Replies to '06/13 Teacher Sex Scandal, Part 2'

My wife and I have great respect for Dr Phil after watching many of his programs. However we were disappointed with two aspects of todays program.

 

The first is the uncharacteristically unsympathetic way Dr Phil treated the very courageous teacher who has been battling and living with the now fairly conclusively proved horrendous misjustice perpetrated here, for some 6 years.  I believe her mostly very controlled responses were due to the protective wall she has built around herself, and that she was presumably under the direction of her attorney, who I suspect, advised her to focus on and disprove details from her accusers testimony to get to the truth.

 

Secondly I was disappointed at Dr Phil's summing up where he appeared to have drawn no conclusion from what I consider was the overwhelming evidence presented.

 

Regrettably this saga will discourage many potentially excellent and much needed teachers from entering the profession. 

I am a preservice teacher, and I believe that this teacher is not guilty. I appreciated the fact that Dr. Phil acknowledged how much is expected of teachers and how this is not reflected in the pay they receive.

This being said, I can understand the horrible emotional turmoil this teacher is going through. I don't quite understand why there were so many notes being passed between the teacher and the student. It would have been enough to point out that while she was in school she also wrote in "code". She could have written a "code" example on the board, and than erased the message and proceeded with the lesson plan of the day. Another thing for all teachers to keep in mind, is that the hormones of students in high school are not balanced, so if anyone is committing themselves to teach in high school there should be no contact outside of school in order to move furniture, or give a ride because of forgotten medicine. We are not there to create friendships with students, but to effectively provide education. I am impressed that this teacher wants her job back. I feel that she will always be ostracized, and I would certainly sue, because ultimately people start to care when there is a price attached when wrong doing happens.

Is it being implied that school systems should only hire older, unattractive people?   Based on the grammar and sentence structrue of the writers of many of these negative blogs, it would appear that someone should have tried attending school and paying attention...did you have "barby dools" (I assume you mean Barbie Doll) teachers, too?

I personally feel this is a case of small town minds and loose tongues.  Here is a woman that ended up marrying someone that was her teacher in highschool. Does that mean there was impropriety in that relationship?  That was never mentioned, but a small town in the bible belt, beleive me, there were alot of folks talking.  now don't you think the children of these parents hear stuff? So this teacher was allready a pariah, because of whom she married.  Yah, her replies were evasive and very "legal" but she is an intelligent woman that has learned, from years of defending herself; and has mimiced her legal team.  The boys, all three.. by admission or lie detector have shown that they were lying.

 

No amount of monetary comensation will ever help this woman or her family overcome the injustice that has been done to them in that "peyton place" town of theirs. 

I taught for 15 yrs.  I was in my early 30's, and single, when a student, who was 18, asked me out.  This young man was polite, sincere, and a nice looking guy.  HOWEVER, the thought NEVER crossed my mind to accept his invitation.  Why?  IT WAS NOT "ETHICAL"!!!  I was his "teacher".  He was my "student" -- there was a DEFINITE line between our "titles" that I would not cross.  I was flattered, told him so, then, politely rejected his invite.   Truly, I don't know what these teachers, who do cross that line, are thinking.  What?  Work your butt off for 4 yrs. to get a license to teach, then, let inappropriate SEX, w/ a student, no less, make you end up losing it?  I don't think so.  To me, this is as CRAZY as "thinking"(?) gets!

Something tells me this she is not guilty.  Something, also, tells me, something isn't quite right. Hm-m-m. . .