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[Sotos]

Teacher’s intimate photo circulates around entire school

LIMASSOL lyceum pupils have fallen into the spotlight for the second time this week after a teacher reportedly had her mobile phone stolen and a personal photo sent out to the entire school.

The teacher alleges the students maliciously circulated the photo but in a counter-statement yesterday, the pupils said the woman distributed the photo herself. Other parties have made reference to a possible case of blackmail.

Pupils at the Polemidia Lyceum in Limassol – the name of which was announced so as not to mar all Limassol schools – reportedly took their young teacher’s mobile phone from her desk and accessed an intimate photo of hers, which they then sent to all their classmates.

News travelled fast and within minutes the entire school – including teachers and supervisors – had seen the picture. Shocked teachers said they could only looked on as pupils forwarded the picture to each other.

Pupils say that the teacher sent the picture to several pupils via blue tooth during class. One female pupil said yesterday: “Suddenly the teacher sent the picture to various pupils. We received it on our phones too. Afterwards when we went with other pupils to show her, she went pale.

Shouting for us to leave, she turned yellow and left the classroom. We can’t carry on with such teachers in our school.”

Another male pupil said: “A teacher took nude photographs of herself, gave them to pupils and it spread throughout the school and caused a stir. She admitted to it.”

This is unlikely, says another pupil.

“In my opinion, that is a lie. And so is earlier speculation that the mobile phone was stolen.”
Adding a new twist to the story, the same pupil told Cyprus Mail yesterday of another version of events which is circulating the school.

“It’s been said that a male pupil asked the teacher to send him a ringtone from her phone to his. She then apparently gave the pupil her phone to do it as she didn’t know how. That is how he accessed the photo.

He then allegedly blackmailed the teacher, saying that if she didn’t amend his friend’s poor grade then the photo would be distributed to the entire school and the media would be called in.

“The teacher was worried but didn’t believe that he’d go through with it.”

As word got out about the incident, the president of the school’s Parents’ Union Andreas Satchiaris said that he had spoken to the headmistress of the school and that he had told her to call the police. He also said that tolerance limits had run out and that this was the tip of the iceberg.

“No more tolerance. The police have been summoned, we have a Polemidia police patrol car at the school and the Crime Department are also here with strict orders to take fingerprints off the mobile phone and trace the culprits who will have to pay for their actions.”

The incident comes just days after over a hundred Limassol lyceum pupils clashed with local youths on an unsupervised school trip to Paphos. One pupil from Paphos was injured and a 17-year-old pupil from Limassol was arrested. Public property and shops were damaged.

Saturday night’s incidents were the topic of conversation at yesterday’s Limassol Parents’ Union meeting.

The parents condemned the pupils’ actions and admitted that they were largely to blame for the situation. They stressed, however, that an intervention from the police and Education Ministry was imperative.

Satchiaris said yesterday that a campaign would be launched to inform all Limassol schools and that a suggestion would be made to the Ministry that internal school regulations are reviewed.
Unauthorised school trips organised by pupils, he added, are not a recent phenomenon but something that has preoccupied the parents’ union in the past.

“It is the parents who allow their children to go on these trips. (For pupils) a good pupils’ union president is a one who can organise the best school trip. And this is wrong and I’m really saddened by this fact.”

The possibility of new legislation being passed, rendering parents co-responsible for their child’s antisocial behaviour and actions, finds Satchiaris agreeable.

“They would do well to approve it. I must stress, however, that the Education Ministry needs to re-evaluate schools’ internal regulations as far as penalties are concerned.”

Paphos Parents’ Union president Costas Michael said yesterday that parents were solely to blame. He also urged parents to stop interfering with the teachers’ work.

“We parents are solely responsible. No one else is responsible. When 13 and 15 year-olds leave home for three days and we give them the money, and not in small amounts, for that reason we shouldn’t interfere with the teaches’ work if they hit our children.”

Parents need to collaborate, he added, with both the schools and the police.

“If the police enforce the law, pupils will not be allowed in over 18 clubs and served alcohol. And if the liberties we give our children are within the appropriate limits, then I believe that the problem will be resolved faster.”

[Sotos]

The story from TheRegister:

Cypriot police are probing the case of a female Limassol schoolteacher who rather inadvisedly left her mobile phone - complete with snap of her in a "state of undress" - unattended by her desk.

We all know what comes next: the Charlotte Church effect kicks in and within a few hours every kid at the school is leering over miss's assets on their handsets, much to the chagrin of parents and staff. The cops too, are treating the outrage very seriously indeed. The head of the parents' association declared to Reuters: "The police have been summoned, there is a patrol car at the school and the crime department are here to take fingerprints off the mobile phone."

We do not know the identity of the unfortunate woman in question and no, we certainly do not have a copy of the photo - so no emails please unless they have the offending snap attached. ®