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"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
--Mr. Spock, "Star Trek VI" (Paramount Pictures) | | "What are you--a psychic?" you may be asking. "How can you, Mr. Charles, know what is going in these principals' minds? Maybe YOU just have a dirty mind that you're projecting onto a lot of honorable and dedicated men, who aren't so troubled with impure thoughts that it affects their professional judgement. As if they don't already get enough grief for trying to do the difficult job they have of keeping order in the schools! . . ." | | While I suppose this defense might conceivably be true for a rare few, all these principals "put their pants on one leg at a time" just like I do. I've lived long enough now and have, in a Shakespearean sense, worn the hat of a cook, assembly line worker, machine shop worker, mechanic, engineer, and teacher in a Christian high school, to have a pretty good idea of what goes on in men's minds when a shapely young woman walks by, regardless of their occupation, religious views, or personal outlook on life. | | Men are men. Some are more open and blatant than others, and some are more sexually charged than others, but we all--myself included--are basically wired the same. It doesn't mean you are a bad man if your eye glances down, however subtly, to the rear of an attractive female. It just means you are a heterosexual man. It does become a problem, of course, if you think you can subject her to catcalls, lewd comments, or smacks on the behind (no matter what rules she may have broken). But paraphrasing an old saying, "To glance is human." (To pretend not to glance is as close to divine as most of us guys get, if the truth were known. ) | | OK . . . so we glance at the physical forms of young women, including teen girls, and for the most part they know they are the objects of our glances. "No harm, no foul" if this is as far as it goes. But how about if one of these same glancing men is authorized to make one of these young women bend over for him while he stands directly behind her with his eyes fixed on her protruding buttocks? Now we do have potential harm and conflict of interest--and that's even before the first blow of the paddle lands. | | For those who would say that I'm unfairly assuming the worst about these educators, or failing to give them the benefit of the doubt in the absence of hard proof, keep in mind that juries in court trials often have to infer motivations unconfessed by a defendant or witness--even without any conclusive physical evidence to guide them. They must hypothetically consider what the person would stand to gain from lying, or lose from telling the truth. They also must weigh the plausibility of whatever account the person gives of his or her motivations, or in other words, whether they could reasonably "buy it." | | If a principal were known to enjoy paddling students, obviously, he would lose not only the fun of paddling, but also probably his job and social standing as well--and these sanctions are just what the court of public opinion could impose. It's therefore very unlikely that one who got such enjoyment would publicly admit it. So we come to the question of how plausible the alternative explanations are. |
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