School trips can be dangerous. Last week, some newspapers carried reports of a 15-year-old girl who claimed she was raped while on a half-term skiing trip in Austria. According to reports, the public-school girl was with a group of 77 pupils and nine teachers enjoying the last night of their trip. The allegation of rape has now been dropped but the incident highlights the extra responsibilities and risks teachers face when they take pupils on school trips.
These risks are now perceived to be so great that one teaching union is advising its members to avoid taking school trips altogether. "In an increasingly litigious society, which no longer appears to accept the concept of a genuine accident, our first responsibility must be to protect our members' interests," says Eamonn O'Kane, general secretary of the NASUWT.
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