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Teachers Today Must Act Like Adults Again

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By SANDY LANKFORD

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 23, 2008

I read in increasing horror about teachers having sex with their students. It seems that every week now you hear of a teacher who was arrested for such abuse. It has made me think back to my time as a student and also a teacher.

First, when I was a student, there was a small minority of teachers who would openly flirt with students. I had a teacher in high school that encouraged the cute girls to sit on his lap. One of my college professors was found in his office in a very compromising position with a student.

Many teachers are fresh out of college and are in fact only four years older than some of their students. But, there is absolutely no excuse here, and it is up to the professional - the teacher - to keep strict perimeters with their students.

When I was a teacher, I wanted to confirm my students and at the time that I taught elementary school, a pat on the back was OK. But, actions can be so misinterpreted today that teachers must be very cautious. Words of support and rewards can be used to convey encouragement. At the secondary level, there is never an appropriate time to touch a student anymore.

The reasons for the rise in sexual abuse are many. Teachers and students used to adhere to stricter dress codes.

Provocative clothes don't help the matter and the media is constantly promoting the wrong message. Everyone with a computer today can access pornography, and its effects on our society are staggering. Also, all teenagers will push at boundaries to see how far we as adults will let them go.

Why are we so afraid to say where those limits are? Some adults try too hard to be on the same level as their kid's friends and they forget who the adult is. Kids need mentors, people who will show them how to mature. What they don't need or want are adults who act like teenagers.

Parents must be ever vigilant to know who is teaching their children. Let your child's teachers see who you are and show an interest in their schooling. I taught at all grade levels. In elementary school, many parents would show up for conferences or when they had concerns about their kids. At middle school, fewer parents would. At the high school, there would just be a handful. These were usually the parents of the students who caused the least trouble.

A teacher might be less inclined to abuse a student when he or she knew the parents were involved with their child.

Most people go into teaching for the right reasons. We need to weed out those who don't. Children are taught to respond to authority figures and if they feel threatened, where can they go for help and guidance? We, as adults, must make them feel above all else, safe.

Sandy Lankford is a former educator who now lives in Sebring.

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