ThisĀ could beĀ a bizarre turn for the term “new normal.”
The Texas Education Agency reports a 25 percent increase in reports of student-teacher sexual relations. To which I say, “Good grief. Is thisĀ yet another new wave of the future?”
It’s happening all over the state. In Amarillo, we’ve seen teachers accused of cavorting with students at athletic events, sending lewd text messages that result in “inappropriate contact” and assorted allegations of behavior that defies all manner of decency and good sense.
http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/local/article/TEA-Uptick-in-inappropriate-student-teacher-5853916.php
According to the San Antonio Express-News: “Under the Texas Penal Code, a school district employee commits a second-degree felony if they engage in sexual contact with a student who is not their spouse, even if that student is 18 years ofĀ age.”
I must have buried my head in the sand or had it inserted in places where I couldn’t see such thingsĀ when I was a kid in high school. I have no memory at all of anything remotely like this ever happening, although we had an assistant principal in my high school who acted awfully friendly toward the kids, particularly the girls in our school.
Did anyone ever accuse him of crossing The Line? I don’t remember it.
These days, stories such as this — while not exactly commonplace — have become reported more widely.
Media give these stories appropriate prominence on newspaper pages and on air, as they should.
Teachers who do such things violate a serious trust with parents who ask them to take care of children during the day, to educate them and help guide them along correct paths.
No parent ever expects their children’s “education” to include the kind of behavior that’s being alleged with dismaying frequency.