Posted on 02/20/2008 5:57:25 AM PST by day10
I’m going to go with Not Guilty on this one, as well. Not as enthusiastically as the other teacher today. But definitely she falls onto the Not Guilty side.
I'm wondering also. Obviously not a high speed internet connection.
Even though there may be cases where the two are consenting, the point of the law is to protect students who have a significant lack of power in this situation. She has the ability to pass (or fail) him and the fact that her decision may be influenced by his “performance” outside the classroom (between the sheets) places the students in a very vulnerable situation.
I wonder what the reaction would be if she were grossly overweight and in her 60’s... Or maybe if the genders were reversed and the teacher was a 30-something male pressuring an 18 year-old girl/woman...
This is no different from sexual harrassment at work between a boss and his direct report - the power differential is too great to assume “consensual” sex. Note that I’m not talking about a dirty joke here or a calendar hanging on the wall, the law was passed to protect students (most likely female students) from being coerced into sex with teachers who have a significant effect on their future.
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