Couple on torture charges lose bail - National - NZ Herald News

A picture paints a thousand words. Thankfully, reassuringly, this picture claims only a small amount of real villains are out there but moreover, that each and every one of us has a bigger part to play than the equally calved up measure of "heroes" in this world. 

Inside that "everyone else" are people like the Waitakere District teacher who resigned out of disgust and absolute frustration because all her/his attempts to save an abused child fell on deaf ears. 

I'm calling this teacher a hero. A real one. One that obviously went out of their way to take their concerns to those we ourselves would have - Child Youth and Family - and failing that, a complaint letter to the very man at the top - Prime Minister, John Key. The fact that this teacher resigned only 4 days before Christmas when everyone else was frantic about shopping and/or how the hell they're going to pay for Christmas this year just speaks volumes. Self sacrificing. That's a real hero. 

Just how frustrating would it have been to see this young girl constantly bruised and battered in your classroom and you knowing that every night, when you suppose to be marking tests and formulating classwork so that it's fun and enjoyable for young pupils, that the same young girl is probably being beaten within an inch of her life? 

What more could this teacher have done? Kidnapped the poor child and barricaded her inside the classroom? Well at least she would have had a night's grace but reality dictates that the teacher would have been up on probably more serious charges than the parents responsible for the abuse. It does make you wonder, when you read the letter this teacher sent to John Key - what do they expect people to do about child abuse when all genuine efforts are completely ignored?

"Constantly having my concerns about this child dealt with as if they were of no consequence was a deciding factor in my resigning from my permanent teaching position." Couple on torture charges lose bail - National - NZ Herald News: 

I feel for this teacher as much as the child herself - it's torture to be tortured and it's torturous to have to be made to witness it with a gag over your mouth and your hands tied. This teacher's claims should have been fast-tracked to the very services that protect children simply because, she/he IS a teacher - they are there, every day, on the front-line, superb witnesses for those who stagger though the door. 

It's all very well to have National campaigns wagging fingers at those who don't report abuse but how about a little support for those that actually do?