My heart is heavy after this very long week. It has been a week full of stress, grief, denial and great heart ache. It is amazing how much pain the sins of others can cause.
Last week Caleb’s Drama teacher was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a student. This arrest shocked the drama students and staff at my school. It was an especially disturbing event since just over 6 weeks ago another teacher was arrested for the very same thing. As a mom I am horrified, as a teacher I am disgusted. I don’t think I will ever be able to understand why these things happen. I have been teaching for 16 years and have never had this happen at my place of employment, it is shocking for it to happen twice in such a short time span.
My son looked up to this person as a mentor, coach, and teacher. Caleb has worked with the drama department since his freshman year. He has grown and learned so much by participating in the program. I don’t want this incident to ruin his memories of the program or prevent him from wanting to be a part of the program moving forward.
My son took this especially hard. He and other members of the drama club were so distraught that they became physically sick. Caleb was hit so hard by these events that I actually let him stay home from school. Post by non-drama students on Facebook and Twitter have been harsh, and they have been directed at other teachers and the drama students. These kids are trying to process this, and those who do not understand the loss they are feeling are just being downright mean and callous.
I worry about my son because this is not the first time that the sexual sins of others have jolted his world. Several years ago the pastor at our church had an affair. It took a Caleb a while to come to terms with that incident, and now it is happening all over again. I am just very glad that the number Godly, strong male role models in his life outweighs the number of bad ones.
Going forward my hope is that in the future my son will remember the aftermath of these events. I hope that the memory of the pain, family destruction, and ruined lives will be a reminder to him of the consequences of actions. I hope that the memories of these events will keep him from making the same mistakes in his adult life. I hope he will always remember that what we do does impact others and sometimes the impact is greater than we can ever imagine.
Tags: sex, sexual sins, sin