Those Who Work With Teenagers Must Respect Boundaries

By Leon Hoffman, MD

The New York Times, May 27, 1995

Your article "Teacher-Student Sex Said to Be Not Unusual" (May 21, 1995, Page 37 of "The Metro" section), draws attention to a critical problem that should be acknowledged openly by the educational community. All members of the helping professions, such as pedagogy, medicine, psychology, and psychiatry, have to be cognizant that they may find themselves in situations where they are tempted to engage in "boundary violations." Only with open acknowledgement can the helping professions address the ongoing issue of potential boundary violations. In order to help their members, the leaders of these professions must be alert to recognize the warning signs which indicate that a boundary violation may occur. The teacher-student relationship, like the doctor-patient or therapist-patient relationship, is an unequal relationship. The teacher, the doctor, and the therapist are often viewed as special and important persons by the people whom they care for. As a result, the student or patient is emotionally vulnerable and open to manipulation by the person who supplies the help.

In their search for their own identity, young adolescent men and women look for role models outside their immediate families. Since teachers are the adults with whom adolescents have the greatest amount of contact, they can become crucial figures to whom adolescents look for guidance and for the expansion of their moral values. Adolescents may confide in their teachers about problems with parents, peers, and their developing love life. In these interactions, the adolescent may appear to be or even in reality be seductive, flirtatious, and inviting to the teacher and may even wish, consciously or unconsciously, that the teacher respond in a physical or sexual manner. In this vein, one comment in the article needs to be clarified, so that it not be used to justify a teacher's abuse of his or her responsibility. Alvin Cooper is quoted as saying that "The older man falls victim to Calvin Klein commercials with 14- or 15- year-old girls. The media make for a lot of sexual acting out in our society." Regardless of the adolescent's verbal and/or non-verbal invitations, the teacher, as the adult - the person in that special position of trust - must remain cognizant of his or her responsibility.