[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Livia

Niamh said she would be worried if it was one of her kids. The trouble is, not all mothers are like Niamh; if they were, I'd have nothing more to say.

What if the texts weren't discussing school nor soaps... what if he was saying, "I want to kill myself"? or "My father is abusing me and I'm afraid to speak to anyone officially". We don't know the context of any of this.

If a teacher has any reason to believe a pupil is in danger or being abused, they are obligated to go straight to the school's safeguarding officer, who is either trained to handle the situation, or knows which member of staff or external agency to refer to.
What a teacher should not do is try to handle the situation themselves, especially over electronic messages outside of the school.

ETA: and no, a pupil saying "my dad touches me, but don't tell anyone" does not mean the teacher can keep it secret. Any kind of abuse or threat to personal safety is to be reported immediately to the safeguarding officer. A teacher trying to sort out the issue themself or even discussing it with the pupil shows they don't know what they are doing, and risks escalating the situation.