Van Halen's "Hot for Teacher"
It's a little unusual, to be sure, that an 18 year old girl would prefer to tie the knot with a man who's the same age as her father, but I don't think it's unheard of. Sometimes love is ageless, and in this case it appears that the age gap has not prevented two consenting adults from falling in love and starting a life together.
But if California has its way, the guy will be a convicted felon serving a lengthy prison sentence for simply falling in love with another adult who purportedly also loves him. According to California State Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, "Our hope is that [making this a felony with a lengthy prison sentence] will be a pretty strong and painful deterrent and will cause someone to think twice before starting an inappropriate, unethical relationship with a student." Notice there is no concern that anyone is infringing on the rights of others or doing anything that is unlawful. Basically, many in California's government simply find what these consenting adults are doing to be distasteful and immoral. To them I say that if they find it so distasteful and wrong, then simply don't engage in it. Mind your own P's and Q's and let others make their own decisions about how to run their lives. Again, is this a free country or not?!
This is a classic case of the government stepping in to regulate ethical and moral decisions best left up to individuals, because there is nothing unlawful about their relationship. Unethical? Maybe - and perhaps a great number of schools won't want to hire him knowing that he may eventually date 18 year old students. I wouldn't hire a guy who had that as a priority, but I certainly wouldn't have him thrown in jail just because I disagree with his moral set.
It's a situation where different people with different moral values will evaluate it differently. Some will say it's ok because they are both adults. Some will say it's abhorrent because he's a "real" adult taking advantage of a de facto kid. Others may center on the fact that he left his current wife and kids to date this young'un, and is therefore an immoral bastard. The point is, this is a moral issue involving two consenting adults who are not infringing on the rights of anyone else by engaging in their relationship. Live and let live, I say. I mean, after all, this is still a free country right? That should mean one has the freedom to do things that others might not do, might not approve of, and might criticize.
But it's crossing the line when the government comes up with its own moral position on the topic and then goes forth to impose its moral values upon everyone else. Such a law making this guy a felon would not be a law designed to protect our rights or freedom or liberty - it would be a law designed to impose a specific moral value upon society; a moral value the government has deemed superior to the moral values of the two people here engaged in this relationship. Until either of these star-crossed lovers infringes on the rights of someone else, the government has no right to tell these adults how to live their lives.
And it got me thinking.... Isn't California at the very forefront of the gay marriage debate? Doesn't California support gay marriage? Are they not very vigilant in pushing for the legality of two consenting same-sex partners being able to get married? Well, some may find that immoral just as the government finds this teacher-former student relationship immoral. Is one any worse than the other in terms of adults being free to pursue whatever love interests they want? You can't tell two gay people that they are allowed to get married, but then also tell two heterosexual adults with an age gap that they aren't entitled to the same protection of the right to love who they want.
I would support a school that wanted to fire this teacher, and I would respect anyone's opinion on the morality of this situation. But I don't support government imposition of the "right" moral values upon all of us.
Read more from the New York Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/california-lawmaker-introduces-law-student-teacher-relationships-a-felony-article-1.1051958
You're right on Caz, as usual. I think that you miss an important point though. A legislature has the power to enact stupid laws, but those stupid laws are only given any real effect by the thousands of apparatchiks out there who are willing - indeed, eager - to enforce them. You need cops to make the arrests, prosecutors (sorry, Caz) to prosecute these cases, judges to preside over them, and corrections officers to keep the "offenders" in jail. Every cog in that big, nasty wheel can just say "I'm only doing my job." There's no personal responsibility - they're all just "following the law" or "obeying orders" or whatever. You can't be a willing part of the machine and not take responsibility for what the machine does.
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