Teacher Banned After Accidentally Displaying His YouTube Search History

Unacceptable professional conduct

A teacher has been prohibited from teaching after pupils were exposed to sexually themed YouTube search terms when his search history was inadvertently displayed during a lesson.

We consider what schools and colleges can learn from the outcome of Mr James Hindson's professional conduct panel.  

What happened?

Mr Hindson worked as a geography teacher at Moreton Hall School, an independent girls' boarding school in Shropshire. During a lesson, Mr Hindson clicked on the search bar and his previous search history became visible on the classroom screen. Pupils reported seeing search terms including "teen bikini haul", "teens in thongs" and "girls in thongs".

The school investigated and identified a number of searches on Mr Hindson's Google and YouTube accounts over a two year period including content relating to teenagers in “little clothing, teens engaging in athletic activity, or relating to sexual activity.”