in the act
maybe Alabamians are just better at getting caught
Alabama tops US teacher-pupil sex league
Alabama sits proudly at the top of the US teacher-pupil sex league, with one school employee per 193,975 residents being "accused or convicted" of engaging in illicit relations with a student during 2014. That's according to a enlightening study by Terry Abbott - "a former chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Education" - …
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Monday 19th January 2015 13:37 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: meh
It's an odd law really, even if they pupil is legally allowed to consent if they aren't yet 18 then it is still considered a sex crime and you're deemed to be a sex offender.
Abuse of trust and/or poor judgement yes, giving in to temptation maybe, but you really think it's all one-way? it's unlikely.
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Thursday 22nd January 2015 15:37 GMT Michael Wojcik
Re: meh
I taught at the same university when my wife returned to do a PhD - does that make me a perv ?
I'm not aware of any state laws regarding faculty-student relationships in higher ed, but at every university I've attended or taught at, there are various regulations regarding the subject. They seem to vary quite a bit from school to school but often come down to something like "if the student isn't supervised or evaluated by the faculty member, then you're not automatically in violation, but depending on level of ick we may take a closer look".
When I received my most recent degree, my wife was the Director of Graduate Studies for the granting department. Of course she recused herself from all decisions regarding my progress. (Not that any of them were ever in doubt anyway, all modesty aside.)
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Tuesday 20th January 2015 10:01 GMT codejunky
Re: meh
I seem to have attracted some downvotes (without explanation shockingly) so I assume they havnt thought it through. At what point is someone old enough to consent? The answer varies depending on the country but here it is even more complex. In some places the profession of teaching changes the acceptable age of consent for the student. And of course when we think about students we think of young teenagers with their raging hormones and humping each other any chance they get.
So we have the subjective idea of an age of consent but in some cases if you are a teacher you are assumed to be more criminal than the rest of the population. If teachers are assumed to be more untrustworthy than everyone else (including criminals I guess) then why do we bother with schools?
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Tuesday 20th January 2015 16:29 GMT Tom 13
Re: I seem to have attracted some downvotes
I haven't voted either way on your original post but it is self-evidently flawed. It's not simply a matter of age of consent although that is part of it. There is also the question of professional relations. We don't expect or generally accept this sort of behavior from doctors/shrinks/counseling clergy either. Hell, most places even office romances are frowned upon. There are good reasons for this as well as bad.
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Tuesday 20th January 2015 17:24 GMT codejunky
Re: I seem to have attracted some downvotes
But the point is some do and some dont. And oddly enough you get more breaking of the law when there is more law to break. What makes it acceptable in one state but not in another. Or another way of looking at it is what makes it unacceptable in one state but not another? Trying to rule out normal and typically acceptable human behaviour never really goes well. The aim is to rule out unacceptable behaviour. However as it is all subjective the intended aim of reducing harm goes out of its way to create victims/criminals in the process.
A complicated subject ruled over by inflexible but simple rules. As I said it does seem to imply criminality to the profession of teaching when that adjusts the rules of consent for the student.
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Thursday 22nd January 2015 15:47 GMT Michael Wojcik
Re: meh
So we have the subjective idea of an age of consent but in some cases if you are a teacher you are assumed to be more criminal than the rest of the population.
Legislatures pass laws for all sorts of reasons, and laws regarding possibly-criminal sexual conduct are particularly dicey, since people are often reluctant to vote against them. Looking for sweet reason in this area of the law is a particularly perverse exercise.
That said, laws and regulations regarding sexual relations between teachers and students should be based on more than simply the presumption of consent, because there are complicating circumstances. Teachers are in a position of authority, so issues of possible compulsion, harassment, and illegal incentives (eg grades as quid pro quo) have to be considered. Many people also feel that teachers can exert undo influence over more-impressionable students and so consent in those circumstances is questionable anyway. That last leads into a morass of questions in psychology, agency, liberty versus protection, etc; but it hasn't stopped some schools from explicitly referring to it in their regulations, at least.
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Sunday 25th January 2015 20:55 GMT wayward4now
Re: meh
"So we have the subjective idea of an age of consent but in some cases if you are a teacher you are assumed to be more criminal than the rest of the population."
In most states sex between "parent, step-parent, or others in a role of "parental authority" get a low grade felony, with a few years or probation. That includes prison guards and teachers. North Carolina's statute 14.27.7 is an example. I don't see how this teacher got 2nd degree though. That would mean she used overwhelming force. But, that is Texas for you.
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Tuesday 20th January 2015 13:05 GMT Colin Miller
How to lie with statistics
I notice the stats are given as school-employee-pervs per general-population, rather than school-employee-pers per school-employee.
If a state has more school-employees per general population (wherever because it has more pupils, or more school-employees-per-pupil), this will bias the stats towards that state.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
