Referring to this statement as STUPID is not enough…

Frankly I can’t think of a term to describe this quote taken from an article written by Betsy Karasik which appeared in the Washington Post. Maybe you can come up with a word more fitting then just STUPID. 

I don’t believe that all sexual conduct between underage students and teachers should necessarily be classified as rape, and I believe that absent extenuating circumstances, consensual sexual activity between teachers and students should not be criminalized…

I do think that teachers who engage in sex with students, no matter how consensual, should be removed from their jobs and barred from teaching unless they prove that they have completed rehabilitation. But the utter hysteria with which society responds to these situations does less to protect children than to assuage society’s need to feel that we are protecting them…

The point is that there is a vast and extremely nuanced continuum of sexual interactions involving teachers and students, ranging from flirtation to mutual lust to harassment to predatory behavior. Painting all of these behaviors with the same brush sends a damaging message to students and sets the stage for hypocrisy and distortion of the truth. Many teenagers are, biologically speaking, sexually mature. Pretending that this kind of thing won’t happen if we simply punish it severely enough is delusional.  – (The unintended consequences of laws addressing sex between teachers and students By Betsy Karasik)

Source

Please listen: I worked with students in a classroom setting 5 days a week, for a number of years, and sad to say, became indirectly involved in a criminal case which involved ‘teacher-student’ sex. Let me tell you there is NO time or instance when such a situation should not be prosecuted as rape. PERIOD.  I don’t care what so-called “extenuating circumstances” one wants to come up with. The case in which I testified involved two boys (12 and 13) and a male teacher. One of those boys, soon after, committed suicide by hanging himself, the other, who I have kept close contact with over the years (he is now an adult) still has deep emotional and mental scars resulting from this tragedy. Was either boy held down and raped…No. BUT IT WAS STILL RAPE. Sex acts between adults and children (of any age) is NEVER consensual.

This author and attorney is so wrong, words fail me. Referring to her statements as stupid is just not enough.