Do teachers ever feel attraction for/flirt with their students? (universities, middle school)
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You hear about teacher-student relationships all the time in the media, though I have heard in reality they are an extreme minority and most of the time, it amounts to nothing more than a male/female student flirting with a teacher and getting suspended/expelled.
In those unusual cases however where a teacher reciprocates the attraction/flirtation or actually initiates it, how common is this? Do you know of any examples?
What's the difference between flirtation in high school vs college?
When I was in high school the football coach was dating one of the cheerleaders. There was only 4-5 years difference in ages, so if she were out of school, then it probably would have been different, but there was a huge "ick" factor because of the student/teacher. Interestingly the school and community didn't think much of it, but he was fired, not for dating a student, but for cutting a couple of star athletes from the team.
The difference between high school and college is age -- they are legal adults. However it would still be unethical, because of the power relationship between professor and student just as it would be for a supervisor/subordinate relationship.
You hear about teacher-student relationships all the time in the media, though I have heard in reality they are an extreme minority and most of the time, it amounts to nothing more than a male/female student flirting with a teacher and getting suspended/expelled.
In those unusual cases however where a teacher reciprocates the attraction/flirtation or actually initiates it, how common is this? Do you know of any examples?
What's the difference between flirtation in high school vs college?
In 33 years in middle and high school education, there was one case (female teacher, 8th grade male student) where we suspected it, although there was no evidence. There was another case where I suspected it after-the-fact (male 8th grade student, male teacher), but again, no evidence. Just a hunch.
You hear about teacher-student relationships all the time in the media, though I have heard in reality they are an extreme minority and most of the time, it amounts to nothing more than a male/female student flirting with a teacher and getting suspended/expelled.
In those unusual cases however where a teacher reciprocates the attraction/flirtation or actually initiates it, how common is this? Do you know of any examples?
What's the difference between flirtation in high school vs college?
College faculty are not supposed to get personally involved with students. If a legit mutual interest should arise between a student and his/her professor, the prof has to wait until the student completes the course and is no longer subject to the prof's authority and grading.
In 33 years in middle and high school education, there was one case (female teacher, 8th grade male student) where we suspected it, although there was no evidence. There was another case where I suspected it after-the-fact (male 8th grade student, male teacher), but again, no evidence. Just a hunch.
Gawd, what is it, with 8th grade?! Vili Fualau was in middle school, when Mary Kay Letourneau put the moves on him, too. I guess that's the age when those hormones start stirring. Still--an adult going for an 8th grader?! Weird. Fualau was a pre-teen, when that started.
College faculty are not supposed to get personally involved with students. If a legit mutual interest should arise between a student and his/her professor, the prof has to wait until the student completes the course and is no longer subject to the prof's authority and grading.
Well, that's what's supposed to happen.
In truth, that's changed over the years. Colleges have started to tighten up on staff/student personal interactions.
I've been out of college 40 years and back then we had profs who had new toys, both male and female, every semester.
In truth, that's changed over the years. Colleges have started to tighten up on staff/student personal interactions.
I've been out of college 40 years and back then we had profs who had new toys, both male and female, every semester.
The 80's were when universities started creating the position of Ombudsman/woman for sexual harassment, and started developing guidelines relevant to that. At the uni I attended and later worked for, the really hard-core profs, the ones who had a widespread reputation (and not a good one) for pressuring their students, either moved up to admin positions, or got canned, or moved on to another school or a different career track. The worst offenders disappeared or moved on, when that new trend toward enforcing ethics guidelines came along. The not-so-chronic offenders figured out how to push the envelope in a very subtle manner. They weren't as overt with it. That made it difficult for students to lodge a complaint.
I remember the days when a single young male professor would "hold court" while young coeds would sign up for his classes, find excuses to go to office hours, they would linger after class. I had a couple of young attractive professors like this. I don't know of any instances where anyone crossed the line for sure, but I remember when this sort of thing went on publicly and no one really tried to stop this type of atmosphere. Too much liability today for anything like this to happen openly.
I remember the days when a single young male professor would "hold court" while young coeds would sign up for his classes, find excuses to go to office hours, they would linger after class. I had a couple of young attractive professors like this. I don't know of any instances where anyone crossed the line for sure, but I remember when this sort of thing went on publicly and no one really tried to stop this type of atmosphere. Too much liability today for anything like this to happen openly.
I met a woman, who had married her professor, not long before that sort of thing became an issue. She said the marriage hadn't worked out as she'd expected. She had to play a role, because he always held it over her, that he was the big, prestigious professor, and she didn't have any academic standing at all, after she married him. This was a guy at UC Berkeley, which is highly competitive to the point of being cutthroat, in how the faculty members relate to each other, within each department. A lot of the profs get huge egos.
I worked in a Japanese high school in the mid ‘00s. There you can teach as a temp (uncertified/hourly) teacher until you get certified. Usually once you get a job, they keep you on until you are certified. My school had people who were working as temps for more than 10 years. The guy at the adjacent desk was a young guy who was just there one year and was regularly chatting with one of the students. It always seemed a bit excessive/inappropriate to me.
I heard after one year, he was told he should not teach so he could “focus his time on his studies”. Keep in mind, this guy was in the same subject area as another guy who had been trying to get certified and had almost reached the maximum age (40) before he was disqualified. No one told him that he needed to hunker down and study. The only reason I could surmise was that he was having a somewhat inappropriate relationship with this student and was asked to leave.
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