I am on a gap year and teaching in a school abroad. I am thus the same age as some of the pupils in their last year; younger even than some, because a few students retake years. I do not have the status of a teacher, yet I am clearly not a student. Would it be ethical (or legal) for me to have a relationship with one of my students?
It was bad enough when it was just schoolchildren sneaking off together to have under-age sex, resulting in the most common term of address for girls in the playground becoming “Mum”. But with the increasing number of reports of teachers having sex with their pupils, you begun to get nostalgic for the wholesome days when young schoolchildren just had sex with each other.
It’s not just that teachers sleeping with their pupils is one of the last taboos in society, along with paedophilia, bestiality, incest, and voting to elect George Galloway to any position of public office.
Advertisement
It’s that, were you were teaching in a school in England rather than abroad, you would be committing a crime. In 2003 the Sexual Offences Act was changed so that any relationship with a pupil under the age of 18 could land a teacher in jail. Previously, teachers were not committing an offence if the pupil they were sleeping with was over 16.
As you say, you may not have the full status of a teacher. But, equally, it is clear even to you that you are not a student, however near to some of them you might be in age. And the pupils will certainly think of you more as a teacher than as one of them. You might not see any logical problem in sleeping with a pupil who happens to be your age, but there is a big ethical one. If desire overwhelms you, you could always quit your job, then start your affair.
FACING A DILEMMA
Have you got a dilemma of your own?
Write to Modern Morals, Times features, 1 Pennington Street, London, E98 1TT. E-mail: modernmorals@thetimes.co.uk