Posted on 03/25/2007 2:34:37 PM PDT by SandRat
Two intro lines of a 40-year-old song by Buffalo Springfield have been running through my head the past couple of days.
"There's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear," begins the song, "For What It's Worth." It came to represent a generation's opposition to the Vietnam War.
But the opening words may come to reflect the uncertainty of a new generation facing an entirely different problem: female teachers having sex with male students.
A 24-year-old Salpointe Catholic High School teacher resigned March 16 after allegations of a physical relationship with a student.
Fortunately, Salpointe school officials notified police the day the alleged relationship was discovered. The Catholic Church has enough troubles about its failure to disclose allegations of priests and sex.
The Tucson teacher joined a list of female teachers across the country accused of improper relationships with male students.
Earlier this month two New York City female teachers were accused of having sex with male students, and in South Carolina a 23-year-old teacher was charged with having sex with five teenage boys on school property and other places.
These follow high-profile cases from Florida to Washington state. Lafave. Letourneau.. Mention high-profile surnames and discussion of female teacher sex with male students turns to giggles or shrieks of shock. It could be argued these cases have always been present in our schools, but only until recently more boys and their families have come forward with the allegations. Then, of course, there's the willing news media, which loves a sex-filled story.
But with the increasing media attention has come increasing attention on how we differentiate between the sexes.
When a male teacher has sex with an underage female student, it's almost surely considered an assault and rape. He's tagged as a dangerous predator, and we want the maximum punishment to be meted out.
Yet when a female teacher is accused of the same act, the vilification seems less. The female teacher may be seen as psychologically troubled or sexually dysfunctional.
If you believe anonymous male bloggers, they think it's great. They wished they had hooked up with female teachers when they were in high school. And some people don't think it's a problem at all because it was sex between a male and female.
Then there are people like Bret B., who wrote last week on the Tucson Citizen blogsite in response to a Salpointe story, "I am so sick to death of stories like these, and I'm tired of this being portrayed as some sort of crime. This 17-year-old is NOT a 'victim'. I was 17 once, I would have LOVED it if I could have scored on a 24-year-old teacher. It would not have 'harmed' me one bit."
Some people argue female teachers should be punished less harshly because their actions are less egregious than male teachers, who are likely '. to have more victims, goes the argument.
But the students, male or female, are victims of sexually predatory teachers. The adults exploit their positions of trust, power and influence to have improper and illegal sexual relationships with underage students. It doesn't change the fact that teachers should not be having sex with their students.
No exceptions.
Opinion by
Ernesto Portillo Jr.
Ping to you, sir.
The adults exploit their positions of trust, power and influence to have improper and illegal sexual relationships with underage students.
Because parents entrust their kids to teachers, teachers MUST respect the trust they are given. Theys shouldn't be having sex with students. Period. To me it's a no brainer.
susie
I think it definitely causes harm to the kids. I have met only two men in my life who really hated women, and both were molested by adult women in positions of power when they were about 13. It's a violation of trust that has a profound effect upon a child or a teenager, male or female.
And aside from that, of course, it's also just plain wrong.
These "people" who don't think a female teacher seducing a male student is harmful are wrong. Kids/young adults are human beings, not animals. At the very least their innocence is gone and they will have a skewed view of relationships. It has to affect them in the future.
Plus, these "teachers" are absolute demented whores who should be put in stocks or wear a chastity belt. My God, keep your pants on you hedonistic soul-stealers!
No teacher should have sexual relations with his/her student, no matter what the age of the teacher or the student. A teacher who does that should lose his/her teaching license. In some cases, legal actions should be taken against that teacher. And in some cases, no legal actions are really necessary. We are not still living in the 1950's and most 16 and 17 year-old males, while legal minors, are not clones of Wally Cleaver. They know full well more than we want them to know about sex and it's various manifestations. To suggest that such a male is devastatingly harmed by sexual contact with a woman, even a teacher, is preposterous. Those males quoted as saying they wished it happened to them may be guilty of a silly hyperbole, but their comments underscore a continuing male view on the matter, namely, that some prosecutions of female teachers are merely vindictive, and designed to reinforce fanciful dreams of an innocent past.
Treat males and females as if they are the same.... because they sure are.
(Not.)
Too bad we can't make them wear the scarlet letter on their clothes.
Well, there is no harm done if you want your children taught that fornication is a good thing.
Then why not a burkah?
I didn't know those women wearing burkahs were molesting children in their care. Are you sure?
Nor were they likely wearing scarlet letters.
Why would they?
I agree that it's wrong, especially in light of the authority figure issue. I just don't have enough info to know for sure if there is lasting emotional damage all the time. I'm not saying there's not, I just don't have the data to back it up, and I suspect that it's not a blanket thing anyway. Some are probably really messed up by it, and others are not. However, I would be glad to form an opinion based on hard data.
susie
I totally agree!
Fornication is good!
More of it is better!
Lots of it is excellent!
Any is rare ...
Hi Donna ... long time! ................ FRegards
gonzo, you haven't changed a bit, LOL.
Interesting observation. I saw this post yesterday, and couldn't quite remember who it was from, but I was telling Steve about it last night. It was my (mistaken) recollection that you had posted that the men were not gay. I now see that you didn't actually address that at all. Were they or were they not, or did you know?
"... there is no harm done if you want your children taught that fornication is a good thing."
Did I say that? --I don't think so, Donna. :)
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