Topic : 10/19 Teacher Caught in the Act

I am glad you stand by yr friend.   I am sure she needs all the friends she can get right now.

But please understand she is a sexual predator and she over stepped her boundaries as a teacher in a position of authority.    The boy was a minor and it is a criminal offense what she did and she did make a mistake and is paying for it now.    Like I said I am glad she has you for a friend and I feel bad for the boy.   He is just a boy and he needs our prayers as well.

I am looking forward to seeing this show and maybe I need the whole story and I hope Janelle gets some good counseling.    I am sure it was not easy to go on the show and expose herself in such a negative way.  

What is wrong with this world? Janelle claims to have been so innocent and sheltered but it sure didn't take much for her to throw her values out the window when opportunity knocked.

 

If she is so sheltered that she can't exercise good judgement then she shouldn't have been teaching kids in the first place. She has no desire to even beging to comprehend what she did and why it is wrong. disgusting.

 

regarding the man whose wife was caught, it is my opinion that someone was looking out for you when you and your ex-wife didn't have children. Move on and have a great life with your new wife and son.

There are certainly many opinions.  I work in the classroom.  I am the parent of a teen and children who will be reaching their teen years.  I also work with the teens of my church.  I would never allow myself to even imagine a romantic relationship with someone I teach, tutor or to whom I stand as a role model.  The fact is that no matter what kind of person the adult is, it IS rape.  I'm sure that many child molesters are great people, nice people until they prove themselves to be child molesters.  You cannot hold a 15 or 16 year old responsible.  They have not reached the level of maturity to know that it isn't flattering to be wanted by someone older  -- it is instead predatory.  Someone who has reached the age of 21 or over is not only of legal age but is light years beyond the teen in maturity.  In the years of a teen, every year involves so much growth. 

Also, these adults were entrusted with the care and safety of the students.  When a person accpets the position of teacher, that person takes on much more accountability.  That person is taking on the responsiblity to teach and guide the minds of others.  That person is in a position of very great power -- especially when dealing with those who are younger. 

I believe that these teachers should be prosecuted to the fullest extent. 

AS for "too pretty".  She wasn't too pretty to use her looks to take advantage of a youth.  These cases make me sick.  I feel so sad for these poor children...and that seems to be the point that people forget...THESE ARE CHILDREN and the CHILDREN are the victims!!!  No matter how mature they may seem, or how big their bodies -- especially when it comes to relationships they are children. And even a kindergarten child will say he is not a little kid.  It's part of being a child -- they protest even louder that they are not children. 

If you have children, you must have had the friend of one of your kids have a little crush on you.  Would you act on it?  Even my teenage son has had teenage friends that have had a crush on me...I could not imagine letting a teenage boy go any further with his feelings.

WE NEED TO PROTECT OUR YOUTH!!!

 

I agree 100 percent with you.

Men or women should all be treated equally in these type of situations.

Our children deserve respect and to feel safe in our schools.

A teacher male or female having ANY sexual contact with a student is

morally wrong and is sexual harassment and is a sexual predator and should be treated as such.

 

If one of my friends did this I would have to seriously consider not being her friend anymore. What she did is wrong - it violates all levels of trust.

 

I also have to respectfully disagree with Janelle's friend that somehow this young man suddenly became responsible on the day he turned 16. It's not like at midnight when he turned 16 some maturity chip was implanted in him. As Dr. Phil stated at 16 his brain hasn't even finished developing and his ability to apply reason is sketchy at best. To suggest that this young man was anything but manipulated by someone he trusted is disgusting. HOWEVER, if you follow this logic that at 16 one is suddenly mature and able to reason then surely at 24 Janel should have known better.

 

I think all Janelle learned from this was to not get caught next time.

 

After watching the show today I had to say my piece. I am currently 25 years old, the same age as Janelle. My boyfriend and father of my child is currently 33, count that, it's 8 years. We have a beautiful daughter and love eachother very much. Now heres the kicker, I was 16 when I met him, about 2 weeks shy of my 17th birthday and he was 25, basically the same age difference as Janelle and the 15 year old student, our daughter is now 6.

 

Now don't get me wrong, I do understand that she was in a position of authority as the boys teacher, I don't argue that. But what I do argue is that this young woman was charged for the sex, not the proffession. If she had not been a teacher she would not have been charged.  If she lived in Canada, the country I call home, she would not have been charged. Lost her job yes, I agree with that, she should have lost her job b/c of the position she held. Charged, no. The legal age to consent to sex in canada is 14. So on one side of the border this woman is a sex offender and on the other she would be an unemployeed teacher free to pursue this realationship.

 

The law, in my opinion, is wrong in this case. What it tells us is that it is wrong for a 24 year old to engage in sex with a 15 year old boy, even if he consents b/c he is a child. However, this same 15 year old boy is free to consent to sex with another 15 year old??? I'm confused, is he old enought to consent or not? If 2 weeks later he had engaged in sex with a 12 or 13 year old girl, would this same 15 year old then become the predator? If the 2 were the same age who is the innocent child then?

 

I, like I stated earlier, am from canada, our laws are different. I admit I am ignorant to the laws on the other side, but I would appreciate some feedback or explination in response to this comment from someone more familiar with the laws. If I were to have grown up American would my daughters family be at risk now b/c of the age difference  between her father and I? We have now been together almost 10 years, US laws may have considered me a child at 16 when we met, but I am certainly an adult now, and still make the same choice in concern to my partner. Where is the boys maturity and opinion factored into this, or is he not given a voice as he is just a "child".

Biblically, marriages took place in the early teens.  Hormones are raging at that time in both males and females.  I was Homecoming queen and he was my chemistry teacher.  He was 26, I was 18.  My mom thought we were having an affair.  We were never sexual, just thought the world of each other.  He kissed me on the way home from our senior class trip - on the bus back from the Outer Banks.  We dated that summer until I went to college.  He respected my virginity. 

My point - there are teachers who become involved with students that can maintain control.  We became reacquainted 25 years later after he had gone through a radical prostatectomy.  There would never be intercourse for us without some sort of artificial help.  He asked me to marry him.  It didn't happen.  A moment lost?  Maybe.  I think we're asking a lot of this young virgin who lost her virginity with a young guy she fell in love with.  It's not a situation that was beyond innocence.  A lot of women are marrying younger men.  With Demi, we think it's great.  Move it back and it's a crime.  Three years later it would have been consentual.  And the hormones rage.  Martha 

I also am glad you stand by your friend but do not agree that she is a predator.  From what I gather she unfortunatly let herself be put in a position to get to know this boy on a personal level off school grounds. She got to know him and I am sure her judgment of the situation was jaded by her feeling for him as a person, not a student, or a child. My Prayers go to her in all of this, a mistake as a teacher, yes. Rapist and sexual offender for LIFE????? I think absolutly NOT. And I will state again, if  this was in Canada she would be jobless, and embarrassed by publicity, but not charged and thrown in jail. 14 is the age here, so explain to me how she is a visious offender there and not here?

 

Hi all

First I'd like to say that I have not read any of the other posts here and am just posting my opinion and 2nd I do believe that sexual predators need to be punished. 

But here's my thought....

I am a 31 year old woman, and I remember back in grade 9 there was a female gym teacher who was attractive & fit.  Let me tell you that all the boys from grade 9 thru to grade 12 were like sappy puppy dogs around her.  They would joke in the cafeteria how they would like to "do her".  These "young & innocent" boys were thinking 100% clearly and knew EXACTLY what they were thinking and/or doing.  IF one of them ended up in bed with her, I know for 100% certain it was NOT because she molested them.  These guys would've done her in a heartbeat and would've worn it as a badge of honor.  I highly doubt they would be psychologically effected in their adult years. 

These guys were 100% capable of making a choice and I find it hard to believe that if this gym teacher came on to one of them that anyone of them would say "Oh no please get off me, you're hurting me, I don't want this, I said no".  Gimmie a break, seriously!!!

When you hear of the classic case of a sexual predator, its almost ALWAYS a man behind it.  There is a double standard because it is a REAL double standard. 

I'm sure most of the young men who slept with these older women were no more manipulated than an woman who believes a wonderful man who tells her how special she is and how he wants to be with her only to leave her after he gets sex.

You know who I think are also sexual predators, one man that I was so in love with (when I was 29) and who I dated who claimed to love me & want to me with me and playing the game to get sex, he was also sexual predator.  I, along with many other adult women, are lied to every day by men who play the part only to get what they want & when they do, they are out the door.  I would definitely say that this is also a form of manipulation & we women are also being hunted by a sexual predator.  So don't give me this crap about these boys being sexually molested by these older women. 

You can't "rape' a man (note, I'm NOT talking about small children).  Men are so driven by sex and we all know that when they get it, they feel like the king stud of the world, especially teen boys.

Please note, I am not refering to the sick men who prey on young boys and girls.

My best friend and I just both finished watching this show...its unbelievable...I am a young professional in the child and youth care field and work with both males and femals between the ages 12-18 on a daily basis...It is completely unprofessional and there is no excuse to being a preditor towards these young and innocent kids...These kids are at a young an tender age and most would probably give anything for someones attention however takeing advantage of them is just inexcuasable... It just makes me sick that someone could risk their professions for the simple act of sex...As an example this follows through with these kids lives as they grow older... The young man who spoke on the show today is still living and dealing with what happened to him on a daily basis and he should never have to...We also agree that if it were a male the sentencing and charges would be much more sevier then what femals would recieve... Females are just as guilty in the exact same act as males are...

 

Heidi and Amanda

Nova Scotia, Canada