To be annoyed that my friend ( a teacher) may be disciplined for telling parents one of her pupils took a pregnancy test?

[NiceTry]

The girl had confided in her and the test was arranged, via school nurse but my colleague decided that the girl's parents should be informed and may now face disciplinary procedures because the girl had not consented to this (the test was negative by the way). Obviously the girl (and parents) are very upset. But did she do the right thing?

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Thats so sad and it was all negative anyway I cant believe someone would do that sitting with them and encouraging her to tell her parents yes I think that would be right

But telling them surely there would have been better ways to go about it

I think the teacher in question will have ruined a lot of trust relationships no just hers and the girls but other girls who need help in the school will now be to frightened to tell anyone

I think she should lose her job or at least be retrained. She has no idea of proper boundaries.

When I was 19 (19, FFS) I was late when home from university for the holidays and, despite having used contraception, took a (negative) pg test. And stupidly left it at home when I went back. My mother found it, rang me, screamed at me, told me to get tested for STDs and threatened to stop funding my degree. I dread to think what would have happened had I been 14.

Of course a bit of a talk from the school nurse and the teacher herself should have been, and no doubt was, forthcoming. But telling the parents was a dreadful breach of confidence which ould have had all sorts of repercussions the teacher could not have foreseen (nobody would ever have guessed my intact loving MC family was, I suppose, borderline abusive).

just to clarify: a talk to the girl and, if also a pupil, the partner.

YANBU in being annoyed that your friend may be disciplined. However, she should be disciplined for this terrible breach of trust.

So an 11 year old is not entitled to confidentiality but a 14 year old is, they are both children in my book and should be treated the same. I agree that if the girl had been 16 and above the age of consent then she should be afforded the rights to confientiality like any woman - but this was a child (and childlike in her actions) and should be treated as such. On reflection maybe my colleague should have notified social services rather than the parents but this could have made the situation worse for all the family.

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I always thought nicetry was a troll as I don't think I've read a thread yet where she hasn't made inflammatory remarks.

Oh for goodness sake - social services!

She should not have told anybody. She was told something in confidence. She had no right to break that confidence. She could have caused untold harm - she's lucky she's got away with only a reprimand from work, not a homeless 14 year old.

PLEASE don't tell me this is another wind up thread!!!!!!

She should've taken the girl to the school nurse, got the results and talked about the relationship and contraception.
The confidentiality issues are different there I would assume.

I don't think so seeker, I'm assuming nicetry is just a poster who riles people up the wrong way quite often rather than a proper troll iyswim.

This girl trusted your friend and she's let her down badly. Next time she needs to confide in an adult she may not feel able to - with potentially disastrous consequences.

I'm old enough to remember Victoria Gillick - in fact I may have been 14 when the whole thing blew up. I sympathised with her in that she obviously felt deeply sad that any child (I'd agree, a 14-year-old is a child in this culture) would be faced with sexual decisions without the support of his/her parents, and found the sexual pressures on teenagers disturbing. I'd agree with both those views.

But the fact is that in the year after her failed case, AFAIR to make it compulsory for professionals to inform parents before prescribing contracetion, pregnancy and abortion rates soared, and the trust of children in the non-parental adults in their lives was deeply damaged and in my view is STILL damaged. Victoria Gillick had nothing but the best intentions but her own personal views were not appropriate for all children, in the culture we live in.

Therefor Nicetry I really hope that your school takes the chance in their next inset day to have a really honest talk about these issues, separate from any disciplinary action taken against your friend, where they can test the policy against their experience and perhaps your friend can hear about experiences that may make her think again. Because IMO she was wrong.

If she breached the school policy she should face the consequences.

NT, please note: we are all mothers telling you that Whoever This Was did the wrong thing. We have, between us, widely diverging ideas on sexual behaviour, dammit. But we're agreed on this!

NiceTry,....you seem to know an awful lot about this, are you sure you are not the teacher who broke the confidence & is trying hard to justify it to yourself & us?

IIRC, under 12's: social services have to be informed and become involved.
12-14: social services are told there is a child of this age who is active, no names, no involvement, just a sort of stating excercise. UNLESS the partner is 2 (or more) yrs older.
14+ no social services.
There is a safegaurding form which is filled in for every one under 16. The safegaurding form is like the fraser guidelines but more indepth. The fraser guidelines are the fall out of Victoria Gillick. the safegauarding form like I say is for the under 16's and anyone else who are deemed to be vunerable.

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Massive breach of confidence and trust.

NICETRY, if it was an 11yr old, YOU know you do not inform the parents, YOU know that you have to go to, a) your superior, b)social services, and parents would not be told in the first instance as THEY would be part of the investigation.