I have recently been listening to a new podcast series; The Teacher’s Pet. For some of my readers, they’ll realise I am a little late to the party, but some stories are timeless.
The podcast is a multi-part investigation into Chris Dawson, who may (or may not) have murdered his wife back in the 80’s in Australia. I’m halfway through episode 3, and here are the facts I have so far.
Chris Dawson was a PE Teacher in the Northern Beaches of Sydney in the 80’s, and had a wife Lynn and two young children. In the 1980s on, things start to unravel. Chris begins to have a relationship with Joanne Curtis, a Year 11 student at his school, who is 16 at the time. He is 32. The year is 1982, and Joanne has gone from student, to baby sitter, and is regularly seen at the Dawson household. Lynn isn’t thrilled by this, but, whether due to denial or otherwise, she accepts this situation. A few months later she disappears, never to be seen again, and the baby sitter, Joanne, moves into the home.
It’s pretty clear to me that Lynn met some foul play at the hands of her husband Chris. But that isn’t what has grabbed my attention; rather, how different going to school in Australia was back then.
For example, everyone at the school was aware that many of the teachers were getting it on with the students, and treated it as somewhat normal. At one point in the series, they interview the old headmaster, who considered the whole affair “unfortunate”. Furthermore he said that running a school was such a busy job that he just didn’t have the time to check on these things. Finally it was common for teachers and students to go to the same pub together, where the teachers would buy drinks for the kids.
It’s so different to today, and I’m glad it is. Anyway, the podcast is quite enjoyable, I recommend it!
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