nbs2
Oct 21, 2007, 12:05 AM
I doubt there is going to be any debate as to the problem (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071021/ap_on_re_us/teacher_sex_abuse;_ylt=AqETcLhxOLc_6rY8e.4VHopH2ocA), but how do we go about stopping predators while protecting against false accusations? I suppose it comes from being a guy (and thus being thoroughly self-centered), but I never considered the aftermath of what happens when a victim reports a crime and then has to remain among those who liked the predator.
What bothers me the most, is that nobody is doing anything to stop this. "The AP investigation found efforts to stop individual offenders but, overall, a deeply entrenched resistance toward recognizing and fighting abuse. It starts in school hallways, where fellow teachers look away or feel powerless to help. School administrators make behind-the-scenes deals to avoid lawsuits and other trouble. And in state capitals and Congress, lawmakers shy from tough state punishments or any cohesive national policy for fear of disparaging a vital profession." I mean, you read the article and you see states, both red and blue, and a Congress shuttling back and forth, and yet nothing is done.
Clergy assaulting children is bad, yes, but the law doesn't require children to go to church. Barring home schooling (with it's own problem of abusive teachers), we require our kids to go to school, to consort with those who seek to do them harm. That little is done to stop them - and that they can just walk to another state to ply their trade when they are stopped - is appalling. If I want to so much as sniff the legal air in another state, I'm looking at a full character evaluation and my standing in Maryland will get investigated. And I don't deal with kids!
We have no problem publishing the names of 18yos who slept with 16yos in our states, so long as they are honest enough to tell us where they are, and don't allow them within 1000 feet of schools, but put a teacher with an 8yo and suddenly everything is hushed?
So, what do we do? I don't think I've felt this helpless in a long time.
Is vigilante justice always a bad thing?:o:( (I'm not sure which not-so-smiley goes here)
What bothers me the most, is that nobody is doing anything to stop this. "The AP investigation found efforts to stop individual offenders but, overall, a deeply entrenched resistance toward recognizing and fighting abuse. It starts in school hallways, where fellow teachers look away or feel powerless to help. School administrators make behind-the-scenes deals to avoid lawsuits and other trouble. And in state capitals and Congress, lawmakers shy from tough state punishments or any cohesive national policy for fear of disparaging a vital profession." I mean, you read the article and you see states, both red and blue, and a Congress shuttling back and forth, and yet nothing is done.
Clergy assaulting children is bad, yes, but the law doesn't require children to go to church. Barring home schooling (with it's own problem of abusive teachers), we require our kids to go to school, to consort with those who seek to do them harm. That little is done to stop them - and that they can just walk to another state to ply their trade when they are stopped - is appalling. If I want to so much as sniff the legal air in another state, I'm looking at a full character evaluation and my standing in Maryland will get investigated. And I don't deal with kids!
We have no problem publishing the names of 18yos who slept with 16yos in our states, so long as they are honest enough to tell us where they are, and don't allow them within 1000 feet of schools, but put a teacher with an 8yo and suddenly everything is hushed?
So, what do we do? I don't think I've felt this helpless in a long time.
Is vigilante justice always a bad thing?:o:( (I'm not sure which not-so-smiley goes here)
