Teacher-Student Relationships: Crossing into the Emotional, Physical, and Sexual Realms

by III, PhD, Zarra PhD, Ernest J.

Overview

Why are so many public school teachers, administrators, and coaches choosing to become romantically and sexually involved with teenage students and players? Since 2000, numbers of intimate relationships between teachers and students have skyrocketed. Teacher arrests are at all-time highs. Is there a correlation between these relationships and communication and social technologies? This book explores:

• What is driving those in public and private education to have romantic and sexual relationships with their students, and to jeopardize their careers, families, reputations, and freedom?
• What roles do communication and social technologies play in feeding teacher-student relationships?
• Who is protecting teenagers from predator-teachers and predator-coaches, in our schools?
• Is there a new phenomenon in schools: The Predator Teenage Student?
• What practical strategies can be put in place to protect teenagers from sexual predators on our campuses?
• The appropriate educational use of communication technologies on high school campuses.

This book is provocative and relevant for educators at all levels, public and private. It is also a must-read for professors, teachers-in training, athletic and academic coaches, school administrators, and parents.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475802382
Publisher:	R&L Education
Publication date:	04/08/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	228
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ernest J. Zarra, III, Ph.D. currently teaches Advanced Placement and College Prep United States Government and Economics to seniors at the highly state-decorated and top-ranked Centennial High School in Bakersfield, California. Zarra has five earned degrees, and holds a Ph.D. in teaching and learning theory from the University of Southern California, with cognates in psychology and technology. He is an author, national conference presenter, a district professional development leader, and a member of several national honor societies.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TABLES AND FIGURES
PREFACE

CHAPTER 1 BOUNDARIES AND BARRIERS TO TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS

CHAPTER 2 TECHNOLOGY, TEMPTATION, AND THE TEENAGER

CHAPTER 3 TEENAGE BRAINS, MATURITY, AND EMOTIONS

CHAPTER 4 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TEACHERS AND TEENAGE STUDENTS

CHAPTER 5 SOCIAL NETWORKING AND RELATIONSHIPS IN A DIGITAL WORLD

CHAPTER 6 SCHOOL CULTURE AND RELATIONSHIPS

CHAPTER 7 EDUCATION POLICY: MORALITY, PURPOSE, AND COMMON SENSE

CHAPTER 8 TECHNOLOGY: TOOLS AND TACTICS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INDEX

Editorial Reviews

As the Olympics commentators say, 'Zarra nailed it!' The 'it' is the current reality of American schools and the changing relationships between teachers and students. Dr. Zarra lays out the new world of sexting, bullying and sexual manipulation, and the eroding of authority and boundaries in our classrooms. This blockbuster book is a must read both for those entering the teaching profession and older educators wondering what is happening to the school environment.

Kevin Ryan

Dr. Zarra's resource is packed with insights and powerful discussion questions. In the current social media climate, this is a must for all educators!

Eric Jensen

Zarra’s book is the map you’ve been waiting for—clear, accessible, useful, and well aimed. You’ll find the volume full of examples, principles, and sound advice—a captain’s guide to charting the deep waters of moral reasoning, of practical wisdom, of tutored intuition, and of interpersonal obligations—all in the context of modern and postmodern education, whether online or in person. Furthermore, one of the greatest strengths of Zarra's book is its ability to articulate sound educational and pedagogical reasons without descending habitually into the mind-numbing morass of education-speak, and the affected jargon that too often beclouds rather than illumines the truths under review.

Michael Bauman

High school teacher and education theorist Zarra investigates how young adult brains process emotions and how the use of technology impacts mental maturity. In rethinking how educators address the topic, Zarra provides guidelines for creating boundaries between students and teachers that simultaneously strengthen their relationships in appropriate ways. His discussion extends to topics of developing character in children and how the brain development of children influences their interaction with educators later in life. Readers of Thomas Lickona’s Character Matters and Educating for Character as well as Eric Jensen’s Teaching with the Brain in Mind and Brain-Based Learning will find Zarra’s intersections useful.

Verdict The practical guidelines mostly boil down to common sense; however, the author illuminates the topic with neuroscientific research that stages a forum for a continued dialog.—Julia M. Reffner, Fairport, NY
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