Hot for Teacher Bill.
shadowcat
Atlanta suburb
It will be a felony for adult students to have sex with teachers or any other employee at their school, if the Senate Judiciary Committee gets its way.
Right now, it's illegal for teachers to have sex with kids under the age of majority, which makes perfect sense. But new legislation that passed the Judiciary committee this week would cover students of any age -- which could technically mean a teacher could get 15 years in prison for poking an adult education student of 45.
Talk about the nanny state run amok. It's no wonder many are calling these the "Hot for Teacher" bills.
What the bills are really about is protecting the virtue of 18-year-olds still in high school. (If we're being honest, it's really about the idea of 18-year-old girls getting preyed upon).
When you turn 18, you can ship out for war. You can vote. You can get into a strip club. You are a legal adult. But now under a potential new law in Michigan, you cannot legally consent to have sex with an employee of your school.
And that goes for gray-haired adult education students, as well.
No one likes hearing about teacher-student sex scandals. But as usual, the Legislature's first impulse is to grossly overreach. Don't let any Republican who votes for this feed you the line that they're against big government.
Right now, it's illegal for teachers to have sex with kids under the age of majority, which makes perfect sense. But new legislation that passed the Judiciary committee this week would cover students of any age -- which could technically mean a teacher could get 15 years in prison for poking an adult education student of 45.
Talk about the nanny state run amok. It's no wonder many are calling these the "Hot for Teacher" bills.
What the bills are really about is protecting the virtue of 18-year-olds still in high school. (If we're being honest, it's really about the idea of 18-year-old girls getting preyed upon).
When you turn 18, you can ship out for war. You can vote. You can get into a strip club. You are a legal adult. But now under a potential new law in Michigan, you cannot legally consent to have sex with an employee of your school.
And that goes for gray-haired adult education students, as well.
No one likes hearing about teacher-student sex scandals. But as usual, the Legislature's first impulse is to grossly overreach. Don't let any Republican who votes for this feed you the line that they're against big government.
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19 comments
So, point one: It is not just illegal for teachers to have sex under the age of majority it is really anyone.
Now, of course, we all know that both sexes under 18 DO have sex and not just with each other. We also know that there certainly have been cases of persons having sex with individuals who did not have the mental capacity to understand what was happening. In that case, regardless of chronological age, the person cannot give legal consent because they don't understand the implications. Gray hair does not equal being an adult. Anyone who will tell you it does has simply spent no time with persons who have emotional or mental disabilities. The law defines an adult as someone who has the ability to discern between right and wrong and understand the implications of their actions. I had a studenet in my classroom once with Fragile X syndrome. Every year he got older but regressed in cognitive and emotional abilities. Should the fact that he is now 27 mean someone should have sex with what is essentially now a three year old in an "adult male" body? I don't think anyone here would think that is right.
I agree that big government is not the answer. However, I don't think this law would equal big government if passed. In fact, it would make it easier to prosecute those who break the spirit of the laws already in place thereby providing a better and more timely use of the already allocated resources. Yes, I am a republican. About as conservative as one can get. However, there are far worse things to be spending time railing against than this proposed law. Want to have a bitch session or talk about really eroding rights, then let's discuss mandatory health care, more taxes on small businesses and trying to spend one's way out of debt. What pisses me off is that legislatures across the country are spending time on things like this when there are every day issues that impact a far greater majority of people that could really makea difference and need looked at.
Yeah, it's nanny state, but adults often have to be reminded to be adults.
Alucard,the job DOES matter. I don't think anyone here is going to say they think it is a good idea or right for a HIGH SCHOOL teacher to have sex with a student. And at least most universities here have rules about teachers being involved with their students as it is. My uncle is a linguistics professor at UIC and I know for a fact that there is a condition of employment that says he can't date or engage in relations with any of HIS students. And that is at the college level where one would hope both persons involved would be able to be considered legal adults. Same as police officers, doctors and ministers.
GMD, to my knowledge the majority of policies here in IL have to do with college professors and their students. Most colleges also will not allow a professor to have their child or spouse as a student. So, no, the likelihood of that being an issue is not a reality. Can't speak to other states but even workplaces with a no-dating policy usually allow the parties to go before a board of review and explain their situation for an exception.
The Law of Unintended Consequences will *not* be denied.
For certified teachers, it's a different ballgame. Teachers who have teaching certificates will lose their certificate to teach if they have sex with a student, even if that student is over the age of 18 and the teacher is a first year teacher who is only 22. There is an imbalance of power between any teacher and any student which is why I fully support those laws. It is difficult for a student to say no to a teacher, and that's why these laws are passed, to protect students from unscrupulous teachers who abuse their authority. I think that a teacher who has sex with a student, even one who is old enough that it is legal for me to have sex with her, will also face criminal charges, but I'm not positive about that. I just know that a local teacher lost his teaching certificate about 3 or 4 years ago and he was 23 or 24 and the girls were both 18 and they approached him and drove to his house. He was quoted in the newspaper as saying that he didn't think he was doing anything wrong because they approached him, they were both over 18, and they drove to his house.
College professors are the same as the rest of us though. There isn't anything other than policies at the colleges where they work that prevents them from having sex with students.
The laws are different in every state. I know Pennsylvania's because that's where I live and I've taken a law enforcement class where this was covered.
However, if they do something "young and foolish" the full weight of "being an adult" is laid down on them. Not to mention, if Uncle Sam needs their ass they can be put in front of a line of enemy soldiers to be shot - just to be sure not to take advantage of being an "adult" by that very same state and private companies.
There is a lot of talk these days about "kids not growing up" - well, I say we are not allowing them to be.
The Catholic Church wasn't responsive to similar situations, and now a law that covers the timeliness of reporting suspected abuse has led to the indictment of a bishop.
If a female teacher has sex with a student no harm done. In fact, high fives to the student. You know he's the man.