Why are Teachers Taking Advantage of their Students– and Getting Away With it?

So, now the news surrounds Debra LaFave as the case is dismissed against her in one of the two counties where she was charged with sex crimes against one of her middle school students. The lurid details displayed all over the internet, and talk of how attractive the teacher was providing fodder for late-night talk shows, Ms. LeFave is just the latest in a series of high-profile cases that have gotten media attention and are symptomatic of a problem that is only going to get worse.

One could ask, what causes someone that has a husband to go looking after some child that they are teaching? It could be that the husband isn’t meeting needs. It could be that the woman is a predator. It could be that the woman liked the thrill of the forbidden fruit.

Deep down, however, it is ultimately this woman’s choice to do something that society for now thinks is wrong (and is her responsibility) but it is also a product of a society that gradually eradicating any sense of moral conviction that this once great country had in exchange for a morality that accepts anything as long as it “doesn’t harm anyone” or “is consensual.

What was once shocking when Mary Kay Letourneau went from loving mother to having a child and wedding her student has now become commonplace, within only a few short years. And yet, in that time, the media and the court system have attempted to follow the current mood of the nation– which is “who cares”?

While the Christian community and those concerned for the lives of their fellow Americans have done tremendous work at combating the advances of those that would pollute sexuality, the advance behind the front wave is taking its toll on our country. What do I mean? There’s plenty of outrage about gay marriage, but being gay has gone from being a psychological disorder to something that’s required in almost every new movie or TV show. Even if there’s not an avowed gay character, then there will be talk that one of them is probably gay.

Now there is a movement to decriminalize polygamy, with even Christian columnists talking about how the patriarchs of the Bible had multiple wives. Of course, this is attracting attention, and rightly so, but in its wake is the stream of unwed couples living together playing house and thinking it is perfectly acceptable. There is an attitude of “as long as we love each other” or “as long as it is consensual” then we’re fine. It’s played over and over, and it’s raised here.

The problem is, it is wrong– the Creator said it is wrong, and society in their conscience knows that it is wrong– but we live in a time where we are told we are animals. When society violates God’s laws, society pays the price, and
we are paying it now. These judges did not make these decisions in a vacuum. In the case of LeFave, the judge tried to get her a stiffer penalty, but the parents of the boy didn’t want him to get on the stand, so they told the prosecutor to let her go.

The judges and legislatures are reflecting our values back for us to see. Will you stand against the tide and reject these things? Will you just accept it and say that this is the way the world is? Do you want to know the way that you can be most effective in turning the tide? Witness! God alone can change hearts, and with those hearts will come a new vigor for upholding righteousness!