TAMPA, FL -- Since the arrest of Debra Lafave in 2004 for having sex with her 14-year-old student, there have been several more arrests of Tampa area teachers accused of the same behavior. In less than one year seven teachers have been accused of having inappropriate, sexual relationships with students, which begs the question, "What is going on, and is this an epidemic?"
That question was posed to Deborah Prill, a Hillsborough County high school teacher for 25 years. She said, "When I see these teachers arrested on TV my thought is, ‘how could anybody do something like that, how could you put yourself in that kind of position, how could you violate that sacred trust that's given to you by these parents and how could you be so stupid.'"
Prill, however, said she doesn't believe there is an epidemic of teachers participating in inappropriate teacher-student relationships. "Did it happen when I was in school? Absolutely. Did it happen 50 years ago? Absolutely. We just hear about it much more frequently. We have 24-hour news channels, they have to run something and what better than something so controversial," said Prill.
Still, seven teachers have been pulled out of a classroom in less than a year. All seven were accused of inappropriate relationships with students, and three of those teachers were arrested in just a two-week period. Many believe those affected the most by this kind of scandal are the students who are supposed be learning math and science at school and instead are getting a lesson in sex.
The mere mention of Debra Lafave's name brought 17-year-old Chris Edel to a giggle. The Plant High School senior said, "What 14-year-old boy wouldn't have fantasies about their 23 or 24-year-old teacher that looks like that?"
In an interview with his father sitting nearby, Edel agreed teenage boys fooling around with older women, even teachers, is like a rite of passage. But he said when a male teacher does the same with a teenage girl he views it as criminal. Edel said, "It's always a double standard, absolutely." So, is there a mixed message being sent to young people about the teacher-student scandals playing out in the media? Dr. Sheila Katt-Beck believes that is happening and one reason is the justice system is being lenient on female offenders.
Dr. Katt-Beck referenced Debra Lafave's attorney who told a judge that sending Lafave to prison would be like, "feeding her to a pack of lions." The Tampa psychiatrist said, "You can't go to jail because you're too pretty?" She went on to say, "What is that? You go jail based on your behavior and if you commit a felony on a child you certainly should be going jail."
Like Prill, Dr. Katt-Beck said she doesn't believe there is an epidemic of teachers behaving badly. She said what's changed is the news coverage of these teachers. But she also applauded the media for shining a bright light on an age-old problem that needs to be taken much more seriously.
Dr. Katt-Beck said there are troubling issues that could drive a teacher to risk his or her entire career over a sexual affair with a student. She said, "Some of these teachers may have been abused as children, and we know that people that are abused as children become hypersexual and act out more in their adult life." But, that wasn't her only theory, "Many times these men and women don't have much going on in their personal lives, or they don't have meaningful relationships and they misinterpret certain cues from students."
In her opinion, Dr. Katt-Beck said that Americans spend a lot of time telling their children to behave and do what the teacher tells them to do, and not enough time teaching them when it's ok to say, "No."
Dr. Katt-Beck said unless stiffer penalties are handed down we'll see many more Debra Lafave's. Prill believes more and more teachers need to be taught the magnitude of their responsibility and how they affect young lives. She said, "As a teacher more is expected of me, as a teacher I'm held to a higher standard and I know that, you've been given a sacred trust and you don't violate it."