Sexual innuendo and befriending student gets BC teacher suspended

A BC teacher who befriended a student, and made a sexual comment in class, has been suspended for three weeks.

According to an Aug. 5 BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation decision, Eric Joseph Bernard Enreight Blouin taught at an unnamed secondary school when he began texting a graduating student at the end of the 2022 school year.

The pair exchanged several texts and communicated over the summer.

“On two occasions in the summer, Blouin invited the student into his home. He served the student food and hugged the student at the end of each visit. On one of these visits, Blouin sat very close to the student,” the decision read.

At the end of August, the student asked Blouin to stop texting them, but weeks later, he sent them a few more messages.

The school district suspended him for seven days without pay and ordered him to take a Maintaining Respectful Professional Boundaries course.

Separately, Blouin also made a sexual comment when teaching a French class to Grade 8 students.

“He had the students practice counting aloud in French to 100. As students reached the end of each set of 10 numbers, Blouin said to the students ‘What’s next?’ After counting to 69, Blouin asked ‘What’s next’ and then said ‘mouthwash,'” the decision read.

Blouin said the comment was directed at an education assistant, but it was heard by students in the classroom.

The sexual comment earned him a written warning from the school district, which reported both incidents to the BC Commissioner for Teacher Regulation.

“Blouin failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries with the student by entering into a personal relationship around the time of graduation when he was still in a position of trust and authority towards the student,” the Commissioner said in the decision. “Blouin failed to role model appropriate behaviour for students when he made the comment with a sexual innuendo during class.”

Blouin signed a consent agreement admitting to his behaviour and was suspended for a further three weeks.