By: Kaitlyn Nathem [Co-Editor of Vox]
School is supposed to be a safe environment for students. Teachers are supposed to be calm, trustworthy, responsible adults that students can talk to about problems. How are students supposed to feel safe and relaxed when their teacher was just in jail for more than just a simple DUI?
Students are expected to behave outside of school therefore teachers should have consequences if the police get involved with their “after- school activities” as well. If students were to get assault charges pressed upon them, they most likely would be suspended and/or not allowed back to school. If students received the strict consequences, so should teachers. Just because a teacher is an adult doesn’t mean that they should have special treatments for when they make a mistake.
The Teachers Union helps protect teachers from multiple things that could happen outside of school or inside of school to keep their job and pay the same. The teachers have a group of people that are fighting for there rights. This is unfair to the students. Students don’t have anything to ensure that if they make a mistake outside of school that they still get to attend the same place of education. The consequences for teachers and students are not equal. Students are being taught that it’s okay to participate in a vicious act outside of school and still have a job when they get released from jail. That’s not something that students should be learning!
It’s important for students to feel like they aren’t threatened during a class period. When a teacher is returning back to school from being inside a jail, students aren’t going to want to attend that class. Students are going to feel like at any moment their teacher could just snap. Students and teachers should have the same consequences when coming back to school after a misdemeanor or felony has occurred.