There was a time in the not too distant past where if you dared to ask a teacher any question about their personal lives it would likely be met with the slightest of scowls and a quick rebuff. Even the most liberal of teachers declined to share their personal lives with the children they taught. Perhaps the reason was two fold: It would definitely blur the line, dare I say a sacred trust, between the teacher and the student they were in charge of by getting too personal. It would also equalize the relationship between the teacher and the student giving the student an elevated status (or the teacher a dumbed-down status) that was certainly not deserved or advantageous for either. Indeed, the educators personal lives were their own and their professional and personal lives never crossed until the day finally came that students were friends instead of children who needed instruction and little more.
Now let’s fast forward to the 2010’s and beyond and we will find a much different landscape at schools. The teacher/pupil relationship is more fraught with hazards than at any other time in history. We exist in a society where children are considered friends and often treated as if they are intellectual and emotional equals across just about every aspect of our culture. At home, moms and dads have decided that parenting is a dirty word unless they are friends with their children. This has spilled out from our collective homes and into society as a whole with horrendous and often long term devastating consequences for the children who have no idea how badly they are mistreated until adulthood which becomes difficult for them to cope with thus the phrase “adulting is hard”. The phrase isn’t necessarily untrue but it is sad that more and more each day those who utter it do so because they were never taught, never disciplined, and never shown the way. We won’t dwell on how we got here in this article because we need to address the ramifications of the breakdown of the relationship barrier between the teacher and the student.
Consider the following and let it sink in: As of October 2022 there have been at least 269 kindergarten to 12th grade educators arrested for sex crimes against children with some 74% directly involving students. All within the first 9 months of the year. Considering that most schools are closed for 2 months during the summer and the news becomes even grimmer. Those arrested crossed ever staff position from principal to teacher’s aide. And these numbers only reflect arrests that were publicized excluding those where the news was suppressed which would surely add to these disturbing numbers. It has been estimated by the Department of Education that 10% of all students encounter some form of abuse from educators within the school system between kindergarten and 12th grade. If this figure holds up the 269 disgusting human beings arrested is only the tip of the iceberg since we have an estimated 3.3 million children attending public schools.
So what are we to do parents and care-givers? First, let’s stop being our child’s friend and start adulting and parenting. These kids need us to pay attention to them that goes beyond being permissive and playful all the time. It means paying careful attention to their moods and whims so you can recognize changes and more readily detect when things aren’t right. Kids often seek the comfort and protection of parents especially during times of great peril putting you in position to intercede when abuse is occurring much more quickly before things have gone really far down the road. We as parents have to keep as our first duty to a child the determination to protect against the evils of this world. Play time is great but kids usually have plenty of friends to play with but too few parents or care-givers that they can count on to have a spirit of discernment and the overwhelming willingness to protect them from the snakes the slither everywhere including schools.
This article should in no way be construed as anti-teacher. I love teachers and have thanked them sincerely and often for what they do and have to put up with. God, our father, knows I do not have the patience to deal with much of the antics they must endure and I will continue to tip my hat to those who do their jobs daily without much fanfare or honorarium. This article only serves to highlight the evil dust swept under the rug so it can be identified and eradicated. I’m sure the good teachers despise the teachers who abuse children much like good cops despise bad ones because they erode public trust and the trust of the innocent. There are those out there who say this isn’t a big problem and that this is much ado about nothing but I disagree greatly. These folks are either naïve or duplicitous. Family…how many more arrest need to be made before we take back are rightful place as the protectors of our children?
