HAT Journal #20

Summary:
This article is about appropriate boundaries for teachers. It uses the example of an investigation into a high
school teacher regarding sexual misconduct. It says that while the principal and administrators at the school
were aware of the rumors, they did not approach the police until years later. The rumors proved to be true for
at least one student, and the teacher resigned. Because the principal and administrators did not report the
information given to them about the teacher, the investigation of the teacher was much harder. A counselor in
the school had reported rumors of the teacher’s interactions with students seven years before the
investigation. The teacher did not have appropriate boundaries with students, and this was known around the
school. These complaints against the teacher involved multiple students between multiple years. After being
warned by the administration, the teacher said he didn’t feel as effective as a teacher with the new
boundaries. To me, this just means he isn’t a good teacher in general. A teacher should be effective without
being inappropriate. He also took many overnight trips with students where he crossed boundaries. The article
ended by talking about how schools sometimes don’t inform parents of these situations or start investigations
because they don’t want to cause hysteria if the accusations aren’t true.

H
 I don’t fully understand the laws that were used in this situation. The article says the police sergeant
didn’t know if Roberts was a criminal. How is having sexual relations with a student or former student
not illegal even if they are over 18?
 The article keeps mentioning that because the student was eighteen, it did not have to be reported. Is
this still the same now? How can I stay updated on any changes in these laws?
 The article states the teacher had been engaging in this behavior since his first year at the school. Is
there any way to ensure that we hire ethical teachers so that this doesn’t happen? I am sure he would
have gone through a background check, so there needs to be something more.
 How on earth did he still have a valid teaching license in 2014???

A
 The article says, “Mr. Roberts wasn’t very careful about his boundaries so it’s very easy for students to
start rumors.” I think this statement sums up one of the takeaways of this article. Even if we have no
malicious intentions behind our interactions with students, without appropriate boundaries, rumors
will still happen. We should never put ourselves in a situation where a rumor could potentially start.
 The article mentioned that there is a difference between healthy relationships with students and those
that cross the line. This is a good principle to remember because having good rapport with the
students does not require crossing personal boundaries. Teachers can establish good rapport in the
classroom with others around.
 I can appreciate how the school might have wanted to protect what they thought was a potentially
innocent teacher at the time, but I wish they would have wanted to protect potentially harmed
students even more. At the very least, they could have suspended the teacher after multiple
accusations.

T
 The article talked about a student being involved in a rumor about Roberts and feeling so oppressed by
it that she graduated early to leave the school. This reminds me that information about situations like
this should be told to trusted adults, not other students. I doubt many schools have a reporting policy
that is made known to students. I could encourage my administration to create a safe, trustworthy
path for students to report information.
 Roberts said he didn’t feel as effective of a teacher after creating the new boundaries. This just reminds
me of all the highly effective teachers I have had who established appropriate boundaries. This
encourages me to continue becoming better at my craft and continuing to reflect on my teaching
episodes because a respectable teacher doesn’t have to manipulate kids to be effective.
 The part about the out-of-state trip situation made me really mad. I will likely take future students on
many of these trips, so I will make sure that all the adults involved on the trip are trusted and
appropriate. Any volunteer or staff member going on the trip will have a meeting discussing rules and
boundaries that will be enforced. Hopefully, this will prevent any situations like in the article.