Klarinet Archive - Posting 001015.txt from 1999/10

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] re: playing the Clarinet from behind the student
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 14:20:43 -0500

Bill Hausmann opined re sexual harassment in schools:

<<<The problem is not the law, it's the LAWYERS!>>>

Golly, this is a bit wrongheaded. (Not just because I'm a lawyer--I'm not
THAT kind of lawyer.) We lawyers are quite used to getting bashed; the
primary reason, as it turns out, is that if you have a social problem,
people end up calling us. In droves.

No, I'm afraid that the problem in the psycho-sexual area is a bunch of
teachers that can't seem to keep their clothes on. I live up here near
Seattle, home of Mary Kay LeTourneau. (In case you've been living in a
cave, she's the elementary school teacher who had not one, but two "love
children" with a 13-year old.) That case made national news because of the
interesting gender twist; more usual is the case, just months later, where a
male soccer coach *in the same district* was caught sitting in the back of a
van with one of his female charges--in an elementary school parking lot at
two in the morning. Heck, just this week the 51 year old principal of
Garfield High School ( one of the largest in the state) has been
suspended--and soon to be fired--for having an "inappropriate relationship"
with an 18 year old student. Three cases in two years is a bit much for one
metro area--but there have been many, many more. I'm certain that Seattle
is not unique in this activity.

Now of course, the VAST majority of teachers do not behave this way. But
enough do so that any allegation of such impropriety needs to be taken very,
very seriously.

Kids are not stupid. They're just like us, except that they have not killed
as many brain cells yet. Some of them can read the newspaper, and figure
out that bringing such an allegation--whether true or not--brings them both
notoriety and power. Consequently, touching students at all is done at your
peril.

IMHO, this is unbelievably sad. My wife is a music educator. When we first
met, she taught elementary general music. The rule of not touching kids is
well nigh impossible for a first-grade music teacher--the kids would gang up
to deliver a big group hug at the end of her class. Other than sprint down
the hall, there's not much a music teacher can do, other than hope that (a)
the classroom teacher is watching to back up her story and (b) s/he has a
sterling enough reputation so that the one disgruntled student's
make-believe doesn't get your career ruined.

Teaching privately is even more of a crap shoot. Face it--you're alone with
the kid in a little room where no one will bother you for an hour. This
freaked me out when I taught private lessons; consequently, I made it a
point always to do it in a music store or other area where others can
overhear--esp. the parents.

kjf

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe from Klarinet, e-mail: klarinet-unsubscribe@-----.org
Subscribe to the Digest: klarinet-digest-subscribe@-----.org
Additional commands: klarinet-help@-----.org
Other problems: klarinet-owner@-----.org