What if you came home from school and found out that your child’s favorite teacher had been fired? You would probably feel bad for your child because good teachers are hard to find. You’d then probably want to follow-up and try to find out why the teacher was let go.
What if you found out that the teacher had been a stripper before becoming a teacher? Would that change your opinion of the teacher? Why? Do teachers need to have higher standards in order to be good instructors for our children? Are they not allowed to make adult decisions in their personal life as long as it does not affect the children they are teaching?
What if you found out that the teacher had also been a prostitute trying to make ends meet and pay for her schooling. Does this now completely alter your view of the teacher and their ability to do their new job in a professional manner? Would you want this teacher fired from her job for using behavior unbecoming of a teacher?
What if you found out that this teacher had tenure?
What if you found out that the only way people found out about this situation was because she BLOGGED about her past?
Melissa Petro
Melissa Petro is an interesting case. Do I judge her for what she did? Perhaps. Do I think she’s any less qualified to teach my children whatever itinerary is provided to her by the school that she works for? Not at all. I mean, it’s not like she’s going to talk to kids about what it’s like to have sex for money. It’s not like she’s going to tell wild tales to kids about stripping in Mexico.
Melissa Petro
How much should we judge the pasts of people? Can they not change? Are they not allowed to make mistakes and start over? And if the only people they were hurting were themselves, who are we to judge them as people TODAY?
I’m not sure how good this teacher is. I’m not sure if she’s adequately qualified to even BE a tenured teacher. But for the sake of argument, let’s say that she is.
Should that change anything?
December 15th, 2010 at 10:36 am
I haven’t thought this through because this is the first I’ve heard of it. But right off the cuff, I’d say as long as she doesn’t have any long standing drug issues or stds, who cares how she paid her way through school. A lot of women do that. I’ve met lots of strippers *ahem* and in general, really nice girls. And none of them are sex fiends… in fact, they’re putting on a show and are SO ready to make money doing something else.
I dunno. If she’s had a good history as a teacher, freakin’ let her be. Just like if politicians smoked pot before… who cares?
December 15th, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Why does it matter if she has an STD? She isn’t going to be having sex with her students. I would love it came out how many of our childrens teachers have STDs more then we would ever want to know. I don’t think it matters at all.
December 15th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
That came out meaner then I meant and I am sorry. What I was trying to say is teachers of all past could have an STD, and it does not affect there teaching ability why does it matter. As someone who someone I am close too, was a stripper at one point and then a teacher and coach, it didn’t affect how she taught at all. I don’t think it matters, I think we as a society need to realize that teacher have past too. I am so over the sterotype that teachers need to be as saintly as pastors (who lots of have sordid pasts themselves.)
December 15th, 2010 at 11:05 am
If you haven’t done so, read this report, and you will get a better understanding of the sequence of events:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/melissa-petro/writing-from-the-rubber-r_b_792093.html
I must admit that initially, I am on her side, as her past was already known to hiring agents…I wonder though, how would she ever be able to teach again, without changing her name? Wouldn’t kids find a reason to look at her differently, and be disrespectful (some of them would, I know it). She made a mistake. She told the world about it, as a form of honest counsel. We all know how media jumps on any juicy details it can…as if she is the only professionally employed person in the world to have made choices that may seem unfitting for an educator. I just wish the employers had enough guts to stand up for her, like they implied when they hired her.