DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — If it seems as if you're hearing more about teachers having inappropriate relationships with students, the reality may match that perception.
Zachary Meadors disappeared over the weekend of Oct. 13, right after he left letters and videos on his family’s doorstep, apologizing. The DeKalb County teacher was under investigation for possibly having inappropriate relationships with a middle school student. (Update: He was later found dead.)
He is just the latest example of teachers suspected of harming students emotionally and physically. One more case to add to the dozens of new cases every year - just in Georgia.
Every month in Georgia, on average, four or five school teachers and administrators find out they face having their teaching certificates revoked or suspended because the state found that they were having inappropriate relationships with students.
According to the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, inappropriate relationships with students include everything from boundary violations, romantic relationships, physical relationships and sexual relationships between teacher and student. All are against the law, even if the student has reached the age of consent.
If charged and found guilty, the teachers could face decades in prison. But accurate numbers of arrests and convictions are difficult to compile, as there is no one clearinghouse of data.
However, one way to track the numbers is to see how many teachers actually lose their certificates for getting involved with students. According to the latest numbers for Georgia, in the past year, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission found evidence to revoke or suspend the certificates of 46 teachers for having inappropriate relationships with students. That’s an average of almost four teachers every month. In the previous 12 months, there were 56 teachers found to be in violation - 102 cases in two years, just in Georgia.
The numbers, however, don’t begin to tell the story of the children - those teachers’ victims - and the harm to them that can last a lifetime.
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