Rethinking the taboo of the teacher-pupil relationship

How would you react if your 16- or 17-year-old daughter had an affair with her male teacher? Quite a few of you would probably not much like the idea, quite apart from the fact that the relationship would be a crime under The Sexual Offences Act, 2003.

Recent analysis of the phenomenon, by Professor Pat Sikes of the University of Sheffield, raises some doubts about automatic censoriousness towards such relationships. Sikes makes no bones about where she is coming from, as she first fell in love with her husband when she was 14 and he was her 22-year-old teacher. However, their sexual relationship did not begin until he left the school when she was 16.

While in no way condoning the sexual exploitation of authority and greater age by male teachers, Sikes points out that schools are awash with sexual desire, including between teachers and pupils. Illustrating with three case histories, she states: “Most people who have been teachers or pupils in secondary schools know of at least one case of a teacher and a pupil marrying or living together in an enduring and solid relationship.” If the relationship can be lifelong, she says we should not have such an automatically censorious reaction to all cases. Read Article

By Oliver James