Tuesday, March 06, 2007

I Guess They Learned By Watching The Farm Animals

This blog post, with a link to this TV news report, was sent to me by one of my students. Eek.

13 Investigates was tipped off by a disturbed resident who writes

"...during school hours in a classroom with an experienced teacher present, two sixth graders completed the act of intercourse...at least ten students were witnesses. No disciplinary actions were taken against the teacher... All teachers were told to keep quiet."

Middle school students having sex in a busy classroom while a teacher is present? Warren Township Associate Superintendent Jeff Swensson confirmed it's true. It's been kept under wraps since November.


Only later in the report, after we've been given all the titillating details, do we learn this somewhat mitigating fact:

Associate Superintendent Jeff Swensson told Eyewitness News off camera the teacher didn't know what was going on because another student acted as a "look-out." But once the teacher discovered the behavior, immediate action was taken.


The report mentions that this was in a "lab" class, and a comment on the blog indicates that it occurred in a shop class, so it's slightly more understandable than if the event had occurred in, say, a math class. So what was at first blush (pardon the pun) presented as "Look what kids in school are doing! Where was the teacher?!" is in reality more of a "Look how disgusting those kids are." Quite a different tack, don't you think?

Funny how those actions of teachers can look a little different when one gets past the shocking headline and the teaser--not that I have any experience in that matter or anything.

If the pre-teen sex isn't enough to get your goat (again, pardon the pun), the fact that the school/district tried to hush it up should certainly be getting some people's attention.

Thanks for sending that to me, Rob.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

My initial reaction was how can somebody be so oblivious that he lets that happen, until I remember Mr. Oesterheiser (pron.
AY-ster-hi-zer), my sixth grade teacher. He always had a "cold" and always had a flask of "cough syrup" in his vest, which he chugged on all day. By ten or so in the morning, he was nodding off, on and off, all day. He was in his 60s.

I suppose had we been old and savvy enough, we could have gotten away with something like that.