“Teachers should never be alone with a student in a room with a door locked or with the lights off. . . . Dating between staff members and students is strictly prohibited” (Monitor front page, Aug. 5).
Well, duh!
While it is important to establish such policies, what adult with an ounce of common sense wouldn’t already know this? The Concord School Board also needs to develop a policy on believing students. According to the newspaper, on two occasions in the Howie Leung case, inappropriate behavior was reported by students.
The response of other teachers and of the school administration, while not as destructive as sexual abuse, was certainly very damaging to these reporting students. Nothing can take back the scars for the young woman who was suspended for doing the right thing. How can the three young women who reported seeing inappropriate behavior ever have confidence in authority? What do other students learn from these events?
I strongly urge the Concord School Board, as well as adopting a policy regarding sexual abuse and student-staff boundaries, to develop guidelines for listening to students. At the very least, the student has the right to be believed until any allegation is shown to be untrue. Any complaint, and certainly any complaint that is as serious as a potential sexual issue, the average person would assume would warrant an investigation. How can we possibly expect our young people to believe us when we say, “If you see something, say something,” considering the responses they received regarding this case?
TERESA C. WYMAN
Canterbury