we must maintain a firm line on that.

'I shall be discussing this further with the headmaster at the start of the new school year.'

Final Thought..........

Were the Teachers right in taking the childrens money, so they could treat themselves, after all its hard work taking kids out on a school outing...

or

were they wrong, The Police should get involved as this is theft, What would of happened had the kids stolen cash from the teachers wallets??

5 Euros is not a lot of money, under $10, But when some kids only had 20 euros to start, its 25% of their spending money.

Don't Forget to vote :D

I am pretty sure this is wrong...but I could be wrong myself.

Maybe I am just mad because I didn't think of it?

Stealing. They should be prosecuted for theft. It's not about the amount or how little it is, it's the principle.

Teachers aren't there to be rewarded. They have a job and get paid by the goverment. No matter how you look at this this is theft.

I agree, plus they generally get their trip paid, adding the cost to the students prices.

Their should never be a reason where adults take money from the wallets and purses of the students that have entrusted them to look after their money.

What sort of example are they setting??

So they get it via theft :mad:, what next the local bank, come on get real, its stealing and the teachers should be prosecuted like all theives. :up:

Where the hell was I? Damn - I could have used a few sips of Royal Crown :)

Jacquii.

I believe each teacher should be dismissed and the case treated as stealing, prosecuted under law

Yeah, Thailand Law. Hands chopped off. 10 years or so in prison.

Can not believe this even needs to be discussed. Looks like a very clear case to me.

Just wanted to see if anyone would agree with the teachers Marco, I mean how low can you go to actually taking childrens money, that trusted you to look after their wallets and purses to buy alcohol?

This made me laugh

They should change that to,:up:

Teachers are showing children how to behave in society. Guess what they just learned, an essential trade for any teener: How to get alcohol when you're broke.

They never teached me that in school.