An appeal to reason
It is now impossible to ignore the fact, if only because of what the police let slip when talking about prosecution, that Erin Stewart Tanti, a schoolteacher, drove one of his 15-year-old pupils to Dingli Cliffs at some point after school last Tuesday and jumped off with her.
I repeat, lest the enormity of it fails to sink in. A schoolteacher drove a 15-year-old pupil in his car to Dingli Cliffs and jumped off with her.
She died. He survived. They were found only because somebody saw his locked car parked on the cliff edge.
Facebook is now flooded with insane and irresponsible defence of this insanely irresponsible man, by people who cannot face the facts that are staring them in the face. Worse, some of the defence, comments of support and justification come from people who have clearly worked out what happened, but are still seeking to justify it.
It should be abundantly clear that any attempt to defend something like this, or a man who does such a thing, is evidence of something seriously wrong with that person’s moral compass.
I am going to repeat it again, because it has obviously not sunk in. A man drove a schoolgirl to Dingli Cliffs in his car, parked the car, got out, walked to the edge and jumped off with her. This man was her teacher.
I suggest you repeat this to yourself over and over again until it has truly sunk in.
Anybody who tries to defend him or his actions should seek an appointment with a psychiatrist immediately.
The parents of those of his pupils who are leaping to his defence have a crucial duty, immediately, to sit them down and explain to them exactly why what ‘Erin’ did is indicative of a serious mental problem, and that they are not to romanticise it or glorify him and why.
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I think the school should make a statement.
Definitely.
Whereas initially, I was unsure as to the school in question, after reviewing the various comments including those under the older Mark Vella Gera article I have concluded that the school in question is St. Michael’s Foundation (San Gwann).
I find this deeply disturbing as my children will attend that school in a few years’ time and whereas I had concerns (of a totally other nature) about another teacher at that school, these two instances of teachers who are clearly unfit for purpose have me rather concerned.
I need to know that when they are at school, my children are physically safe from harm, and also, safe from moral corruption, if not from their friends, at least from the institution I have chosen to entrust them to.
I do understand that every school will have its rotten apples as did the church school I attended. Yet in this modern day and age, parents expect so much better of all schools, not only in the selection process of their staff, but also in ensuring that teachers adhere to a code of ethics that regulates their behaviour inside and outside school. I come from a family of teachers and each of them has always behaved with a certain decorum inside and outside their respective schools.
To end this comment, I appeal to St. Michael’s Foundation to make a statement and to clean their act up fast. It will be a pity indeed if they fail to deal with this, as parents like myself are surely having second thoughts about whether their choice of school was the right one.
Frankly I think the school’s administration should be investigated. Screening and monitoring teachers’ behaviour is surely a top priority for any school head.
Yes, I agree.
The fact that a teacher drove his pupil well beyond school hours to Dingli cliffs – of all places – should already raise a few eyebrows and call his intentions into question.
Erin’s going to land in some pretty hot water once he’s released from hospital.
Well, if it isn’t the savior of the masses fulfilling her God given duty of not shutting the f*ck up. You are whats wrong with journalism. Stupid bias crap masquerading as news. If you actually take time out of your day to further tarnish the dignity of someone who is going to through something that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy (but for you, I’d make an exception) then you have a lot of soul searching to do.
It’s the Hollwood effect. His actions are clearly untenable, but here rational thinking and traditional values are twisted to fit a parallel earth. One where villains are glorified as heroes, and erratic behaviour idealised as romantic passion.
That’s the trend, anyway, in all aspects of social life: the Hollywood effect.
Yes, I understood immediately what happened after reading that article on timesofmalta.com.
However I still can’t fathom how it led to this. How could someone claim to help another person who is feeling suicidal, by turning suicidal himself?
Instead of turning to professional help, this teacher egged his student on towards suicide and agreed to a suicide pact. The sheer irresponsibility of it all is still baffling to me.
This beside the fact that fifteen year olds think it daunting to talk about such things and seek professional help. But a 23 year old man and teacher should know much better.
[Daphne – That’s because you might not understand the psychology of people like that teacher. I have had the misfortune (ultimately) to know a few. They are not ‘real’ people. They are their own fiction. They write parts for themselves and play them out, and because parts in films and plays have no real consequences – you come out the other end and straight into a completely different performance, intact – they have no understanding of consequences in real life. This man had almost certainly scripted a part for himself in which he is in this great thwarted relationship with his 15-year-old pupil (while feeling no real emotion, because people like that can’t, they act out everything): a big drama in which he and his pupil fling themselves off the cliffs together in the dark, and are found dramatically dead together at the foot of the cliffs by distraught relatives and the rest of Malta, and will then pass into legend as the Romeo and Juliet (a play on which he worked around 15 months ago) of our times. Only for him to resurrect and go on with another play, of course.]
Yesterday I arrived home exhausted after spending a day with pupils at an activity outside school hours.
I sat down to catch up on news, as having been totally absorbed in this activity over the past few days, I was not following what was going on. I was really expecting to be entertained by the usual goings-on of our political scene.
What I actually read was this tragic incident and I was shocked and unbelieving to hear the views written in.
A teacher’s job (like many others) is weighted with responsibility. Correct behaviour protects against abuse and malpractice but mostly also ensures peace of mind and the credibility that comes along with carrying out your job in the proper and correct manner.
To all these ‘pupils’ writing in, this is simply called CODE OF CONDUCT. It is practised in every profession and is the basis for every employer/employee/customer relationship.
If our educational system and social behaviour is not teaching children, pupils in school, this very important basic rule, then how are they going to face the world beyond school and what are the effects that such behaviour will have on society?
I also hope that the parents of these young immature minds are reading this and realizing what their children are being exposed to, what their own children are writing.
I grieve for the Zahra family – they are going through the worst thing possible, and when this happens no one, unless you have experienced such a loss, can understand so through this space I offer my prayers and condolences to them.
However the school must bear its responsibilities following this incident. Counseling the pupils who seemed to have been ‘groomed’ by this teacher should be a priority. This cannot be brushed under the carpet but must be dealt with immediately.
Codes of conduct should be revised to today’s scenario and more importantly these should be enforced.
Also I feel that it is time (unless this is already being done) that parents should be given a profile of the teachers their children come into contact with. They should be given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with these adults to know who their children are spending their time with.
This in turn will serve to act as a restrainer for the teachers themselves.
I sincerely hope that this tragedy will be an eye-opener and serves to change mindsets and attitudes.
But to be on Erin’s defence side, who said that they attempted to commit suicide? Can it be that she wanted to commit suicide and he tried to protect her from jumping and he too fell alongside with her ? I stand to be corrected.
[Daphne – You know, this sort of reason really shocks me. It reminds me why it is impossible to get the electorate to see things clearly if there is an obfuscation of information. The simple truth is always there but amazingly, adults with an education nonetheless require massive assistance to see it, and even then, they resist and keep saying, what if this and what if that, and but this and but that.
You are talking here about a grown man, a teacher, who drove one of his 15-year-old pupils to Dingli Cliffs at 4am when there was a police search on for her and a missing person report out all over the news. You do not need to know any more after that. Even if she had not died, there would be NOTHING you could say in his defence. Nothing.
I really need to repeat this, because your way of thinking is dangerous: a teacher drove one of his charges, aged 15, to Dingli Cliffs at 4am.
But if you must insist on missing that essential point and wondering instead what happened at the cliff edge and whether he was the hero of the piece rather than the villain (how could he be, having driven her there himself in the small hours?), then you should be aware that the police have interviewed him and they have ruled out that he in any way tried to help her.
Use your head, Tracy: a teacher who drives a pupil to Dingli Cliffs at 4am is fully responsible for what happens next, even if it is accidental, which it was not. And he cannot be excused for ‘trying to save her’ when he is the one who took her there in the first place.]
If the girl wanted to commit suicide would a responsible teacher take her to where she could easily do it? If he tried to save her, he is very lucky that he did not meet the same fate as her.
Well said, Osservatore
One wonders why Jonestown has not happened in Malta.
I would also appeal to reason. However my appeal to reason is for prudence and a stop to idle speculation and this also applies to the police and members of the respective families.
A person has died. Another person is in the ITU and what should be said at this stage is to express condolences to the girl’s family and wish the man a speedy recovery.
[Daphne – That’s a contradictory statement, I’m afraid. Anybody who truly meant their condolences would not also mean their wishes for a speedy recovery. We all have a choice about whether to be hypocritical.]
What happened on the fateful night is still not clear and we should await the outcome of the probably difficult investigations by the police and the magistrate. Even if the suicide theory is plausible, there are further questions to be asked. Did both persons want this form of death?
Assertions of insanity should also not be made unless there is clear evidence of this by those who know the person. We already have many insanity allegation as regards the alleged Mosta cat crucifier.
[Daphne – Insanity is not a synonym for mental ill health. There are many forms of mental illness that cannot be described as insanity.]
By extending condolences to the family of the girl, as well as wishing Erin a speedy recovery is a sign of good human nature. We all have our biases and opinion on what happened Ms Daphne but let’s take into account that at the end of the day, we are all human and we are one in the same. No one knows what happened, so as supposed to idle speculation on what happened, I ask that you wait till you get the full story before you keep posting these articles. I have seen most of them and I must say it has become some sort of obsessive mission to bring him down rather than sharing news. Please leave that to the Police as well as the Times to give us the information on what truly happened.
[Daphne – Experience and common sense tell me that when the full facts do emerge, if they do, they will be much worse than what we know so far, and that far from exculpating Stewart Tanti as his supporters hope, they will make it clear that anyone who supports him is most ill[-advised.
Your rational mind should tell you that quite apart from it being a really major transgression for a teacher to keep a pupil out all night while the police were looking for her, and to drive her to a dangerous place at 4am, there can be no possible good motive for doing so. There can only be less bad motives, but all of them, given that this is a 15-year-old we are talking about, are terrible.]
In the good old days where teachers were real men and women they cared for and protected their pupils. When a pupil in my class fainted and needed stitches, our male teacher took her to hospital. He did this after the parents were informed and he took another pupil with him, so as not to be alone with the girl.
This wasn’t in the middle ages but in the mid 90s in a government school. This was a real teacher as are a lot of others. Let’s give praise to those who deserve it but condemn harshly those who are villains.
Has Osservatore brought his/her concerns about the other teacher to the school authorities?
No, John. But you can rest assured that the school authorities were always well aware of this person’s history which is unavoidable.
Rest assured that there is nothing untoward in this particular case and that my concerns were of a totally other kind, perhaps even dating back to the days when I myself was being educated.
Yet now, knowing that this school has employed the like of Messrs. Tanti and Vella Gera, has me grievously concerned as to whether my children will one day face dangers that are inherent in a system that appears not to be sufficiently discriminating when selecting teachers.
Why would anyone wanting to commit suicide bother with locking the car?
Exactly.
Force of habit.
Dear Daphne… and everybody reading this blog.
Like Erin Tanti, I am a teacher. Like him, I have huge responsibilities towards my students.
However, unlike Erin Tanti, I’m currently sane enough to understand my responsibilities and I can control my actions.
I do not believe that you can judge or condemn a person who has attempted suicide. The human mind is great has to have gone to great lengths before it arrived at such a point. But if it does arrive to such a point, what reasoning powers does it have left?
My only wish is, let the police and the judiciary system do the judging. Let them give the sentence. Is he guilty of some immorality? Was he capable of reasoning or controlling himself? Maybe Yes, maybe not.
Till than. .. none of us are in a position to judge his doing over his actions, as wrong as such actions might be.
Avici, his perverted interests were on the Internet for public consumption BEFORE he was employed as a teacher at the independent school. That alone was reason enough for him to NOT have been allowed to work as a teacher with minors.
The public has every DUTY, as opposed to right, to ensure that at least from here onwards, schools vet current and prospective members of staff thoroughly. That cannot happen with sweeping last week’s tragic incident under the carpet simply to protect the adult teacher responsible for it.