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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Robert C. Hawkins

Should teachers tell on colleagues having student affairs?
Yes, it's their duty to protect children
No, they should let school officials do their job

The strongest message sent by Bucks County school officials investigating a teacher’s alleged affair with a 17-year-old student may be the ouster of three fellow teachers said to have kept quiet after learning of the relationship.

Former Council Rock South High School math teacher Robert C. Hawkins, 43, faces criminal charges for child-endangerment and corruption of a minor for the purported five-month affair. Hawkins, fired in May, surrendered to police Tuesday.

But it’s also the apparent failure of Hawkins’ three colleagues – police say there may be more who knew – to sound the alarm that’s troubling. One has resigned and two others have been suspended with the intent of being fired.

What's that? They weren't sneaking around with a teen-ager, so why should they be punished?

Whether or not laws were broken, teacher-student relationships are clearly inappropriate – and, in part, it’s up to a school community as a whole to enforce standards barring such hook-ups. It’s the contention of Council Rock school officials that Hawkins’ colleagues failed the student involved in this case.

If the three teachers were in the know, then they were in the wrong, for sure. That's certainly the view of philly.com readers who took the accompanying poll, voting not quite 9-1 in favor of reporting teacher-student relationships. Various readers also note (comments below) that there are legal mandates on teachers and other school professionals to report. At the same time, other readers relate anecdotes about the supposed prevalence of these relationships in some schools.

Parents in the well-off Bucks school district have to be wondering how a teacher-student relationship, effectively, could be winked at by any teachers or other professionals. As Bucks County District Attorney Michelle Henry said, “Parents send their children to school for an education, not to be preyed upon by their teachers.”

Council Rock officials are said to be continuing their review, to see if other staff knew of the alleged relationship. That’s the right course, and it should put staff on notice at any school in the region that staying silent in such cases means they themselves risk being flunked out.

Posted by Russell Cooke @ 1:14 PM  Permalink | 48 comments
Comments   
Comment removed.
Posted 02:45 PM, 08/26/2009
nickpa1
what's the big deal?
Posted 02:48 PM, 08/26/2009
mindstorms
At least the administration didn't try to hush up the affair and transfer the teacher to another district school like certain religious schools that will remain nameless.
Posted 02:49 PM, 08/26/2009
Malcolm65
"All that is needed for the forces of evil to succeed is for enough good men (people) to remain silent. " Nickpa1 - a teacher is in a position of authority over a student so even if 17 is legal in a state it is still 100% wrong.
Posted 02:53 PM, 08/26/2009
dude
Act 151 state law- as a teacher you are legally obligated to report such info- it's the law and if you don't report it, you too can get into trouble, like the other teachers in this case. As a teacher I think it's a good law- should stop people from ignoring things and looking the other way.
Posted 02:55 PM, 08/26/2009
Devoted Teacher
The Matthew Broderick character in "Election," is hardly a role model. He didn't report his colleague and attempted to destroy the student involved in the affair when his friend was fired. However, I agree that anyone knowing about this affair should have blown the whistle.
Posted 03:00 PM, 08/26/2009
Ruffian
Shame on Philly.com for the above question about teachers "tattling" on other colleagues about student affairs! That's not tattling! Being a tattle would be a teacher telling the Principal that Joe the School Janitor took a 31 minute lunch instead of the allowed 30 minute lunch. Being a tattle would be if you told the principal you saw the math teacher sneak one bite of a pretzel while the students were taking an Algebra test when school rules state teachers can't eat during instruction time. This is about safety of kids, maybe even YOUR child. Still can't believe the wording of the question. Philly.com has sunk to a new low.
Posted 03:02 PM, 08/26/2009
Ruffian
@Devoted Teacher. True what you said. However, you've got to admit Election was a very good and entertaining movie. One of my favorites of all time.
Comment removed.
Posted 03:07 PM, 08/26/2009
fafafooey
They should let teachers marry... then this stuff wouldn't happen.
Posted 03:22 PM, 08/26/2009
billyrin007
Posted by KlLLa 03:06 PM, 08/26/2009 NO SNITCHING LOL hahahahahahhahaha
Posted 03:24 PM, 08/26/2009
Tatts
"Tattle"? Are you serious? "Tattle"? What are you, 12? This isn't tattling, this is serious! Did a summer intern write that question?
Posted 03:35 PM, 08/26/2009
CamdenCountyReader
Law seems a little light on this in PA. In New Jersey this would be prosecuted as a sexual assault (rape) because of the teacher/student realtionship. The age of consent becomes irrelevant. If he wanted to pursue this bizarre "affair" without being a criminal he had to resign as a teacher before it started. Even then she is still a minor and in the control of her parents. They could get a restraining order on him regardless of the girl's desires.
Posted 03:41 PM, 08/26/2009
dleithold67
I had an ex-girlfriend who is a special ed teacher at Bensalem High School who had a sexual relationship with more than one student. Long after we broke up, I received numerous pictures of her performing sex acts with the a student while another was taking pictures. The email containing the pictures was sent to her boss, some of her fellow teachers, her ex-husband, her faculty advisor and others. Nothing was ever done about it, and she still teaches there. This is not an isolated case. It happens all the time.
Posted 03:41 PM, 08/26/2009
billinsporttt
Are you people kidding? A movie comment? This man couldn't control his sexual urges- and you people liken it to a movie? He is a pedophile-nothing less. It will be interesting to see how much jail time he will be sentenced to-and whether that jail time is comparable to a female teacher/male student hook-up. I am terrified of sending my daughter to school this year-her freshman year. Yikes...
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