Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with the thinking ability of people such as the 24-year-old female teacher who was arrested at a West Virginia motel for kidnapping a 15-year-old boy (8th grader) with whom she had been having a relationship. This scenario is becoming common-place and you would think that watching teacher after teacher go to prison for similar relationships would cause any teacher to recognize this is a serious No-No!
I wonder what is wrong with the thinking of a young father whose 4-month-old daughter died of injuries inflicted at his hands. I'm talking broken ribs. Again...there are enough of these cases in the news that one would think people would get the message! You hurt a baby and you go to prison!
It would seem to me that there should be mandatory classes in college for prospective teachers that explicitly lay out the criminality and ramifications of adult teachers having an inappropriate relationship with a teen. Classes that emphasize potential long imprisonment! Case histories, if you please!
And there should be mandatory classes in high school that teach the fragility of infants, the appropriate ways to hold and care for them, and the civil penalties (again....long prison terms) for those who inflict bodily harm to babies and small children.
And while we're at it, how about classes that explicitly lay out the penalty for inappropriate sexual contact with children/underage teens. Classes to include a clear look at LAWS on the books.
I am astounded.
1 comment:
Boy oh boy, I thought for a minute there (from your title) that you were about to sing the praises of legalism! I'm relieved.
But more to the point, it is a sad day when we even have to have the discussion you bring up; but the deeper a society delves into its sin, the more it needs to be regulated. It's really sad, but I agree with you. It's come to that - teaching the penalties in an attempt to scare people into not committing crimes. It blows my mind that folks don't seem to even have the sense to realize they can't get away with it (let alone that it's not right). These women who are doing this don't stop to think of the long term at all. Once they're out of jail they'll have lost their career and have to be registered as sex offenders for the rest of their lives, severely limiting themselves ever further.
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