During my senior year of high school my economics teacher would sit back as a student-teacher taught our class. He was extremely good looking and most of the girls in our class secretly tried to flirt with him.
Of course, he never even noticed all the girls that found him attractive. But some teachers do, and some even act on it.
We have seen some messed-up cases of teacher-student relationships. During the ‘90s, Mary Kay Letourneau set new stereotypes when she had sex with her 13-year-old student. After she was released from prison for her illegal actions, she ended up marrying her former student.
According to a KPHO article, in 2009 over 100 Arizona teachers lost their teaching licenses due to sexual abuse of children.
One girl told me her friend has been dating one of her high school teachers for four years now, adding that they started seeing each other the girls’ senior year of high school. Especially for high school teachers, dating a student is never a good idea.
Many high schools will have at least one female teacher who craves attention from the younger men or a male teacher who says inappropriate things to the girl students. It happens, but acting on it should result in being fired.
It is obviously wrong for high school teachers to get sexually involved, but what about college professors? The line becomes very blurred because, technically, the teacher isn’t doing anything legally wrong.
Lucky for me, I haven’t had an attractive college professor. But I know that my friends have found some of their younger professors and teaching assistants attractive.
According to the ACD 402: Sexual Harassment section in the Academic Affairs Manual, ASU does not prohibit consensual relationships. But the individuals involved in the relationship need to be extremely careful.
“If involved in an amorous relationship with someone over whom he or she has supervisory authority, the individual must remove himself or herself from any participation in recommendations or decisions affecting evaluation, employment conditions, instruction or the academic status of the other person in the relationship, and must inform his or her immediate supervisor.”
Since teacher-student affairs technically aren’t banned from campus, why do people still disapprove of them? Ethically, it seems wrong to get involved with a student. I think that it would be less of a big deal if it weren’t your specific professor.
Sociology professor Lisa Whitaker has known a couple teachers throughout their career who have gotten involved with her students, but she says it completely depends on who is involved and the circumstances in each situation.
“A relationship between an 18-year-old male student, fresh out of high school, and a 55-year-old married female professor will be perceived differently than a relationship between a 50-year-old, recently-widowed male professor and a 50-year-old female student, divorced for 10 years, who has already been out in the world, runs her own business and is now returning to school to complete the degree she started years ago,” Whitaker said.
Even though these relationships aren’t banned, it doesn’t seem worth it, as a student or a teacher, to put your credibility on the line. I think if you care for someone then you will wait one semester until they aren’t your teacher and then start a romance.
Tell Lindsey about your attractive teachers at lindsey.kupfer@asu.edu
