Close Menu
The Baylor Lariat
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    Trending
    • Baylor community unites in flash flood relief efforts
    • Baylor rescinds LGBTQIA+ inclusion research grant after backlash
    • Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown
    • Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects
    • Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines
    • Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18
    • Board of Regents confirms budget, renovations, new leadership in May meeting
    • How facilities responds to storms, flooding in campus buildings
    • About us
      • Spring 2025 Staff Page
      • Copyright Information
    • Contact
      • Contact Information
      • Letters to the Editor
      • Subscribe to The Morning Buzz
      • Department of Student Media
    • Employment
    • PDF Archives
    • RSS Feeds
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    The Baylor LariatThe Baylor Lariat
    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz
    Thursday, July 10
    • News
      • State and National News
        • State
        • National
      • Politics
        • 2025 Inauguration Page
        • Election Page
      • Homecoming Page
      • Baylor News
      • Waco Updates
      • Campus and Waco Crime
    • Arts & Life
      • Wedding Edition 2025
      • What to Do in Waco
      • Campus Culture
      • Indy and Belle
      • Sing 2025
      • Leisure and Travel
        • Leisure
        • Travel
          • Baylor in Ireland
      • Student Spotlight
      • Local Scene
        • Small Businesses
        • Social Media
      • Arts and Entertainment
        • Art
        • Fashion
        • Food
        • Literature
        • Music
        • Film and Television
    • Opinion
      • Editorials
      • Points of View
      • Lariat Letters
    • Sports
      • March Madness 2025
      • Football
      • Basketball
        • Men’s Basketball
        • Women’s Basketball
      • Soccer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
      • Volleyball
      • Equestrian
      • Cross Country and Track & Field
      • Acrobatics & Tumbling
      • Tennis
      • Golf
      • Pro Sports
      • Sports Takes
      • Club Sports
    • Lariat TV News
    • Multimedia
      • Video Features
      • Podcasts
        • Don’t Feed the Bears
      • Slideshows
    • Advertising
    The Baylor Lariat
    Home»Opinion»Editorials

    We must draw the line on predators

    Baylor LariatBy Baylor LariatMarch 29, 2017Updated:March 30, 2017 Editorials No Comments4 Mins Read
    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    A popular TV show among teenagers, “Pretty Little Liars,” is one of many that features a truly disgusting act — a teacher having sexual relations with one of his students. Now “Pretty Little Liars” is not the only show or movie to include these acts — the new CW hit “Riverdale” also highlights a relationship between a teacher and a student, and there are several movies such as “Notes on a Scandal” and “A Teacher” where this takes place as well. With the consistent prevalence in the world of television and movies, it comes as little surprise that in the real-world inappropriate teacher-student relationships have become increasingly more common.

    According to the Texas Education Agency, the number of inappropriate relations between teachers and their pupils was 179 in 2014, the last time this information was recorded. This is in the state of Texas alone, not even taking into account the countless reports of misconduct in states such as Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio, among others. These children — and yes, they are children — are sometimes as young as 13 years old. The age 13 is not old enough to drive a car, to go to an R-rated movie and, in many cases, not even old enough to get a job. Children are being taken advantage of by the people they trusted with their education and their development, and the perpetrators are using that to play out a fantasy that is not only perverse but also illegal. It does not matter if the perpetrator is a 40-year-old man or a beautiful 26-year-old woman. If they are in an authority position and they are taking advantage of a child, it is not only an egregious abuse of power — it is statutory rape.

    Many of these perpetrators claim to have love-based relationships with their victims. According to the Houston Chronicle, Alexandria Vera, a 24-year-old English teacher from Houston, was recently sentenced to 10 years for having a sexual relationship with her 13-year-old student. Her defense team made their case that she did not believe what she was doing was wrong, that she was in love with the student and that therefore their relationship was acceptable. The problem with this argument is that it brings into play the age-old question of “where do you draw the line?” If it is OK for an adult to have a relationship with a teenager, should it be OK for an adult to have a relationship with a child? Anyone under the age of 18 is still in the care of parents or guardians and is identified a child by the law. There is the caveat of parental permission for adult relationships and marriage once the child reaches the age of 16 or 17, but when it comes to teachers and students, it still crosses a line. Whether students are 12, 15 or 17, they are still underage, and if we don’t identify that clear line, it could open doors for molestation and statutory rape to become acceptable.

    We need to draw the line. We need to recognize that just because the teacher isn’t a creepy old man doesn’t mean they aren’t a pedophile, and that as the future adults of the world, and possibly even future teachers, we can make a difference. Many of us will have children one day, so we should be concerned about teachers and administrators, both male and female, taking away a child’s innocence. Adults should not condone the perversion of a teacher’s role, and courts should try as hard as possible to ensure these predators get the punishment they deserve.

     

    Baylor Lariat
    • Website

    Keep Reading

    Baylor community unites in flash flood relief efforts

    Baylor rescinds LGBTQIA+ inclusion research grant after backlash

    Students react to emergency alert following campus lockdown

    Baylor shelter-in-place lifted following police pursuit of robbery suspects

    Baylor graduate charged after killing cats with pellet gun, hanging bodies over utility lines

    Baylor Football’s Alex Foster dies at 18

    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Recent Posts
    • Baylor community unites in flash flood relief efforts July 9, 2025
    • Baylor rescinds LGBTQIA+ inclusion research grant after backlash July 9, 2025
    About

    The award-winning student newspaper of Baylor University since 1900.

    Articles, photos, and other works by staff of The Baylor Lariat are Copyright © Baylor® University. All rights reserved.

    Subscribe to the Morning Buzz

    Get the latest Lariat News by just Clicking Subscribe!

    Follow the Live Coverage
    Tweets by @bulariat

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram YouTube LinkedIn
    • Featured
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Arts and Life
    © 2025 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.