Unions claim teachers operate in a climate of fear

Kathleen Marshall said teachers accused of offences such as assault should be given anonymity until after any trial.

Teaching unions claim false accusations put their members under enormous stress, and say it is hard for those cleared to go back to the classroom.

Last week teacher Lorraine Stirling was found not guilty of assaulting seven pupils at a school in Central Scotland.

Calling for a change in the current legislation allowing people to be named in such cases, the commissioner said children have become "too hot to handle" because of a fear of child protection laws.

She said: ''I have been raising this issue about whether we should change the law to make it that people accused are not named until they are convicted.

''At the moment, people are named at the beginning of the process when allegations are made and that is what people fear most.

''There isn't always a great public clearing, as there is with the public making of an allegation."

My concern is that we've made children too hot to handle, even when careful handling and a bit of affection is what they most need Kathleen Marshall Children's Commissioner

She added: ''There is a very broad issue of whether it is actually right to name people before they are convicted.

''That is something the legal system has to address.

''My concern is that we've made children too hot to handle, even when careful handling and a bit of affection is what they most need.''

Her sentiments were echoed by Ronnie Smith, general secretary of teaching union EIS, who said that the pendulum has swung from the days when a teacher was always believed and a pupil was not.

He said: ''It does cause harm, particularly in cases of young children who perhaps fall and scrape a knee and need to be comforted or given a cuddle.

''Teachers now would be reluctant to do that.

''You get a kind of false, kind of sterile relationship between the teacher and the pupil and that takes away from the teaching and learning process."

He added: ''We operate in a climate of fear and a whole machine rolls into operation whenever a complaint is made.

''Police and fiscals are reluctant to put the brakes on and want to take the thing through to court for a final disposal, so they can't be accused of having failed to take matters sufficiently seriously.''

Accused teacher Lorraine Stirling was found not guillty

One teacher who did experience such circumstances is Hugh Reilly, who was accused by a pupil of hitting him.

He said he had to put his life on hold before the charge was dropped.

Mr Reilly said: 'I felt a lot of anger, a lot of hurt and even guilt.

''I felt I had to prove I wasn't guilty, I couldn't sleep and was very anxious over that whole period.''

And he revealed his experience had changed his whole attitude to the way he conducts himself at work.

''I am now very wary, I don't go near pupils and I always keep my hands by my side.''

'Not liars'

However, a leading children's charity stressed that pupils should not be branded liars.

Maggie Mellon, of Children 1st, said: '' What we want to ask is - do the procedures that we have, and the processes that we go into, actually protect children?

''Or are they more about protecting our own backs?

''What we would be concerned about is just turning back the clock to a time when children were not listened to."

She added: ''I don't think it's a case of children's rights - I don't think they are being any more protected by some of what's called children's rights now.

''I think a lot of what we are seeing is agencies protecting themselves and I don't think the pendulum has swung towards listening to children.

''In fact, what we quite often hear from children is that they're not being listened to.

''I think what has happened is agencies have moved to this self-protective stance, to tell staff not to touch them, not to hug them or hold them by the hand.