SEX, LIES and NEWSPAPERS

Very ugly three-part series from AP this week, re: teachers and sexual misconduct. The articles are well done—a set of believable stories, featuring oily teachers, damaged kids and a host of backpedaling administrators and excuse-making bureaucrats. It’s not hard to understand why a school district would dismiss a teacher with no references, hoping he will quietly go into the insurance business, rather than publicly admit they hired a creep. The worst aspect of the stories was the reluctance of school organizations to out egregious pedophiles.

Discussion on the Teacher Leaders Network was essentially around three points: #1) Yes, inappropriate sexual behavior can be found everywhere (with lots of cringe-worthy examples); #2) these articles aren’t going to keep exemplary teachers from doing everything possible to support students who need it most; and #3) cancel that last statement, if you’re male.

Everyone, it seems, knows about teachers my daughter would call “Chesters” -- men who get sexual gratification from crossing the line into improper behavior with adolescent girls. That wrong behavior can range from risqué remarks to Friday nights in an out-of-town motel. There is reason to understand why schools prefer to not "ruin the lives" of teachers whose behavior straddles moral gray areas—but the missing part of that equation is the confused student on the receiving end of the improper attention. Teaching is—or should be—a kind of sacred trust, bound by a pledge to do no harm. Behavior that could, perhaps, be overlooked in an adult workplace hurts children and teens and can skew their lives in dramatic, difficult-to-diagnose ways.

Many TLN teachers were determined not to let unpleasant publicity keep them from the close relationships with students they saw as necessary to earn trust, break through emotional barriers, and make learning as well as positive futures possible, especially for the kids most likely to be abused. They were indignant that simple gestures of warmth—a hug, a note of praise, a ride home for a kid who’s missed the bus—could be re-interpreted as unseemly interest, grooming that child for future unsavory contact.

All of those determined teachers, however, were—like me—middle-aged women, mom figures. Ninety percent of the teachers convicted of sexual malfeasance in the AP stories were men. Things are different for men, especially men with the courage and commitment to teach young children.

And that’s where the stories (and spinoff blogs) bothered me, a little. I don’t believe there’s an “epidemic” of sexual misconduct fomented by teachers, because that implies that there’s a sudden and growing outbreak of bad teacher behavior.  It’s dangerous to gleefully advance the idea that we need to be suspicious of teachers, especially male teachers. Teachers, like all human beings—including doctors, priests and national policy-makers—are subject to weakness and moral turpitude, to violating the public trust. When we suggest that teachers are more likely to exhibit predatory behavior than other folks, or that this is an emerging, terrifying national problem, we aren’t doing ourselves or our schools any good.

While we may have confirmation that there is a sizable, even surprising, number of teacher convictions for criminal sexual conduct, we don’t know that there is more reprehensible behavior now than there ever was. There is more visibility, a greater willingness to expose and discuss the issues publicly, and—one hopes—a concerted effort to prevent shameful behavior in all public fields by making our children clearly aware of what is and isn’t appropriate. And that’s a good thing.

Comments

[loonyhiker]

I know most teachers are not sexual perverts but unfortunately the media is lumping us all together. No wonder no one wants to go into teaching anymore! I just want to slap the teachers that make us all look bad! (sorry for the violent comment!)

[Nancy Flanagan]

Hey, LH.
Go ahead and be violent. Teachers who break the trust deserve worse than the slap on the wrist and shove out the door they usually get.

The media thing, however? It has become kind of hip and fun to talk about how dumb and dishonest teachers are--there are hundreds of blogs out there around that. Upping the ante by claiming that a large number of teachers are also going into teaching to take advantage of their base sexual urges is crossing yet another line.

And thanks for reading and posting!

[jose]

I was actually going to write about this in light of all the crazy stories I've been hearing. I have a problem with the stories because, as much as it happens, what happens when everything you say and do gets misconstrued as some sort of sexual advance? Unfortunately, as a male teacher, I need to be extra extra careful with just about every and anything I do around both boys and girls in my classroom, because I do like to hug my kids, give them handshakes, and put my hands on their shoulders, but it also entails a lot of care on my end because there's a set of sleazes out there that will do things for sexual gain.

Good post.

[Nancy Flanagan]

There has to be a balance between acknowledging that it happens (and acting swiftly) and heaping blame, once again, on teachers.

There's an ongoing case in Michigan right now that I blogged about in September:
http://tinyurl.com/3bn5jc

A male kindergarten teacher who was, by all accounts, wonderful in the classroom, was accused by a 5-year old student's mother of inappropriate touching. This is not the first time the accusers (the mother & child) have been involved with cases of sexual misconduct. The case was decided, then thrown out, and will be re-tried. And absolutely everyone thinks he *must* be guilty. After all, he's a male teacher.

This says as much about our society as it does our schools. Keep shakin' those hands, Jose.

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