[slight hijack] Blinking Duck, how on Earth were you in a position to get a professorship at the ripe old age of 24? Did you graduate from college when you were 17? [/end slight hijack]
It may be the difference in our locations. I live in the South, and having the guy pay for dinner is still pretty standard here. I have only allowed a guy to pay once or twice before, but I’ve also paid for several dates as well (when I invited him). It’s the OFFER that’s still important, I think.
I couldn’t have said this better myself. As a single, young, female teacher, it is often a task separating myself from the flirtatious nature of physically mature, aggressive teenage boys. They are physically appealing to the eyes, extremely attentive, and much more aggressive than most men my own age. My ethics, however, would never allow me to take advantage of their advances. After the first few months of each year, the problem dies down after they learn to see me in much more of a parental role. Any teacher who fails to separate him/herself from the sexual mess involved with teaching teenagers is, as Yondan said, maladjusted and predatory.
Scribble, I was a junior in college when I turned 18 and completed my Masters when I was 21, I think. I actually taught high school before I started teaching college and didn’t have my PH.D when I started teaching college Math, even though I had a tenure-track position.
My God, I oozed potential back then. What happened? 
