Molested?

It's been a lovely day in Streeterville, 7 degrees and sunny at the Mini. The lake is mostly frozen, but there are odd streams of open water where I presume there are currents moving. The light is beautiful at this time of day. The Eastern horizon goes from bluish gray near the waterline, to pale pink just above it, to light blue and fading toward dark above.

I was reading an article in the newspaper the other day with a headline screaming, "Boy Allegedly Molested, Then Forced Out of School." Apparently a victims rights group that represents children who have been molested by priests has jumped into the fray. They are demanding to know why the student, the victim in this case, is being forced to leave the school when the teacher was the perpetrator of the crime.

Let's get the facts here, though. The teacher in question is a 22 year old female. The student is a 17 year old male, who is referred to in the article as a star football player. Apparently the incident took place last year, and after it came to light, the teacher was arrested in October. She is awaiting trial. Considering that it took place last year, the parties were probably 21 and 16 at the time. One of the little ironies of this case is that it took place at a private "Christian School" on the West Side of Chicago.

I have a couple of thoughts on this case. First, who are all these ignoramus 20 something female teachers who insist on having sex with teenage boys? What are they thinking? For that matter, what are male teachers who insist on having sex with teenage girls thinking, or female teachers with female students or male teachers with male students, or any permutation thereof? It's just stupid. In the last few years it just seems that there has been a proliferation of 20 something women in the teaching profession who have been caught, or in some cases pregnant as a result of their behavior. The question is, though, should a 22 year old woman go to prison for having sex with a 17 year old boy (young man)? Well, the law clearly states that it is a crime and should be prosecuted. Any school would have to follow the letter of the law to avoid further scandal. Does that make it right?

Secondly, what was the boy thinking? Can we really believe that this poor innocent child was unwittingly seduced by an unscrupulous, conniving older woman? Having once been a teenage boy, and being a high school teacher myself, I can tell you that in all likelihood, what was going through the young man's head was, "Man! How did I get so lucky?" Young men, pumped full of hormones at the height of their growth, youth, and vitality usually jump at any chance to have sex, no matter with whom. I suggest that the school knows this too. It is because of the culpability of both parties, the teacher and the student, that she lost her job and is being prosecuted, and the student was asked to attend school somewhere else. Hey, it's a Christian school and they most likely encourage total abstinence in all things sexual, at least for students.

I need to press one more issue. There are only 5 years difference in the ages of the student and teacher here. If they had been 32 and 27 instead of 22 and 17 no one would have blinked an eye. In some cultures young men of such an age are considered wholly grown adults. Not too many years ago, right here in the U.S., young men of that age married and started families. Was the young man really molested?

Molested is such an ugly term. It suggests 35 year old men forcing themselves on 10 year old girls. This incident is pretty stupid, but it does not evoke the negative emotion of the term "molested." We have a young woman, barely out of school herself, still in the throes of youth and raging hormones. We have, a young man who has been described as a football star, probably attractive, and with his own set of raging hormones. I honestly cannot believe anyone was molested here. The victims rights group needs to check to see if its collective heads are screwed on correctly. This is honestly not the same thing as sexually repressed priests taking advantage of altar boys.

All things considered, the woman should have lost her job. She is just one example of what gives teachers a bad name. She should find something else to do to pay her bills. Working with kids is not a good profession for her. She shouldn't go to prison, though, unless of course I'm way off base and she held the young man at knife point and forced herself on him. Think that happened? Right. And I have some beach front property in Arizona for you. Furthermore, I do believe the school did the right thing. The young man was culpable as well, and should bear part of the responsibility and thus punishment. OK? So back off already, dogooders who can't see the light of day! This young woman is being raked over the coals in the press and lost her job. The young man is attending another school, so he's not being denied an education. And he is probably bragging to his new friends about how he carried on with that young teacher.