In loco parentis

Dedicated to the person who sent me an obscenity ridden comment yesterday (which I refused to publish, resend it without the obscenities, I will probably publish it before shooting it down).

This may be an old-fashioned view, but as far as I am concerned the role of any teacher in public service is to act "in loco parentis" - translated from the Latin it means "in the place of the parent".

Whether you are a young teacher starting out or a very senior teacher who has been around since Noah allegedly left the Ark, the same applies.

The parent wants this information giving to the child, he/she cannot provide it, it is your job to provide it instead. They pay taxes, which pay your salary. You take the salary for doing the job as best you can do it.

In the days when I was teaching myself, my view was that I was permitted to do anything that a parent might accept. This is not always easy given that in a class of 28 pupils/students parental expectations are not universal.

I recall at one parent's evening back in the 1970s being told by one parent that I needed to be stricter with his 14-year-old son.

"He's still young enough to be put over my my knee and get spanked hard", I was informed. It was not practical to follow that advice and anyway the school would have suspended me immediately if I had tried. In the (now long-since defunct) debate upon corporal punishment in schools at the time though, it was a factor. Corporal punishment applied at home, therefore it could apply in schools - parents who did not like the idea could seek to opt their children out. Again "in loco parentis".

As parents should not even think of taking their own children to bed and having sex with them (yes, I know, sadly, that there are some horrendous cases where it does happen, but that does not justify it!), the same applies with teachers and pupils/students.

WITHOUT EXCEPTION!

My friend who sent the obscenity-ridden rant may believe that "they all do it!" (they don't!), and "there's nothing wrong with it anyway" (there is!).

Maybe if you have a 15-year-old girl in a class that you really fancy, you should contact the parents first and ask them if it is OK for you to have sex with their daughter? Not quite "in loco parentis", but the next thing to it? I think I know what the reply would be! And I do not think that they would be too polite saying it either!

"In loco parentis" requires responsible conduct, not self-indulgence. If you cannot cope with the demands of the responsibility involved, there is a simple option. Get out of teaching  and find another job!