I realize this is a grossly hyperbolic and provocative title. I meant it to be for a couple reasons. First, it mirrors the kind of sensationalist headlines we see in the news media today. Second, there are increasing numbers of cases where women teachers are caught having sexual relationships with students; there is a real problem.
Obviously, the vast majority of women teachers aren’t predators, just like the vast majority of priests aren’t pedophiles, the vast majority of liberals aren’t fascist communists, and the vast majority of conservatives aren’t Nazis. We all need to chill when it comes to hyperbole and presuming the worst about groups because of the heinous acts of a tiny minority of those groups.
But what of this trend? Why are we reading headlines almost daily of female teachers arrested for inappropriate relationships with teenage boys? It raises some interesting and critical questions:
- Are indeed more women who are mentally and emotionally unstable joining the teaching profession?
- Were these incidents always occurring, but now, simply more of them are being reported (i.e., sensationalism bias)?
- Is there something about today’s teaching profession that encourages or enables this kind of twisted, sick behavior?
- What is leading more young men to engage in inappropriate relationships with the teachers? Are more boys susceptible to this?
- What can parents do to protect their children from this kind of tragic narrative?
- What should schools be doing to prevent their employees from engaging in inappropriate relationships with students?
- Are boys more prone to engage in risky behavior with—and are susceptible to being seduced by—teachers?
- Is this occurring with young girls as well and to what degree?
I’m curious what others think about this. Feel free to respond with your thoughts, hunches, experiences, and opinions.
