I received a text from a friend a short time ago asking if I’d read the latest local headlines. They were about a former gym teacher we had in grade 8. My friend said “google her”. So I did.
Scarily enough what I found wasn’t totally surprising but it was definitely upsetting. It seems she has been charged with sexually assaulting two 13ish year old grade 8 boys. These incidents occurred long ago in the early 1980’s. I say it wasn’t totally surprising because back then my girlfriends and I knew there was something off about her.
Thinking back, there was a lot of inappropriateness regarding her … starting with clothing choices. She wore very, very short tennis dresses with frilly underwear peeking out and low cut necklines that seemed to accentuate her breasts. But, it wasn’t just the clothing that had us whispering to each other. Some of her actions were iffy, in our minds.
She wasn’t the nicest teacher to some of the girls for no good reason I could see. My mom had a run in with her over her treatment of me. And she seemed to prance around the male gym teacher in a flirtatious manner.
Then there was the shower incident. I remember one basketball practice when the team was waiting for her to show up. She came out of her office wearing a towel wrapped around her hair and a dressing gown. Clearly she had just showered. She did return to her office to change but only after giving us instructions. It was weird.
Personally I didn’t notice any iffy interactions with the boys but I do wonder if any of my male friends were the victim of an assault. I really, really hope not. I also wonder that maybe if we had told someone about how we felt, would these incidents have come to light years ago and perhaps stopped. But we didn’t. She was a teacher and in charge. Back then kids rarely said anything bad or contentious about those in authority. It rarely happened.
I think kids today are encouraged to talk more about their interactions with everyone, including authority figures. At least I hope so. I hope they are more comfortable expressing their feelings about people than we were. And even if they can’t describe why they feel uneasy, maybe the uneasiness is enough to raise a red flag.
We girls at 13 had the right instinct that something wasn’t as it should be. Our failing was not speaking about it to other adults. I feel remorse over that.
Until the next time.
I agree. Too many adults dismiss kids (and their thoughts/feelings.) We'd be wise to become better listeners and friends to our younger generation. I believe the majority have much to offer in changing the status quo and making the world a more fair and just place.
Loved that your mom called your teacher out …I’m surprised other faculty may not of wondered about thegym teacher …everyone is even worse today afraid to say anything in case of offending or getting involved …Yes as a teenager or even younger our instincts kick in that something isn’t proper or correct going on in certain situations…we just are not confident to voice our opinions although Christine growing up and seeing you I always thought you were very confident and
extremely bright …your father and mother were very smart…and I think they instilled in you the common sense factor or gut instinct feeling …I had it …don’t think my siblings had it as much as me but it has been with me all my life …maybe it’s genetic !.
I think as adults we can encourage our younger children to be open and tell us anything and not be fearful of any retribution ..easier said than done …everyone seems to have experienced some type of situation in their younger years that was not quite right …hoping-going forward our generation can encourage our young ones to tell us anything going on in their young lives …social media is also bringing to light a lot of these type of situations going on which is good …a topic that should be discussed more frequently with children,teens and family and even at school through guidance counsellors etc…very much a topic to bring focus on !👍🏻