All right, why do you send your kids to school? To learn? Or to give their teacher massages and scratch his back?
What? It's not the latter? Well, then you better not send your kiddo to Taylorsville Elementary School in Utah. There's a third grade teacher there who was caught ordering his students to scratch his back and rub his feet. And yes, he still has his job.
The Granite School District has disciplined Bryan Watts, the 53-year-old who was taking advantage of a bunch of 8-year-olds, and forbidden him from "inappropriate contact" with kids again. But he's still in the classroom, teaching.
As the mother of a second grader who I know is pretty eager to please (literally, those were the words her teacher used on her latest report card ... something I thought, at the time, was a good thing), the whole debacle scares me to pieces. Eager to please kids who have been raised by parents like me to listen to authority figures, especially teachers, can easily be drawn into a situation like this.
A teacher says jump, and they say "how high," because, after all, they're a TEACHER. But the idea of my little girl with her hands on a grown man's feet gives me the willies. She shouldn't be put in that position, no matter how important it is that we teach our kids to respect authority.
Perhaps this situation scares me most because I had a situation that came close to this as a child. I am the only person I've ever encountered from my school district who loathed a certain teacher, but I have a secret. When I was about my daughter's age, I stumbled in line, accidentally stepping on the man's shoe. As punishment, he made me get down on my knees and clean his shoes for him.
I didn't know at the time that I could say "no." I thought I had to do it. I imagine the same can be said of the kids who acquiesced to Bryan Watts' demands that they turn the classroom into a spa. They were just kids, listening to their teacher.
I'm horrified that this guy is still in a classroom, but I will say this has empowered me to have another talk with my daughter and her rights. She can and should say no when she feels uncomfortable, whether it's a teacher or a cop or any other authority figure. She has to know that she isn't powerless simply because she's a child.
She has to know that she should never be forced to touch a grown man (or woman for that matter) when she feels like it would be inappropriate.
Will you be having a talk with your kids about this story? What will you say?
Image via Bunches and Bits {Karina}/Flickr
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Comments 12
grrrrrrrrrrrrr...
I remember scratching my teachers back at that age... however, we weren't forced too, and it wasn't a man.. we loved our teacher (and were a bunch of little suck ups i guess, lol) .. plus, this was a different time (we'd even hug her goodbye --shock!!!) and i can say whole heartedly i would have never ever ever touched her feet, lol
What on earth was this "teacher" or the admininstration thinking , what possible explanation can he give for this,, massaging his feet? Okay I won't do that for ANYONE not even my husband when I was married unless he was freshly showered,,, that is just plain gross, the idea of a man.. ordering children to do this is just flat out disturbing!!!!
excuse the language people; but hell yes I am mostly definitely having a talk with my children, who are also eager to please.. In my opnion this teacher should be relieved of his duty as a teacher. If he was ordering his students to rub his feet, or scratching his back; What else could he be ordering his students to do without anyone else knowing about???? What's to keep him from doing it again??? No teacher has the right to order their students to do such things. Their job is to care, and to educate the children. Then again i may be wrong..
This women with the nani thing as she put it,yes it's our job as a parent to teach our children their rights. So what's with the nani then. It's your right as a parent to take care of your child yourself too.So don't judge parenting when you think all people are good especially if they are your child's teacher .Authority figure in their lives.I don't remember seeing back scratch and foot rubs on my childs report card. Do what you suppose to do as a teacher educate our children.Some teacher even go and extra mile to prove they care about what they do.
He sounds like a pedophile with a foot fetish. Creepy, and he should be brought up on charges.