Local Newspaper Infested

Local Newspaper Infested

“This story is the first in a three day series on an overlooked blight on our educational system.”

“There are 3 million public school teachers nationwide, most devoted to their work. Yet the number of abusive educators, nearly three for every school day, speaks to a much larger problem in a system that is stacked against the victims.”

My hometown newspaper has chosen to carry a three day series of articles on the front page that attack my profession and the people with whom we work.

Before I vent my problems with the Associated Press piece created by national reporters Martha Irvine and Robert Tanner, I want everyone to know that I in no way support or tolerate teachers in my profession who sexually abuse or harass children. Such teachers should be booted out of my profession and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Then they need to be sent to a deserted desert island somewhere with no food or water and be left to dig in the sand.

I have no qualms with print investigations into the issue of sexual harassment by teachers, but I feel that this series of reports steps beyond the bounds of that and treads into sensationalistic journalism. By placing this series on the front page three days in a row, the Roanoke Times has joined the bashing club and is pointedly fanning the fire. In journalism classes, you learn that every article needs a hook, and the writers found a titillating one, “A young teacher in Iowa sheepishly admits that he fondled a fifth-graders breast.”

I read the articles to this point and have gotten angrier and angrier. For the past 26 years, I’ve worked in education, and I have never met a person who was charged with any sex or harassment crime against children. People I’ve worked with are dedicated to their jobs and to a large degree believe that their teaching is a calling to help society.

One chart used in the first article is a synopsis of cases from the area during the last year. Of the six cases listed, only one took place in Roanoke and that involved a male day care worker. So how is this article important to Roanoke and Roanoke County?

The Roanoke Times series seems to me to be a not so subtle attack on teachers. The front page of newspapers should be used to highlight national stories: fires, wars, etc. By hyping this series and placing it on the front pages, the Roanoke Times is artificially creating issues seemingly for the purpose of selling papers. To me, it’s a real shame that our fine teachers will have to shoulder the microscopic glares of a riled society that thinks that people who have taken a vow to serve the greater society and educate the next generation are nothing more than potential suspects in sex crimes.

Overall, I do agree with one point. Decks are always stacked against victims. Issues get more complicated, however, when you really try to figure out who are the victims. In this case, it’s clear to me that the victims are teachers and our profession. As a career teacher, I simply cannot stand by and be publicly pelted, having my teaching character questioned.

To me, this series is sleazy tabloid journalism with only one purpose. We deserve better treatment.