It has recently come to my attention that one of the teachers in the school in which I am student teaching had been convicted of a DWI. This made me question the idea of offenses and sentences with regard to teachers. My question is if a teacher is convicted of a crime or offense, how should the school deal with the situation? Should others be notified, and if so, who? Should parents be aware of these types of issues? Should the school itself hold the teacher accountable and should there be grounds for dismissal? Should all of these actions depend upon the severity of the offense, and if so, how is that decided upon? I find this to be a very interesting issue, seeing that as future teachers we are prepared to understand the fact we are always under the microscope in the general public's eye. Where should all these lines be drawn so we have a clear indication of who we should be as teachers?
I know that teachers are in the public eye, and that we need to watch our actions so we are positive role models for our students. However, everyone makes mistakes - we are all human. I believe that after an offense like the one mentioned that someone needs to be made aware, however I do not believe that this should be grounds for dismissal. Perhaps it would make a good lesson for the students (if the teacher chooses to share his story), about making good decisions in life. We all do things that we are not proud of, and I am sure many of us have committed offenses similar to this (take speeding for example) and have not gotten caught. Humans make mistakes, and I think it is important that we all realize this. We as teachers just need to try "harder" than everyone else to make good decisions because we are more in the public eye.
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