Anyone who has ever worked in youth programs can tell you that a few weeks of correcting the piss poor English of a 12-year-old “star” student who thinks Mr. So-and-so is just the coolest teacher ever because he gives all the girls great big hugs basically proves that homeschooling is the only way you can guarantee that your child will not return home one day with Mao’s Little Red Book in one hand and a receipt for an abortion in the other.
I’ve seen elementary students lectured on the evils of Republicans, spoken with gay teens who were told by their teachers that “all people have had gay sex” at least once and spoken to livid parents whose children were being made fun of in class by teachers. And I’ve heard of worse than that.
In other words, we just don’t have the caliber of teachers we should in this country. Not all of them mind you. Some teachers I have met and worked with were literally magnificent people who I’d trust with my children any time. Then there are teachers like Daniel Rothbard:
A Nassau teacher and camp counselor accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl used text messages and the social networking site MySpace to arrange a meeting with his alleged victim, Suffolk authorities said Wednesday.
The online relationship between Daniel Rothbard, 28, of Merrick, and the girl began several days before a police officer discovered them Tuesday having sex in a parked car, according to Det. Lt. Matt Sullivan of the Third Precinct.
Using the screen name “DJ” or “D to the J” and claiming to be 17 years old, Rothbard also communicated online with the girl’s friends. “He was asking them online for sex,” Sullivan said.
Rothbard is a math teacher at the Willow Road Elementary School in Franklin Square, where he has been employed for four years, according to a statement from Elizabeth Lison, superintendent of Valley Stream Union Free School District 13. The district is consulting with legal counsel regarding his employment, she said.
Rothbard also worked as a summer counselor for about 15 years at Rolling River Day School and Camp in East Rockaway.
“We are all in shock – his closest friends, his family. He has a lot of close friends here and it is amazing that not one of them had an inkling,” said director Mark Goodman. The camp has fired him and sent letters to families recommending they ask their children whether anyone asked them “to keep a secret,” Goodman said. “We certainly have no reason to think that anything happened at camp.”
Rothbard was having sex with the 15-year-old about 8:25 p.m. Tuesday when the officer found the pair outside Westbrook Elementary School in West Islip, according to a Suffolk prosecutor. Police believe Rothbard and the girl met for the first time Tuesday.
“We believe there is every possibility that there are other victims,” Sullivan said.
What’s incredible here is that someone would think he could get away with something so asinine. A man who is almost 30 posing as a high school junior? How immature do you have to be to even do something like that? And how did he spend the last 15 years going unnoticed by schools and youth programs?
Because people allow teachers and counselors to dwell in perpetual adolescence, accepting the idea that those who work with their children will share the traits of children. “Fun” teachers are applauded for their ability to “relate” to kids and no one ever asks why this adult is so childlike. Parents think nothing of finding out their child’s teacher spent an entire semester promoting Ralph Nader and we think it’s par for the course to see a New York private school teacher sneaking his class to Communist Cuba. And Rothbard is one of just hundreds of teachers who have been caught molesting children.
This is who is teaching your children. And this is what they produce (via Breda Fallacy):
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5oVzbwYWpg[/youtube]
Isn’t it time someone demanded better?
h/t Trench