Topic : 12/06 Teacher Troubles

i cannot articulate enough my utter disgust for what is going on concerning the situation between this teacher and these students.  it scares me to think that an educator and disciplinarian, who is supposed to care about the youth and teach them the difference between right and wrong, is willing to ruin a childs life over nothing more than a prank gone wrong.  A fake myspage page should not be the deciding factor in this childs life.  she is being overly dramatic and acting like a child herself.  i agree that something should be done, some actions should be taken, but to label these boys for the rest of their lives as felons is rediculous.  I honestly believe that she is asking for money simply for moneys sake, i doubt that anyone is following her or even thinking about her at all.  Would she send her own children to jail for something as trivial as myspace?  i doubt she can answer that question with a "yes" and a straight face.  the punishment does not fit the crime, if you steal a candy bar you should not go to jail for life.  we've all made mistakes, very few of which should follow us for the rest of our lives.  think about your children, think about them not having a future because of a website, remember that you taught them about sticks and stones.

Ok for the Myspace story.

To be honest, I go to the very school of that administrator along with those boys, and have also known them for quite some time.  And wouldn't be surprised if my parents too get sued for "negligence" and "unsupervision" for me being on a Dr.Phil website.  However, I must say that I do not agree with anything Anna says.  In other local news stories, both she and her lawyer claim that many students at our school had seen the webpage.  My friends and I, who also have myspace accounts, had no idea such a page existed until there was a big deal about it in the news.  I also do not recall any type of survey submitted around campus, so their aforementioned statement is most inaccurate.  I also do not like how Anna fails to leave her emotions at the door.  I find it to be very unprofessional and believe her actions create a negative image of our school and district.   I completely disagree with the lawsuit, because I find it hard to believe that we have come to a day and age where we can sue eachother's parents for things that we do not like.  She is clearly in it for income, and her reasoning is not adequate in the least.  If she is not happy with her current income, I suggest she either find another job, or deal with what she has, and leave students' parents alone.

I feel really badly for this lady.  I cant beleive none of the other teachers  have NEVER done anything in their past  that could mak ethen a negative roll model!

I agree that  this woman made mistakes in the past, but she was medically ill! she was a non medicated bi polar and an alcoholic no one could say she was thinking straight, the poor ladies chemicals were so out of balence. 

And the kids, no what the heck were they doign with Porn any ways! If you ask me thats bad parenting allowing your children to have that in their possesion.  and how did they just happen to stumble apon the one that their teacher was in? were they purposely out to destroy her reputation??? just seems liek a bit too much of a coincedence  25 tapes in the course of how many MILLIONS of types of porn videos are there??

 I'm sorry but as a 25 year old woman I have NEVER looked up to the goodie two shoes, know it all teacher.  and even on TV shows the student/patient  whom ever ALWAYS relates and confides in some one who has shared the same experiences. 

Wouldn't this woman do more good as a roll model by sharing her secret?  I'm not sayign advertise her self as a porn star I'm saying sharign her sotry of alcohol abuse and illness and prove to people (students) that it doesnt' matter HOW deep you are in you can go to school become a teacher, turn your life around, and be one of the best teachers out there!  who knows maybe she could save some lives!!!  Maybe there is that teenaged girl out there that  she coud lsave from a life or pornography and a life of alcohol ism.........but if she isn't given the chance we will not know!!!!

If docors and Lawyers are aloud  to still practice after stippign to pay their way through school , trust me any one who has BEEN into a strip club can agree that is not much better!  Should we take children away from mothers who have stripped in highschool or college b/c they were kicked out by their parents, or lost in their own lives?

grow up , we always say leave the past IN the PAST.  People are afraid of the tabboo, and they are afraid of what others may think.  get over it stand up for what is right, and letting this woman tell her story  that is what is right!

First, we ALL have done things in our pasts that were, at the very least, stupid, sometimes illegal (even if we weren't caught), and most of us weren't unmedicated bipolar/alcoholic and desperate.

Second, your thoughts in the third paragraph had occurred to me as well, especially considering that the films in question were over a decade old. Either it's the funniest coincidence, or somebody (perhaps an adult with an ax to grind??) went looking for it.

Third, I fully agree with the majority of posters that the powers that be missed a golden opportunity to present a "teachable moment". Why not, since the story and the evidence are out there, going forward, meet the issue head-on Day One of the school year (yes, I did it, I'm not proud of it, it has cost me in many ways, better to not go there at all, but even if you do, all of that can be overcome if you don't quit on yourself) and make it clear that it WILL NOT be discussed in class again. I could not help thinking that the former male colleague was thinking of himself as much as the "hormonally-driven" students when he made the remark that the porn would be in the forefront of their minds

I have a couple of things to add. First, would their collective panties be in such a wad if the offense in question were not sexual in nature (eg, shoplifting caught on camera, video of drunken revelry during a past Spring Break in Cancun)? If the teacher in question were a MAN who had been a Chippendale dancer and "performed" in the movies, would the trigger have been pulled so summariily? Or, are we so enamored with the idea of "stone the fallen woman" that that's the "family value" we want to transmit to the next generation? 

I'd like to remind the "Christian family values" crowd, that not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES in the Gospel accounts Jesus forgave "fallen women" (the woman/prosttitute who anointed His feet [Matthew 26; Mark 14; Luke 7, the woman caught in adultery [John, I think, and the Samaritan woman at the well who told her community [John 4). "Go, and sin no more." For how long does one have to "sin no more" to be considered a respectable member of society, or do people like Tericka have to wear the scarlet letter for the rest of their lives?

As a footnote, the current issue of Newsweek has a piece on how candid video shot on cell-phone cameras in winding up on the Internet with a lot of unintended consequences. It brings up the chilling aspect that it isn't "Big Brother" that is watching, we need to worry about "little brother." How many of us, regardless of our profession, can really stand up to the possibility of that kind of scrutiny 5, 10, 20 years from now?