Can teachers date and have sex with their students if the student is of age? For example can a high school teacher in Illinois date and have sex with a 17 year old girl in his class? What if she is not his student, but attends the school he teaches at? What if he had her as a student, but recently left the school? What if he was a substitute? Or is all of this just a matter where he can be fired?
My guess is that any situation where one of the would-be lovers has legal authority (or is in a position of trust, for example a doctor’s authority) over the other is forbidden. Teacher/student, boss/worker, therapist/client, sergeant/trooper, priest/parishioner, lawyer/client. In all of these situations, the two can’t meet as equals.
So the teacher would have to wait until the student was out of the school in question. And not just out of the particular class the teacher is teaching, either; I asked this question in another thread, and apparently all teachers in a school are in authority collectively over all students.
This is assuming both teacher and student are otherwise adults and able to make their own decisions. People below the age of consent are by definition not able to meet adults as legal equals (though of course this varies all over the map according to jurisdiction).
It’s about firing, and (if the person is a minor), about sex with a minor.
Generally speaking, the school or school system has a policy that states that romantic/sexual relationships are not allowed. One could also argue that the school serves in loco parentis, which I’m pretty sure is true even if the the student is of age. 17 is not “of age” in the US.
In colleges and universities, these days there is typically a policy that states that a staff or faculty member may not enter into a romantic/sexual relationship either with a person over whom the staff member has evaluative power. This is often true even if the person is a substitute, adjunct, or teaching assistant.
Edit: There may also be a statement to the effect that some amount of time has to pass before any other kind of relationship can even be discussed. Ex-teachers still have evaluative power (for example, they can write you an inappropriately glowing college or job letter, or refuse to do so if you break their heart).
I doubt a teacher-student relationship per se is against the law. It’s definitely against school policy though, and will get the teacher fired. (Some universities say it’s okay as long as the student is not in the teacher’s class, or their advisee, or in any other position where the teacher has direct authority over the student, but I doubt any high schools will have this much leeway in their policies.)
Such conduct is illegal in Texas:
from the Texas Penal Code
sure it is, each state has their own rules regarding age of consent, while 18 goes for all 50 states many have lower ages with differing rules.
here in Washington AoC is 16 but as posted already, not if you are in a position of authority over the minor. so while I can legally have sex with 16 year old girls I cant with my students because I am their teacher. same goes for the boss/guardian/whatever has some power over the minor in question.
Yes, I wasn’t specific enough but the OP didn’t specify either country or state so I was trying to answer more generally.
From my OP:
Interesting Q. Especially since just in the last couple of days there have been very public court cases on the matter in Australia and New Zealand – the two countries where I have taught. (Two cases in Queensland, one in my home town broke today. One undergoing lengthy trial in Auckland as we speak.)
The case in Brisbane exposed an inconsistency in that the legal position as stated by state laws was different from the position as stated by Education Queensland (a government organisation) policy. According to law, this particular teacher had done nothing wrong and hence was not able to be prosecuted. But he was sacked from his position and will (IMHO rightly) be never allowed to teach in Queensland again.
The case in NZ has boiled down to a conflict over whose version of events to believe. Which basically means that the teacher in question did whatever he did out of view of any other person. This is imprudent in the extreme. He has admitted to some actions that I would consider dodgy, but are not in themselves illegal. He has trespassed NZ teaching ethical standards. He has 7 students or former students crying foul. I would say that his goose is cooked. He won’t teach again, and I would guess from what I have read that he will be convicted: not just of profession misconduct, but or criminal activity, and serve time.
So, to summarise, it does vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but professional standards for teachers are commonly set at a higher level; which means that a teacher is in trouble long before any laws are broken.
Yes, I saw the words “For example … Illinois.” However, the rest of your question appeared to be more general. The title is “Teachers dating students - Against the law?” not “Teachers dating students in Illinois - Against the law?” so I was trying to answer more generally.
FWIW, There are specific laws against it in the UK.
If you’re in a position of control or authority over a person you can’t engage in romantic or sexual activity with them.
It still happens of course, sometimes it’s more creepy than other times!
ok how the hell is this legal? age 18 is adult everywhere in the country? is it seriously possible to convict someone for consensual adult/adult sex?..oh wait, this is America, land of the sodomy is illegal in several states.
Isn’t it legal if the state legislature passes a law? I know it’s strange, but the state government can do that.
This made me a little curious and so I checked Wiki.
The place with the highest age of consent in the world appears to be Madagascar where it is 21. It can be as low as 12 is some parts of Mexico. In Yemen it’s 9, but you have to be married (are you fucking kidding me?)
Also per Wiki, if my calculations are correct, 24 U.S. States have an AoC below 18. It’s 17 in five States, 16 in eighteen States and 14(!) in one State (Missouri).
Didn’t your supreme court invalidate the remaining sodomy laws a few years ago? cite
At the University I work at it is only forbidden if you have ‘direct authority’ which does include former students do to the reasons mentioned earlier. At the community college I teach at, the rules appear looser and it seems to only imply current students. At both schools the policy falls directly under the ‘sexual harassment’ language, meaning it could also be applied to students who know you are dating another student and feel uncomfortable about it. At the college level, I think they just treat it like they would in any work environment
I have never seen or heard about anyone getting in trouble for it, and I have seen plenty of it take place. I could say the same about when I was in the private sector too.
Colorado used to have a law that roughly said if a person is “in authority” over another person whether it is of age or not, it will be considered rape. That took in teacher/student, officer/enlisted person, guard/prisoner and even boss/employee. I heard it was being, or had been tested in the last few years and I haven’t been following it, so it may well have changed.
Prostitution is illegal in 48 states and the District of Columbia regardless of the age of the parties involved (though the penalties do get stricter if a minor’s involved).
The parenthetical clause there is essential for a university, since many of the teachers will themselves be students. Most graduate students will teach at some point or another during their time as students, and many graduate students are in romantic relationships with other grads or undergrads. If no teacher at the university were allowed a relationship with any student at the university, then the life of graduate students would be even bleaker than it is now.
There are, however, still rules against romantic relationships with anyone over whom one has any control over grades. If there’s already a relationship when the situation comes up, the parties involved are supposed to go through channels to declare a conflict of interest, and appropriate measures can be taken (the TA might be assigned to a different class, or another grader might take care of all of that student’s material).