Equality

My high school biology teacher was a blonde woman in her 20's, not that much older than us students. She would have been gorgeous no matter how she dressed, but she liked to wear the tight hip hugger type pants and snug body suit tops popular back in the 1970's. The boys drooled over her, and even her last name rhymed with the word for a female body part. Her demeanor was very serious and somber, and I don't recall there ever being talk of her behaving inappropriately. I had not thought of her for years until I saw the story about Kentucky high school teacher Sarah Jones, who is accused of having sex with one her underage students. Her mother, a principal in the same school district, is accused of tampering with evidence. The teacher resigned last fall, for "personal reasons." While both Jones and her mother have entered not guilty pleas and are enjoying our system's presumption of innocence, there are 9,000 pages of photos and text messages between Jones and the student. So at the very least, Jones displayed immaturity and very poor judgment. Hopefully her school district informs teachers of what is and what is not appropriate behavior for teachers, especially because the students are minors and the teachers are adults. There is a boundary, the one that separates the teacher and student. That is a huge boundary, the one that separates adults from children. It might be a good time for the school district to make appropriate guidelines for teachers clear. Crystal clear.

If sexual relations occurred, it is statutory rape, because those under the age of 18 cannot form consent. They are incapable of it. That would make Jones a predator, a rapist, a pedophile. Certainly if the teacher was a man and the student was a girl, no one would even question that it is a heinous crime. It should be no different with Jones being a woman and her student being a boy.

Equality under the law. Theoretically it exists, but practically it doesn't. That is because our culture still has a long way to go before we recognize that boys can be raped and victimized and preyed upon by adult women, just as really as it can happen with a girl and an adult man.

There is talk now that the boy's family is dropping the charges, as they want him to get on with his life. He's on his way to college. I am sure it has been painful and embarrassing for him, and I don't judge what he and his family decide to do. That is their call.

We as women have made great strides in achieving equality with men, in a positive way. We need to truly make things equal for everyone, however. Adult women need to be held to the same standard as men in cases where children are involved. And Jones desperately needs some male friends her own age.

Susan