Klarinet Archive - Posting 001017.txt from 1999/10

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] re: playing the Clarinet from behind the student
Date: Sun, 31 Oct 1999 14:20:45 -0500

At 10:43 AM 10/31/1999 -0800, Kevin Fay wrote:
>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.
>
Sorry. No intention to paint all lawyers with the same tarbrush. But
there are more than enough ambulance-chasers and headline-seekers out there
willing to press ridiculous cases full of lies and distortions to make life
difficult for the honest folks.

>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.
>
This is where the problem is. And with those morally bankrupt people who
are willing to make a buck from it. And the well-meaning but misguided
parents, ministers, politicians, etc. who get caught up in the hysteria.

>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.
>
My wife is also an elementary teacher. It is outrageous how their hands
are almost literally tied by the actions of the few sickos who actually DO
molest children and those who selfishly chose to exploit that behavior to
seek advantage by destroying others. A hug can be so valuable to a child
who needs some love and reinforcement that is lacking in the home. It's
too bad you can hardly give one without lining up witnesses and lawyers first!

I short, I guess we had better stick to the turned-around mouthpiece
method. This is also what we do when fitting students for instruments.
And I am also VERY careful when adjusting a sax neckstrap on a kid!

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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