QLast summer I reconnected with a high school teacher I hadn’t seen for a year. We first met when I was 15, and I had nothing but respect for him and his intelligence. I also had a crush on him for the next four years. Fast-forward a year. He is sexting me and sending dick pics and wants to hook up. He has told me he loves me. I feel violated and tricked, like he was supposed to be someone I could trust and he didn’t respect that. Now I wonder how teachers really see underage high school girls. This whole experience has made me feel dirty. Moreover, he has never respected that I have a boyfriend and that I want nothing to do with his advances. I met up with a former classmate, and she told me that this teacher and another teacher said similar things to her. Ew! Most former classmates of mine still believe him to be a respectable man and a great teacher. But I know him for what he really is, and when I think of it, I get so angry. How do I move on from this? —Schooling Thankfully Over Permanently
Your former classmate’s story complicates the picture—and yucks the picture—but she was a former student and an adult when these teachers said “similar things” to her, right? That’s still creepy, of course, it’s still not OK, and it’s still potential career suicide for both these idiots. But it’s not technically illegal. If you honestly believe that either or both of these idiots are behaving inappropriately toward their current students, STOP, you should approach the administration at your old high school with your concerns. Doing so will result in the end of their careers as educators—but if these guys are trying to fuck their current students and/or grooming their current students for fucking a year or two after they graduate, then both should get the fuck out of teaching.
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