teaching

i hate when people treat teaching like it's a dating service. i become the most judgemental, unforgiving person when someone in my profession takes advantage of his/her position and makes sexual advances towards a child. after all, like natalie portman's character in Closer said... there's always a moment. and there is. there's always a moment where someone has to decide - is this worth it? what in the world tells them that it is?
it makes us all look bad. i'm the type of teacher who loves her students. i'll sit with them at basketball games. i'm talk to them about their lives. but i never, ever, ever consider crossing the line. and when others do, it shines a spotlight on the rest of us. it gets broadcasted across the globe and the public everywhere nods its head and says, yep, there's another teacher. ya can't trust any these days.

and those of us you can trust have to report every single questionable compliment a student gives us. we have to make sure our doors are always open. we make sure we're never left alone with a student of the opposite sex. we're made to feel like we're always watched, always doubted, always having to prove ourselves.
all because too many people in too many places ignored that moment. they let it slide past them. recognizing it would have caused guilt. blame. so they pass it all on to the rest of us.