A college professor may not be fired for failing to meet academic standards. A plagiarist and known to fabricate material, this professor recently entered the national limelight for his 15 minutes of shame due to a 'controversial' essay making some highly questionable comparisons regarding the victims of 9/11* and Adolf Eichmann.
A first grade substitute teacher drags a student down the hallway by their shirt collar after a minor behavior incident. The school attempts to talk the parent out of going to the authorities and pressing charges of assault.
A teacher repeatedly sexually assaults students. They use their power as a teacher to not only intimidate students into silence but also to cover up their damaging actions. The school attempts to tell the community that the first reported incident is the only blight upon the teacher's career, essentially an attempt cover up the teacher's impropriety for the sake of saving face.
I can continue to list more issues, some recent and some going farther back into history. It's not simply stunning. It's not merely disgusting that I can do a quick and simple search to find it reported in the news of teachers and administrators abusing students, reports that result in firings and convictions. It's not simply embarrassing that I can find reports of teachers and administrators failing to uphold the academic and behavioral standards that they expect of students at any level of education. It is not just idle talk when I hear my co-workers and others within the educational system talking casually about how "upstanding" members of the community, ranging from teachers to law enforcement officials to clergy, provided them with alcohol and encouraged them in it's consumption when they were in high school. Who knows how many more people have similar fond memories of their teen years?
Too many people turn a blind eye to these things. Too many people tolerate this and each time something as harmful as abuse of students or underage drinking is mentioned will explain it away as an isolated incident. Maybe it's just how I was raised, but last I checked, these kinds of things were wrong. Let's forget the moral argument for a moment. (I'm not even going to get into this with your moral relativists out there, I'm making it moot. Read on to see where I'm coming from.)
When a person in a position of power fails to uphold the standards and expectations they are required to enforce, it erodes the power. In the case of dealing with children (I'm sorry, teens, you are still children.), it provides a conflicting example and negates the standards and expectations. Thus, if a teacher commits plagiarism and is not punished for it, the students learn that the rule stating that plagiarism is not tolerated is an optional one to follow. If the same teacher commits this and similar offenses repeatedly, is not punished or given a highly lenient punishment, the rule is undermined to the point of being laughable.
When a person in a position of power abuses their power, it serves to psychologically harm the victim and erode the power of the position. Depending upon the form of abuse, the severity, and the amount, it can prove something that negates the self-worth of the victim, provide the ground work for conditioning the victim for further abuse, and/or instill a lasting psychological trauma (such as seen in cases of PTSD). In cases where the person being abused is a minor, the chances of developing these problems is often higher. It is also likely that the person will not report it for fear of punishment or some other negative repercussions from the abuser.
When an institution fails to punish members who engage in acts that are abusive or failures to meet the established code of conduct, it fails in it's duty. The institution has an implied obligation to the persons who seek anything from them to be honest in their dealings, to maintain their established standards of conduct in all areas, and to correct any instances where these areas are not met. This obligation extends beyond the mere duties to educate (in the case of an academic institution) or to provide medical services (as with a hospital).
This is what we are supposed to expect and it is not unreasonable for us to do so.
Schools which fail in their obligations are schools that strive to cover up the impropriety of their faculty and staff; avoid the responsibility of disciplining their faculty and staff for acts that are not concurrent with the established code of conduct; or to intimidate persons into not pursuing redress of their grievances and legitimate claims against the school or it's faculty and staff. This happens on a daily basis all around this country. This is ignored on a daily basis all around this country.
Teachers and staff who abuse students are given a subtle wink of approval when we say that it's just an isolated incident. Academic institutions that refuse to rectify breaches in the social contract that we enter into with them when we are engaging in business with them, we are giving them approval when we pass it off as a tragic but isolated incident. When members of the community who are leaders of it support actions that are detrimental to the health of the youth and are illegal, they are encouraging the very actions they publicly condemn. When the community fails to hold the leaders of the community accountable for their actions, we are supporting them and endorsing their message to the youth.
Now, I have a question for you, dear Reader, why the hell are you tolerating this? Yep, that's right, I just dropped the ball in your court. I recognize that there are going to be some people who feel as I do that this entire mess is beyond inappropriate and is wrong as hell. I recognize that some people are going to be highly offended with me for making the blanket statement that each and every person who reads this is responsible for tolerating and encouraging the social decay of the country. You who are taking a stance against this kind of reprehensible behavior that I've described and pointed out, you know who you are. I'm not here to castigate you, because I'm sure you are as frustrated as I am with it all and probably just as angry.
I'm taking up issue with the persons who hear about these things and don't do a damn thing. They just sigh, turn the page of the newspaper, and get another cup of coffee. I'm taking up issue with the persons who say it's no big deal when there's rampant reports of people who are interacting with the youth of the nation and are abusing them. I'm taking up issue with each and every person who thinks it's not their problem when these kinds of things happen.
It is your problem. It's not just your problem, it's everybody's problem! The longer we tolerate this bullshit, the worse it is going to get. You want to know why kids are bringing guns to school? You want to know why kids are engaging in risky sexual activity at younger and younger ages? You want to have some kind of a clue as to why the hell there is so many problems with the youth of the nation?
It's not the music, the television, the games, or the clothes. It's the culture. It's the fact that we as a nation are not doing a damn thing when all of the wrong lessons are being taught. It's the fact that we as a nation make excuses for the criminal and the hypocritical actions that occur daily. We are neglecting our children. We are neglecting them as surely as if we were to leave a 3 week old infant for a month in the care of a heroin addicted pedophile who has not a single dime for food, not a single care for the health of the child, and is a habitual arsonist on the side. Chances are awful damn slim that the kid is going to live through the experience, never mind come out of it healthy.
Take your kids out and show them the world. Teach them right from wrong. Lastly, for the love of your child, fight like hell when the world is telling them the wrong thing is right and they should agree to be used, abused, and hurt. Empower your children to do the right thing, because they're the ones that will be taking care of you someday.
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