by Corey Widdison

Created on: May 15, 2009

The recent story about the teachers Valynne Bowers and Linda Nef, who were accused of sexual crimes against a 13 year old boy, can hopefully go from bad to good for many others. It seems these days that it is very common to see pedophiles on the news. A child being sexually abused is becoming something of a norm. This is horrible, and unacceptable, and we need to put a stop to this activity and soon.

These two teachers are far worse than your average pedophile. In fact, when you think of a pedophile, what does one look like to you? Someone who hides in dark corners waiting for unsuspecting children to walk past unattended, or someone who offers children candy from their parked van? You would probably describe them as somewhat of a loner, a loser, a shy and pitiful soul. However your kid's teacher is probably last on the list of someone you might accuse to be a pedophile. And that is the most horrible part. The trust is broken. If you thought for one second that your child's teacher had something very wrong with them, you would not send your kids to that teacher, would you? Because of their position, we inherently trust teachers. Most teachers not only have the trust of their classes, but also their love and loyalty. Aside from parents, teachers are a big part of a child's development. They are not just teachers, but they are care takers for these children. For that reason they should be held to higher standards than the pervert trying to give your child candy.

You can warn your children about strangers and activities they should stay away from. Warning them about their teacher, however, is not even a topic that comes up. These two teachers have not just crossed the line, but went flying right past it. After all of these teachers sex abuse against their student cases, can you really trust the teachers like you did before?

This is more than just pedophilia. This is evil at its worst. These teachers who do these things not only hurt the child, but they hurt us all in the way it changes how we view every other teacher.

In the military, soldiers are held to a higher standard. Not because they are better than everyone else, but because of who they represent. They are ambassadors for the United States of America. Everything they do reflects on us as a country. Do you remember what happened to the soldiers who were involved with the Abbo Grab scandal? Their punishments were swift and harsh not just because of what they did, but because of how that affected the rest of the country. The United States was looked down upon making the rest of the soldiers' jobs even harder than they already were. I was a prison guard in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. As guards, we were more scrutinized than the prisoners. We had many rules and regulations to ensure that Abbo Grab never happened again.

If our military is held to such a high standard because of who they represent, than shouldn't our police officers and our teachers also be held to a high standard because of their jobs? The military protects us, the police keep the peace of our country, and our teachers teach and influence our future leaders. Shouldn't they all hold with their titles more responsibility?

We can fix some of this problem right now by handing down very harsh sentences. A hard sentence not only punishes the people who deserve it, but it also serves as a warning to the rest of the country. The abuse and mistrust of our fellow citizens will not be tolerated!

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