A thoughtful article by DARRELL R. SANTSCHI in the Press-Enterprise exams the emotional toll on students and parents "It's a total violation of trust," says Sarah Page, 22, of Raymond, N. H., who had an affair with a teacher while in the seventh grade. "It's a violation of the trust all of us citizens place in the educational system. But on a personal level, it's a violation of the trust a child puts in an adult." Denial by the abusers:
Adult teachers and other school employees who seek out children for sex become adept at denial, says Don Bross, a professor of pediatrics who specializes in family law at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.[My own view is that the same could be said of our media who choose not to focus on the issue. Yesterday, the Associated Press sent out a story that struck me as gleeful about 16 priests who had committed suicide. The fact was that it was over a 10 year period of time, but the implication was clear. Priests were suicidal because of their guilt.]
"They deny that there is any injury," Bross says. "They deny that there is any victim. Not only do they see nothing wrong with it, but they do as much as they can to make the rest of us uncertain."
The final line of the Santschi story struck me.
What parents and the public need to do, Shoop says, is support good educators and punish the abusers. More important, he says, know the difference.
