MovieChat Forums > A Teacher (2013) Discussion > Teachers as sex predators

Teachers as sex predators

posted 10 years ago by lazarillo
4 replies | jump to latest

There's a media phenomenon I remember from when I studied journalism years ago called "man bites dog", where the media tends to completely ignores common everyday occurrences (like dogs biting people) to focus on what are really statistically very UNCOMMON occurrences, like men biting dogs. And they can create an impression that something that actually rarely happens is an out-of-control "epidemic". Secondary teachers in reality are probably no more likely to commit statutory rape than other adults--lawyers, computer programmers, sanitation engineers, dogcatchers. It's just that when one of these other adults commits statutory rape, it's buried in the back pages of the police blotter, whereas when a teacher does it, it's always headline news. Yeah, people slip through the cracks, but I guarantee there is a far smaller percentage of registered sex offenders working illicitly in schools then there is in the general US population.

And if it's a hot, young FEMALE teacher molesting a male student, it usually makes the NATIONAL news in the US. You'd think from the American media that hot, young female teachers sleeping with their males students was a national epidemic. Teenage males might WISH that it were a epidemic, but I don't think there is even an epidemic of hot, young women working as teachers. Think about it, what percent of your teachers in secondary school do you recall being attractive, young females?

It's like Fox News reporting on "Obamacare". In reality, "Obamacare" could be the greatest thing since slice bread (and I'm not saying it is)and Fox would STILL grant an exclusive interview to every single person who had a bad experience and create the impression that it is a massive failure that will ultimately bring down America. The media is not out "to get" teachers like that, but I think THEY are simply much more titillated by illicit teacher-student relations than any teachers or students are because they greatly overestimate both the physical attractiveness of teachers and the maturity of students (most students do not find their teachers at all attractive, and most teachers are about as likely to develop an attraction to their immature and annoying students as a podiatrist is to develop a foot fetish towards the smelly, corn-infested feet he or she works with everyday). It's the MEDIA, folks.

[–] LovingBooks 9 years ago

Oh, wow. I'm sooo happy to see your post! With the recent spate of movies, media, and seeming public opinion, teachers as a whole are just out on the prowl, getting through college so they can attack the first student they encounter.

Believe me--as a teacher who busted my rear end thru college, grad school, (all while working with a husband and two young children!!) and student teaching, a relationship with a student is so ridiculous. Personally, I haven't ever even met a student who washed their hands well enough or who could even have a conversation for a whole minute. Granted, I was an older student/beginning teacher, but the students in my school were still the same: stinky basketball shoes, dirty hands, and no clue about politics, religion, current events, or Anything-Else-That-Matters-To-Grownups.

Since Mary Kay LeTourneau, I've tried to grasp this concept and understand it, and I'm just so glad that I still don't understand.

[–] maxtshea 8 years ago

Since Mary Kay LeTourneau, I've tried to grasp this concept and understand it, and I'm just so glad that I still don't understand.

If you were sexually attracted to young children and peach-fuzz puberty, you'd understand. I suppose you could try to imagine what it would be like, but that's not so much fun. If it was so much fun, once again, you'd understand.

It makes me mad when Shock Jocks say, "Oh, he got lucky! Where were the hottie teachers when I in school."

Even if a guy seems grown up and knows how the world works, a 17-year-old young man is not ready to sleep with a 27-year-old teacher. A lot brain-maturing goes on in a male aged 15-24. Almost as much maturation occurs between 15-24 as between 7-14. Most of the later adolescence and early adulthood maturation is less primal than 7-14 maturation. However, in its absence, the person whose brain stops developing at 15 might retain the maturity of a 12 year old.

When I was a senior in high school, I dated a senior in college. No. It was not a legal age issue. I was a legal age the whole time I was a senior. This girl from Emerson, she wasn't any more mature than I. However she lived in Back Bay and got to do shows on WERS. No way in hell I was going to to let that go! I was still in high school when I told her I was breaking up with her. She cried and cried. Her girlfriends comforted her and she went on with her life.

I didn't know how it worked. I thought I'd dated K. for a few months, I was gonna be better merchandise in the showroom. Nothing like that. I became lonelier and lonelier, more and more depressed. I wanted to be in the city with K. and her friends. I tried to date other women, but the whole effort was a cursed failure. You never forget your first, don't let your first dangle a power differential in front of you. K. was a young adult living with LaVerne and Shirley and enjoying the privileges of young adulthood. Meanwhile, I was stuck shopping my transcript around trying to find a college that could stomach it.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

Secondary teachers in reality are probably no more likely to commit statutory rape than other adults ...

I think you make a fair point. What I find disappointing about this film, if not disturbing, is that it doesn't seem the least bit interested in coming to grips with offering some sort of explanation for Diana's behaviour, other than allowing her all-too-briefly seen brother to say he is "worried" about her.🐭

[–] Airman87 9 years ago

whereas when a teacher does it, it's always headline news.

Local news generally, like most other rapes, but rarely does it go national.

You're also omitting all the inappropriate teacher-student relationships that go unreported, which I assure you is far, far more than what's actually reported.

but I guarantee there is a far smaller percentage of registered sex offenders working illicitly in schools then there is in the general US population.

Um, common sense? That's because schools are legally required to run background checks!

Think about it, what percent of your teachers in secondary school do you recall being attractive, young females?

First off, http://s8.postimg.org/4zycn9wmt/11895571_615405297501_310448699_o.jpg

Secondly, the average age of teachers dropped just under 10 years from 2003 to 2012 (I can't seem to find age data prior to that year on US teachers, but I'm sure it's older). A generation of old teachers all retire in waves and a fresh wave of young generation college graduates replaces them. The reality is teachers are aging and the demand for new teachers is rapidly growing (thanks to population growth), hence the teacher workforce is always getting younger and younger.

It's like Fox News reporting on "Obamacare". In reality, "Obamacare" could be the greatest thing since slice bread (and I'm not saying it is)and Fox would STILL grant an exclusive interview to every single person who had a bad experience and create the impression that it is a massive failure that will ultimately bring down America.

It's apparently pretty crap that even Bernie Sanders thinks it needs a total revamp.

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When logic and science aren't on your side, you always lose.