Should teachers that have relationships with pupils be forced to sign the sex offenders' register?
No, says Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers. But do you agree?
Keates has stirred up controversy by arguing that teachers should not face jail for having sex with pupils who are over the age of consent.
She says there are appropriate disciplinary sanctions in place and it's a "step too far" to put a teacher on the sex offenders' register when they could have a perfectly legitimate relationship with an 18-year-old pupil enrolled at another school.
Her comments, from an interview to be broadcast on ITV tonight, have been condemned by child protection experts.
Research by Prof Pat Sikes at Sheffield University published after relationships between staff and students were made criminal, estimated that as many as 1,500 intimate relationships develop each year.
Is it ever okay for teachers to have a relationship with pupils, even if they attend a different school? If the relationship is consensual and the pupil in question is over the age of consent, should they still be put on the sex offenders' register?
