Page last updated at 14:26 GMT, Monday, 26 October 2009
Man with his head in his hands
One in four teachers has been falsely accused of mistreating a pupil. Made up claims include students saying they've been punched, slapped or even sexually assaulted. Unions say teachers' lives are being ruined, with many ending up quitting their jobs. They want staff to have the right to anonymity until cases have been cleared up. Former history teacher Matthew Wren, who was wrongly accused, told 1Xtra News his story.
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What happened in your case? Why did you leave the teaching profession?
I'm no longer a teacher. Basically, to cut a long story short, it wasn't even my lesson.
I was covering for the deputy head who hadn't turned up to his lesson and there was a riot situation outside the classroom.
A child came at me, punched me in the stomach area, I pushed him away. It was self-defence.
I knew he'd gone too far so I went to the police. The police didn't investigate my side, but as soon as he got wind of what was going on he made the accusation and the machinery rolled into action.
Then I was suspended, I quit the job and thank God I'm out now.
You were later cleared of any wrongdoing. How did it affect your life?
Continue reading the main storyFormer history teacher Matthew Wren thinks children have too much powerUntil the teacher's proven innocent he or she is on tenterhooks. The whole thing is just skewed completely wrong
Well, it almost ended my marriage.
Most of the children, most of the time, are very pleasant but unfortunately - it seems to be increasingly - there's a lot who seem to be able to get away with this sort of atrocious behaviour.
Schools, because of the pressure they're under, tend to just sweep it under the carpet.
Why do you think this is becoming a big problem?
A lot of it is to do with the litigious world we live in, that any sort of accusation, even though it doesn't have any grounds, maybe there's some compensation in there.
What do you think needs to be done?
Children have to come first but the trouble is, when there's the most ridiculous allegation made against the teacher he or she is then suspended straight away.
Until the teacher's proven innocent he or she is on tenterhooks. The whole thing is just skewed completely wrong.
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