A Lesson Not Learnt

[vernonk]

Jeremy Forrest mouthing I LOVE YOU in court to the underage pupil he had an affair and absconded to France with shows he either doesn't appreciate what he's done wrong or doesn't care. So IMO he deserves a very long sentence until at the very least he gets it into his thick head why such a relationship is wrong. The fact that the girl apparently responded the same way, also apologising and pledging to wait til he's free is not such a concern as she is an infatuated child. By the time Forrest gets out she may well have moved on, though if she is allowed to visit him in jail that will perpetuate an illicit romance for the Media. I've also been disturbed by glowing references Forrests fellow teachers gave to help his case, which surely condone his actions and therefore also make those teachers unsuitable for their jobs. Surely Forrest should never be allowed anywhere near a school again. what do you think?

[Baldric]

///Whether he'll be a better man in five and a half years,///

My guess is he'll be out in less than 3 yrs

[jno]

anything's possible, jim; a friend of mine married her teacher (a good 15 years older than her) and they had a very long and happy marriage. But... NOT till she'd left school. He was outraged at the idea of teachers having sexual relationships with pupils.

[rockyracoon]

Whoa, 5 and a half, that judge meant business, I thought he'd get 2 and a half to 3 years and be out around Christmas on a tag. Kudos to the judge.

[Sqad]

All this differentiation between love and infatuation seem to imply that love is the real thing and that infatuation is no legit.

Nonsense.....love is just as fragile as infatuation and the symptoms of both psychological emotions are basically the same.

[rockyracoon]

Jno, there was a teacher in my school that was widely rumoured to be carrying on with a pupil, whether it was sexual or not I don't know but they seemed to go to the pub at lunchtime quite a lot so the relationship wasn't what you'd call appropriate. I heard they got married when she left school and last I heard about 10 years ago, they were still together.

[jno]

I was told this judge is not a lenient man and the sentence would not be a rap over the knuckles; I'm pleased to see this was correct. Three years is ok by me as long as it is coupled with loss of job. But remembering that guy with genuine child abuse images on his computer, who was recommended for a return to teaching a few weeks ago, you can't be sure.

[pixie373]

Just back from work and completely agree with Andy. I had a crush on my maths teacher at school (as did a few others) and i was 17!
Looking back now, if he had ever done anything about it, it would have been shocking. I knew nothing really. It's just the effect of seeing a lot of somebody who is kind and seems to care. Teenagers aren't always the best at seeing their emotions in a rational light.

[rockyracoon]

I wouldn't disagree with that sqad, from my experience infatuation was more intense than love but lasted for a shorter amount of time, still as emotionally draining though. If these two still have feelings for each other I'd say it's gone beyond infatuation.

[jno]

agree, pixie, teachers have to be adults because children aren't.

[emmie]

he broke the position of trust, he should go to prison for a substantial time

[jim360]

May as well 'fess up to having had a crush on one of my maths teachers too. Since I've been back to help out at that school and she's still there it's just a bit awkward, but she doesn't know and never will if I can help it. Don't have the same feelings now although every time I looked at her I'm reminded of it. She's getting married (or already has been recently).

Anyway, I was 17 and lonely -- but, thankfully, sensible enough not to do anything about it. She'd probably have said no anyway...

[Ellipsis]

Maybe they'll get together after he comes out of prison and live happily ever after, just as presumably Forrest's wife thought was going to happen when he married her ...

More likely is that one or other or both will realise what massive idiots they've been, and grow up

And a possibility is that he moves on to another underage girl - but, next time, he should not be able to abuse a position of trust to do it ...

[FredPuli43]

Five and a half sounds appealable. Four would not be.He pleaded to the bulk of the indictment and only fought the abduction count.

[emmie]

he seems very immature

[jim360]

Latest: Banned for life from working with children.

[daffy654]

Most young teenage girls wouldn't sit around for 2 years+ waiting for a bloke to come out of prison. I think this 'relationship' will fizzle out fairly soon when she moves on to a lad more her own age.

[jno]

I see that in fact he only got one year for abduction, the rest was for underage sex. Perhaps that reflects a feeling that she went "voluntarily", in so far as a 15-year-old can volunteer for such a thing. I think that penalty should have been higher, though I don't know what the law provides for it.

[andy-hughes]

Space-Cadet - as you can see from my interaction with AOG, he seems to feel that I am entrenched in my views, and do not appreciate other points of view.

But as the day unfolds, it seems my point of view is heading into the majority, perhaps when he returns from lunch he will turn his attention to some of their posts, instead of singling out mine, as he does routinely.

[Sqad]

Well there you have it.
1) 5 and a half years
2) Banned for working with children for life.

If exactly the same scenario was acted out 1 yr later, there would have been no charges to answer.

Seems odd somewhere.....doesn't it?

That magical 15 biological year marker.....