Teacher Gives Students Inadvertent Sex Ed Lesson

[De Selby]

Balog,

Not sure how you got to child molesting there, as last I checked that was not legal for adults to do, whether in the presence of children or not.   Note that I'm referring to activities that are unquestionably okay for adults to engage in, even if those same activities aren't appropriate for children (like smoking.)

Just because you think sex is a more important issue "no matter how you cut it" doesn't mean everyone else will agree.  The fact that there is disagreement about these things should give you and everyone else pause in this case, as the next case may just have the effect of stigmatizing your chosen hobby (ie, guns).

Labeling something an essential truth has been done for thousands of years in debates about this sort of thing, and it has not once in recorded history definitively ended such a debate.

Getting on the band wagon and demanding dismissal for this teacher feels great when you think most people will agree with your position.  It will not, however, feel so great when in the future a majority of the urban types now being raised in  America view your guns the same way you view this teacher's home-video hobby.

[Balog]

Read a textbook about child psychology, then tell me the statement "Sex is a hugely important part of childhood development" is just me trying to assert an unproven and anprovable claim. Go ahead, I'll wait.


The fact is, your basic position is "We shouldn't deal harshly with one bad act, because some people will use that as justification for dealing harshly with an act that is not bad." We're looking at the appropriate response to this act, not another schools response to a different act.

[MechAg94]

I guess it would depend on what kind of software she was using.

I suppose it's POSSIBLE that the total length of the "porno" was listed as a clip, and somehow happened to be in the buffer of said software from an earlier editing session, then somehow got mixed in with the "memories" compilation...

However, to quote a very wise man: "I'm smelling alot of 'if' coming off this plan"...

The problem I also see here is that she seemingly got video files of her kids and video files of herself having sex mixed up on what I hope was a home computer.  I can understand how a short video clip got lost is a huge set of video clips, but it is still pretty sloppy and doesn't at all excuse what happened. 

There are some things you that you get punished for or you have to take hard consequences for and it doesn't matter if it was intentional or not.  Intentions do affect punishment/consequences, but they don't normally eliminate it.  I tend to agree with the sentiment that she should be moved out of that school, not fired. 

[MicroBalrog]

There are some things you that you get punished for or you have to take hard consequences for and it doesn't matter if it was intentional or not

Of course it does. Or rather, it should.

If she had intentionally exposed a child to a pornographic video, criminal charges would/should be involved. That's horrendously illegal in most jurisdictions.

But this is not the case. A reprimand or a move to a different school will quite suffice.

Read a textbook about child psychology, then tell me the statement "Sex is a hugely important part of childhood development" is just me trying to assert an unproven and unprovable

There's absolutely no textbook about child psychology that will tell you that being exposed to a six-second video of sexual activities at the age of 12 will be in any sort of way harmful to your child. If that were the case, people who grow up in (say) nudist families would be utterly scarred for life.

[Balog]

There's absolutely no textbook about child psychology that will tell you that being exposed to a six-second video of sexual activities at the age of 12 will be in any sort of way harmful to your child. If that were the case, people who grow up in (say) nudist families would be utterly scarred for life.

That's not the argument and you know it.

[MicroBalrog]

Nobody is arguing, I think, that it should be okay to show sex videos to children without the consent of their parents.

The argument is merely on what should the response be to someone unintentionally [this is the key word here] allowing an extremely short strip of sex into a video that gets shown to children. The key word is not the sex bit, it's the unintentional and extremely short.

This is a very minor unintentional error, and it should be dealt with like all other minor unintentional errors.

[LadySmith]

That's not the argument I'm making.  I'm saying that if it's something we all agree is okay for adults to do (ie, it's okay for adults to shoot machine guns and it's also okay for adults to make home movies with sex), it's probably not the end of the world if kids get exposed,  as they likely will anyway.

However, it is the job of the parents to determine when, where and how their children will be exposed to such things to prevent it possibly being "the end of the world" for their child, not anyone else.
Some parents believe in actually having a role in their child's upbringing instead of succumbing to indifference because "kids will be exposed to it anyway".

A parent having the birds and the bees talk with their child at the appropriate age and time they determine is ok.
A teacher carelessly exposing them to her homemade porn is not.

What that teacher did was probably accidental, yes. But it was a violation that affected others and it is having consequences.

If that were the case, people who grow up in (say) nudist families would be utterly scarred for life.

But let them "accidentally" expose their nudist tendencies to their non-nudist neighbors' children and there would probably be some other kind of scarring going on.

[MicroBalrog]

What that teacher did was probably accidental, yes. But it was a violation that affected others and it is having consequences.

And now the question is WHAT consequences are just.

[LadySmith]

And now the question is WHAT consequences are just.

I can't tell you WHAT consequences are just (no need to shout, Micro. I can hear you just fine  ), but I can tell you what they are...

The consequences thus far are the teacher being embarassed, parents being upset, the incident being put into the limelight, new "clean" DVDs being issued and the unlikelyhood that the teacher will lose her job according to the latest news reports. 

[MicroBalrog]

And I don't mind that. It is the peoplpe arguing she should be fired that I have a problem with. :D

[MechAg94]

I could live with her not be fired and just being transferred or moved.  I wouldn't get upset over firing though. 

[LadySmith]

And I don't mind that. It is the peoplpe arguing she should be fired that I have a problem with. :D

I see the call for her firing as not so much saying she's a horrible person in her private life and part of a conspiracy to corrupt kids, but simply the opinion that she may be too stupid/careless/too much of an embarassment and liability to teach the kids in that district properly; that perhaps someone with a bit more decorum could do a better job.

Also, folks do have a right to question and object to her personal sexcapades when she's the one who made it public in the first place, however unintentional it may have been.

[Strings]

I have to agree with LadySmith here: firing IS a potential consequence of her mistake. Going to depend on how vocal the parents are. However, her mistake HAS put her job on the line...

Wow... I agreed with LadySmith. How often does THAT happen?

[MicroBalrog]

Also, folks do have a right to question and object to her personal sexcapades when she's the one who made it public in the first place, however unintentional it may have been.

That cuts both ways, you know.

If the parents express the opinion that she should be fired, then other people have the right to question and object to the opinion of the parents, since they've made that public, too. And while of course technically it doesn't affect me directly as I am not a resident of the school district in question, I am of course entitled to comment on this as a part of what I perceive as growing moral and social decay.

[LadySmith]

Wow... I agreed with LadySmith. How often does THAT happen?

Hey, we get along pretty well when you're not busy making me throw shoes at you. 

[roo_ster]

That cuts both ways, you know.

If the parents express the opinion that she should be fired, then other people have the right to question and object to the opinion of the parents, since they've made that public, too. And while of course technically it doesn't affect me directly as I am not a resident of the school district in question, I am of course entitled to comment on this as a part of what I perceive as growing moral and social decay.

And the opinion of gazers from afar will be accorded the weight it is due.

IOW, what you & I write is of little import relative to the opinions of the parents of the kids at that school.  Since they pay the taxes and it is their kids' teacher, I think that is as it should be.

If they are fine with her teaching there, fine.  If not, that is a consequence of thoughtless behavior. 

She wouldn't be the first person fired for screwing up and making her employer look bad, if she does get the boot.

[Balog]

Dang, LS is both smarter and nicer than the rest of us in this thread. What she said. :)

[Strings]

>Hey, we get along pretty well when you're not busy making me throw shoes at you.<

We'd get along even better if you just make me my darn sammich...

Oh... getting me a beer would be nice, too. And cleaning the windows... laundry needs to be done... there are some dirty dishes in there too... >

[LadySmith]

^^ Y'all see what I mean? 

 

[Strings]

I cuuuuute...

[Perd Hapley]

If that were the case, people who grow up in (say) nudist families would be utterly scarred for life.

Aren't they?   :|  After all, you just listened to some Michael Jackson tapes; and just look what happened to you. 

[seeker_two]

Dang, LS is both smarter and nicer than the rest of us in this thread. What she said. :)

Wait just a minute.....haven't you been reading MY posts?......





 

[Balog]

Wait just a minute.....haven't you been reading MY posts?......





 

Sure I have. Notice the smarter part... 

[Strings]

ZING!

You led with your chin on that one, seeker...

[LadySmith]

Dang, LS is both smarter and nicer than the rest of us in this thread. What she said. :)

Why, thank you Balog. 

Now would you be a dear and hold Strings for me while I find a wooden clog or something?