His job is to teach the students, not use his classes as a showroom for potential dates. He's free to hit on the single women in the faculty but the students are off limits. He should already know this.

Also, all relationships do not have a difference in power. Some do but I think most of them are relatively equal. I think he's just using that as an excuse. Your friend has some questionable ideas.

I seem to have been blocked and a comment withdrawn because I asked if by staying with a spouse you might be condoning Inappropriate behaviour? Can you guess a, Who blocked me and b. Who the question was about?
It seems that debate is only limited to those that agree with you and if not people feel free to put words into your mouth.

he is making excuses, re all relationships and power. it's true, but irrelevant, because the student-teacher relationship involves clearly DEFINED power, and it BEGS to be abused (not all power is). lovers give each other a kind of power; they can exit the relationship if the power play is unfair and they're not into that. a student depends on a teacher for a grade that may make the difference between graduating and not, a grade point average that can influence the next educational step or employment, and maybe more. this is not the same thing as one partner being naturally stronger in some areas than another. if you break up with your lover and he gives you a bad grade for that, or if you stay with your lover and he gives you a good grade because he loves/likes/owns you, how is that ethical? the restrictive rules are GOOD. now, i used to teach, at a variety of levels, and i became romantically involved with one of my adult students. first of all, it was a cultural center. i had absolutely NO power over him. no grades were given, no degree or certificate was being sought, and nothing whatsoever rode upon our getting along, much less being friends, much less being lovers. even SO, he stopped being my student as soon as we realized that we were about to go beyond friendship. there was nothing for either of us to lose by his staying in the class, but it just felt wrong anyway. so we did the right thing.

g

I should have mentioned that it was college level, although this "friend" (should I call him acquaintance?) now tutors some high school level students so that is worrisome. He was rather adamant. I'm glad to get so much support for my position.

Just No! Not as long as the student is under your supervision. And that is at the collegiate level. Never in HighSchool, no matter what class they are in.

Relationships between any teacher and any student is wrong. Will the teacher give the student a fair grade or an inflated grade. This regards college level. Any lower education levels are criminal.

Nope! I remembered in high school being extremely flattered if an older man expressed interest in me. However, a high school aged girl is to young to be with a man (or woman) old enough to be a teacher.

College is more of a gray area.

hes a dick and should not be a teacher if he can't understand why that makes him at best a potential sex offender the power imbalance is so weighted towards the person in power only a moron would try and justify it your friends a moron btw

I think your friend doesn't get it. If he doesn't understand how his position could pressure a student into acquiescence, he should never have been in a classroom.

I am a university lecturer and I would be dismissed if I began a relationship with a student. Some of my students are my age or even older, they know their own mind. However, as Stephanie states the power dyanamic makes this very murky. My colleague (and sort of boss) married his ex-student. These are adult relationships and consequently its no one else's business, however this is wildly open to abuse...oh and most students pong

The law says that anyone in a position of trust cannot have any sexual contact with a person in their care, even when they are over the age of consent at 16.

The reason for this is that the adult is in a position of responsibility and they are there to look out for the best interests of the young person in their care. Someone in a position of trust is classed as a teacher or someone whose job it is to look after you. So, if you were in a hospital or residential care, the people looking after you would also be breaking the law if they had a sexual relationship with you.

This means that any sexual activity with someone under 18 is illegal, which includes any intimate touching, even kissing, as well as all sexual intercourse between both males and females.

It is important to remember that the person over the age of 18 is the one who is breaking the law. The person receiving the care, such as the student, are deemed to be innocent. No matter what part they have played in the relationship, even if they want the relationship, and have taken active steps to encourage it, no charges will be brought against them.

Even when both people are over 18, many jobs where someone provides care or a service for someone else, have rules in place which make it against their policy to engage in a sexual relationship.

If the worker ignores this rule, it can mean they can lose their job because the relationship is seen as inappropriate, and therefore goes against the company policies and procedures, which are there to protect the people who are being provided a service or being cared for.

For more information, read The Sexual Offenses Act 2003 and The Sexual Offenses (Amendment) Act 2000.

So if his boss showed interest in him sexually .. he would be ok with that?

Your friend is thinking only in terms of power without considering the type of relationship that already exists. I don't mind unequal power — e.g., one person with a better job, more social or political influence, etc. — but that's not what we're talking about here. This is an existing relationship in which the dynamic is unbalanced, which makes consent questionable at best. It opens the door to an imbalance that affects (in this case) academics, career, and so on. Even if he weren't the sort to use his position to coerce women to engage in sex with him, without these rules in place there would be many people who would use their position of authority (teachers, clergy, politicians, employers, police, judges, and on and on) to prey on people who are directly under their thumb and who don't have an easy means of escaping that dynamic. For someone in his position, today, after everything we've seen in the news, to not understand how that power dynamic casts a shadow on any ostensible consent is bordering on willful ignorance to say the least.

The power dynamic is unbalanced in favor of the teacher during the class but once the class is over and as long as both are adults, I have no problem. Perhaps after the class, the teacher may still impart some sensual lessons.

I think that this type of thinking may be what has lead to his lack of relationship success more than the restriction.