-By Lee Culpepper
After sexually molesting her 13-year-old student, 25-year-old middle school teacher Kelsey Peterson deported the illegally immigrated kid to Mexico. Peterson left the boy marooned south of the border when officials hauled her off to the local jail.
Reports uncovered that Peterson’s victim is an alleged gang member and father of a two-year-old child. One judge from the hoodlum’s past has described the boy as an “uncontrollable juvenile.” Peterson’s attorney, Jim Davis, also claims “the young man” is 16 years old, not 13. Moreover, the attorney suggests the teen is not a victim, but instead the aggressor who groomed the relationship.
Not surprisingly, Mexico wasted little time returning a wanted child molester to her own country. In contrast, American authorities’ efforts to reward an illegally immigrated gang member are disturbing. The juvenile delinquent and his family will probably receive American citizenship in exchange for the little thug’s testimony. The scenario is made possible by the new “U” visa, passed by Congress to encourage illegal aliens to become victims of crimes.
Have we ever heard of a teacher-student sexcapade that did not strike us as jarringly bizarre?
When the crimes involve male teachers molesting adolescent females, we are all understandably repulsed by the details – no matter how handsome the felonious derelicts might be. However, when the molesting teachers are voluptuous women, some in society (Peterson’s attorney for example) question whether their victims are victims at all.
In Peterson’s case, however, the teacher does not possess the come-hither looks of a glamour model. As a result, the sultry details of the case yielded quickly to the illegal immigration status of the unruly urchin that she molested.
On the other hand, the raunchy details of a sensuous, female teacher devouring one of her striplings can usually guarantee us an overdose of soft-porn news coverage. Plenty of men usually chime in saying they wish they could have been so lucky when they were in school. Meanwhile, abundant debates ensue regarding whether the boys have suffered any physical or psychological harm — especially if the child-molesting teacher looks like the notorious Debra Lafave.
News producers and editors also devote significant coverage to discussing what makes these disturbed and attention-needy women become sexually entangled with underage boys. But regardless of any logical answers concerning the women’s lustful actions, whatever deviant sexual arousal an adult woman receives from degrading herself with a pimple-farming teenage kid should make any mentally balanced person want to vomit.
More troubling is that no one ever addresses how these relationships are likely to affect the boys’ perceptions of other women in society – and particularly women with authoritative or leadership roles.
The selfish and needy women who seduce these boys couldn’t care less about the serious responsibilities of leadership. However, it is naïve to assert that their lack of character and self-discipline does not harm these kids or society. That people have foolish carnal fantasies is simply the curse of being human. However, pursuing such fantasies ruins lives every day. Consider how many lives are damaged by extra-marital affairs. Then consider how often the female teachers who molest these immature, foolish, and hormone-driven boys are married and are mothers themselves. What will these boys think when they are mature enough to grasp the devastation caused to others by the selfish betrayal of a teacher entrusted with their mental, physical, and moral welfare? Surely the older teens will also realize eventually that their own irresponsible decisions contributed to destroying a family – maybe even their own.
For each teacher who gets caught, how many cases go undetected or unreported? Every time these teachers escape justice or merely receive a slap on the wrist and wink for being “victims of their own good looks,” the idea that sex is merely a conquest for men is enforced in boys’ minds. And if the female happens to be their superior, well, she just makes for a bigger trophy.
Respect for authority has deteriorated gravely in our society. But when teachers and parents behave like children’s peers, as opposed to their leaders, why are we surprised? Many teachers and parents have fallen victim to the toxic effects of the self-esteem agenda that is plaguing today’s youth. Wanting to be popular and worrying about hurting other people’s feelings or making them mad cripple one’s ability to lead.
Leadership is not a popularity contest; it is an obligation to inspire others to do what is in their best interest. Selflessness is required. Nevertheless, good leaders are often friendly, but they also skillfully avoid obscuring the authoritative line between leadership and friendship.
When female teachers molest teenage boys, these deranged women tarnish boys’ respect for other females in society, especially women with leadership responsibilities. How many fathers of daughters still want to joke about these teachers when men actually consider the message the boys learn about women and daughters?
Doesn’t tolerating these teachers’ betrayal of trust and excusing them as victims of pubescent boys’ desires merely lower the expectations of female leadership?
If these women continue escaping the maximum punishments under the law, we shouldn’t find it unexpected when a female presidential candidate is portrayed as the bullied victim of male aggression during her campaign. Then again, are our expectations for leadership truly equal when it comes down to gender? Apparently, Senator Clinton and her campaign staff don’t think so.
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Lee Culpepper is a Marine turned high school English teacher. Currently, he is writing his first book, Alone and Unafraid: One Marine’s Counterattack Inside the Walls of Public Education. Lee is also a contributing columnist for The North Carolina Conservative, The HinzSight Report, and The Publius’ Forum. An increasing number of publications, including The Conservative Voice and MichNews.com, have run his recent articles, as well.
Lee can be reached at drcoolpepper@yahoo.com.
Visit Lee’s blog at http://wlculpepper.townhall.com/