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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...
Posted 03:41 PM, 08/26/2009
PatXMM
Ok, so the teacher gets fired. That's fine, but if the relationship was consentual should the student be suspended or expelled as well?
Posted 03:43 PM, 08/26/2009
pritter
Well thank God no dogs were hurt.
Comment removed.
Posted 03:48 PM, 08/26/2009
inquisitor
This guy is an obtuse rhombus with an irrational member, I mean number.
Posted 03:48 PM, 08/26/2009
inquisitor
This guy is an obtuse rhombus with an irrational member, I mean number.
Posted 03:57 PM, 08/26/2009
Bex
Maybe they should make the punishment harsher to stop this from happening so often?
Posted 04:01 PM, 08/26/2009
Alycia Layn
Just to be clear here, this teacher is not a pedophile. Pedophiles prey on prepubescent kids. But what law exactly did this teacher break? He's charged with endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of a minor. So a 17 year old girl is of age to consent to sex but is still in danger of being corrupted. Or would this have been OK if the guy wasn't her teacher at all but her neighbor?
Posted 04:02 PM, 08/26/2009
Gnip Gnop
If an 80 year old community college teacher was having an affair with a 70 year old student, would that be considered sexual assault in New Jersey because of the teacher/student realtionship?
Posted 04:15 PM, 08/26/2009
LJL
A 17 year old isn't a child. This is a violation of the teacher/student relationship and responsibility, but to equate this with pedophilia is ridiculous. It is no such thing.
Posted 04:16 PM, 08/26/2009
theredster
fafafooey--I don't know where you live, but in my District teachersmarried all the time. They also divorce to marry other teachers. Illicit affairs occur. All with the knowledge of administrators. My small little District of 1500 has had a married Superintendent affair with a married Principal. A married Asst principal messing with a student teacher, two married teachers having a fling. Now both divorced and married to one another. Plus, the worse of all--A teacher having an affair with a student--got her pregnant and married her. It's a regular {eyton Place around my neck of the woods. And they all cover for one another!!!
Posted 04:20 PM, 08/26/2009
The-Roof-Is-On-Fire
Guy is scum and so are the morons that didn't assure the proper authorities were advised. If he's lucky his case will go before Buckwalter and he'll be invited over to the Judge's shore house for dinner.
Posted 04:26 PM, 08/26/2009
erniebanks14
Why did they stop the comment posting on the Ted Kennedy articles? Perhaps there are too many people who are glad to get rid of him.
Posted 04:32 PM, 08/26/2009
Wednesday
He's a pedophile. Wonder how many other students he has preyed on. You can bet she was not the first.
Posted 04:37 PM, 08/26/2009
Bake McBride
WHAT affair? You mean the ALLEGED affair? Has he confessed? All we have is a 17 year old girl's filed complaint, and an indictment.
Comment removed.
Posted 04:47 PM, 08/26/2009
Miss Bunny
If this was an attractive 43 year-old female teacher having an affair with a 17 year-old male student, this story would have a different twist. All the guys would be commenting on that lucky kid and "where were teachers like this in my day?"
Posted 05:05 PM, 08/26/2009
The-Roof-Is-On-Fire
It's wrong regardless of the gender. Anyway, if one of my battleaxe nuns hit on me, I'd be in bad shape.
Posted 05:21 PM, 08/26/2009
bobcitydoc
So, when do these policies get applied to other public employees? I wont say which group of public employees I am talking about, let's just say they are known for having each others backs in just about every situation. Care to take a guess?
Posted 08:30 AM, 08/27/2009
johnnysanz3
SNITCHES GET STITCHES
Posted 08:54 AM, 08/27/2009
kpuketza
yeah, lets compare our ethics and morals to that of movie screenplays. ....? Shame on that man and all of them! I will expect to see him someplace boo-hooing about what a well-respected teacher he is and how its a loss to so many children that he can't teach a few years after he gets out of prison.....He deserves as much prison time as he gets. I hope he has pleasant memories of the sexual conquest and it was worth it for him. It will take this poor girl years of therapy to undue this damage.
Posted 09:08 AM, 08/27/2009
chickaboom
Teachers, staff, coaches, crossing guards, the pretzel lady, etc...anyone involved with children involving a school...are mandated reporters whenever they have knowledge of any harm being done to a child. Shame on the 3 silent teachers...out you go. THis is not tattle taling dummy...it is the law...thank God.
Posted 09:11 AM, 08/27/2009
phillytwo
Mindstorms is right. If he was a priest he would just be transferred in a cloak of silence. This will probably be edited.
Posted 09:22 AM, 08/27/2009
sjjr
I was forced into a sexual relationship by a teacher at Gloucester Catholic High School in 1985. Other teachers knew and did nothing. He's still there, and I'm unable to work due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Predators should be locked up, and so should those who cover for them.
Posted 01:05 PM, 08/27/2009
buttermilk67
These cases are always interesting. I'd like to know who started the relationship. Did the teacher force it on the student, or did the student push for a relationship first? No matter the scenario, the relationship is totally wrong. However, if she pushed it initially, I don't think he should be punished nearly as severely as if he had made the initial contact.
Posted 01:31 PM, 08/27/2009
asdfjkl1234567890
Remember: Man hooks up with female student, throw him in jail. Man hooks up with male student, double perv score on that. Woman hooks up with male student, she's a cougar and he's a lucky fellow. Woman hooks up with female student, it's considered hot.
Comment removed.
Posted 02:25 PM, 08/27/2009
highside
Isn't the legal age in Pennsylvania 16 ?????? Why is this guy being charged with anything ??????
Posted 03:22 PM, 08/27/2009
ddiane1981
wow...i can't believe that people are blind to see the fact that this "relationship has been going on for 5 months"...if you read the previous articles you will see that the girl at her on will would drive to his house and send 6,000 text messages to conduct acts that she was well aware were not legal. It takes 2 to tango and no the teacher was not right to pursue this relationship but this girl is not innocent herself...any person with common sense knows this is wrong even a 17 year old. They should both be punished. And where were the parents during these 5 months???
Comment removed.
Posted 03:51 PM, 08/27/2009
ddiane1981
Dawn Davenport- there is no such thing as good clean fun when you know you can be locked up for it. Perhaps they should have waited till she turned 18...makes me wonder what happened if after 5 months she then decides to report him. It's apparent she knew what was going on wasn't " good, clean fun" if she called the cops on him.
Posted 08:40 PM, 08/27/2009
CouncilRockWatchdog
It doesn't make a difference if the student was old enough to give consent -- the relationship still broke the law. And teachers who knew were required by the same law to report the behavior (it's not optional). The mandated Code of Professional Practice and Conduct (Code) for certificated educators states in section 10: "The professional educator may not: ... 3. Sexually harass or engage in sexual relationships with students. 4. Knowingly and intentionally withhold evidence from the proper authorities about violations of the legal obligations as defined within this section." -- So as far as the relationship, it says nothing about an age where it's OK. Teachers may not have sexual relationships with students at ANY age. -- And as far as any teachers who knew, their legal obligation was to report it. -- If teachers do not want to be prohibited from having relationships with young people old enough to give consent, and if they do not want to be in a position of having to report misconduct they see by other teachers, then they are free to leave the profession. They are not free to avoid their legal requirements.
Posted 10:08 PM, 08/27/2009
turkytom
To all the PIGS who posted your comments.. DANG IT, YOU STOLE MY FIRE! Ya, they got to tattle, If a teacher wants to play w/ the students, they can't be THEIR students. Perhaps there should be a "way out" to apply to transfer, or whatever to "remove themselves" from the teacher / student issue. If that's done before its "otherwise reported", then no foul (up to that point). If you have that, plus the demand that others report things that even APPEAR to be "too friendly", then I think abuse cases would be caught, and "responsible relationships" would not be squashed outright. On the downside, it removes a LOT of teacher lounge gossip. So perhaps that's not such a great idea.
Posted 11:14 PM, 08/27/2009
Ben9
Billinsporttt: Someone who has sex with a person of legal age is not a "pedophile". This teacher may be guilty of sexual harassment because he's in a position of power, and he certainly should never be able to teach, but let's reserve the "pedophile" tag for the heinous molestation of underage children. You'll surely get incensed over this distinction, but that's part of the problem with our society--labels that used to invoke horror get watered down by being applied to too many people, and people try to overuse severe penalties that used to be reserved for the worst offenders.
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