Introduction cases against teachers are on the rise and therefore the school board should come up with better rules that govern the student’s teacher relationship. The students should also be enlightened on their rights against the teachers. Felony charges: A substitute teacher in Norwich was arrested four years ago for allegedly showing the student pornography on a classroom computer. She pleaded guilty to displaying misconduct and was supposed to pay a fine of $100 and surrender her teaching license. The superior court judge withdrew the charges that she had endangered her students by intentionally displaying porn on her computer. Computer forensic expertise brought to the attention spyware that had infected the teacher’s computer. The earlier judge still holds that she was guilty despite the attack by the pc viruses even though the prosecutor had not taken time to check the hard disk. The computer experts held that the school should be held responsible for not updating the anti-virus system. They also said that the earlier judge’s pronouncement was a result of ignorance and unwillingness to learn the facts about this case. I don’t agree with the ruling as it was unfair to the teacher bearing in mind that the court did not take the imitative of seriously dig into the case as with the technology, brings both positive and negative effects as in the inhibition of the computer by viruses that can bring undesired programmers (Elinor Mills2008). This case cannot be classified as a case of misconduct as it was not intentional for the teacher to show the students pornography.
In a recent case, two teachers in North Highlands were arrested in a case of inappropriate behavior with female students. Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Eric Charles Gladden, 34, and Monica Maldonado Alarcon, 29, both teachers at a nearby high school, on felony and misdemeanor charges. Gladden was arrested on suspicion of 34 counts of distribution of unlawful materials to minors, contributing to the delinquency of minors, child annoyance, and falsifying documents. The charges came from text messages Gladden had allegedly sent to two of his female students, aged between 16 and 17, that included disturbing comments and sexual photographs, said sheriff’s Sgt. Tim Curran. The text messages were sent during and after school hours. Gladden was also been accused of supplying the students with alcohol at his home on more than one occasion. During the investigation, three other of his students came up as victims of his inappropriate behavior, and he could face more charges in connection with those victims. Alarcon was arrested on suspicion of a felony count of falsifying documents to be used in evidence. The investigation revealed that she allegedly assisted Gladden to forge and plant evidence in an attempt to clear him of the accusations against him. The case has not yet been decided they are been held on a cash bail of $350 000; Alarcon$ 50 000 and Gladden 300 000. ( Shea Homes, 2009). The ruling should be harsh to mostly Gladden for violation of the code of ethics when dealing with the students which should involve revoking the teaching license if found guilty. According to the code of ethics of the teachers, it indicates that they should not subject the student to either sexual materials or drugs and in this case, the teachers did not follow these ethics.
The school to students acts as a safe environment for both learning and the protection of the students from other factors like drug abuse or sexual harassment and, unfortunately, the teachers can act as bullies.
Case three Two former middle school teachers are facing a state inquiry after students said they saw them having sex in a classroom during school hours. Two students reported watching the Middle School teachers through a hole in a paper used to cover a classroom window. In detail, the students described to school officials how they saw their Spanish teacher and coach, having sex inside a locked classroom. Both teachers initially denied the claims of misconduct. But they later admitted having sex in the classroom on one or two occasions during school hours, according to the district report. (Leticia stein, 2008). The ruling should be harsh to the teachers as this is gross misconduct in their profession and therefore should have their licenses revoked. A warning should be given to all the teachers as cases such as this are on the rise worldwide.
The teachers have a duty to the students in that they should pay more attention to their moral conduct to live up to the public’s expectations as educators. Chapter 2 of the Code of Ethics provides that a member of the profession: “Shall show respect for the law and the behavioral norms acceptable to society as a whole. “They should always strive to uphold the honor, dignity, and ethics of the education profession and to foster unity and harmonious working relationships within the profession.”
References
- Elinor Mills, 2008, Felony charges dropped against teacher in porn/spyware case.
- Shea Home, 2009, The Sacramento Bee.
- Leticia stein 2008, Sexual misconduct cases involving Utah teachers.