Gray area between students and teachers

Overall, sexual harassment on college campuses seems much more widespread in China and efforts to thwart it less consistent. Many of the reported cases would fall into the category of harassment no matter how it is defined. But because universities are inconsistent in their efforts to stop harassment, some teachers have no qualms preying on their students. And that must be stopped.

But I don't think it is a good idea to push the pendulum to the other extreme－to the point that teachers treat their students as if they were carriers of a deadly virus. Schools should set up a mechanism to hear student complaints and remove their fear of retaliation. As students of that age and intelligence should have the ability to intuit a sexual advance, they need to learn to avoid the trap diplomatically, and if that doesn't work, report it to the school. For me, if you text your teacher "I miss you so much" after he coerced you, you have disqualified yourself from the sympathetic role of the victim.

As for China's rich history of great romances between writers-artists and their students, it is politically incorrect or at least inadvisable in the current environment but still possible given the way of human interaction and chemistry. When I was an undergrad, a female classmate of mine came on so strong to our teacher that the entire class sympathized with him because he was palpably uncomfortable with it. Their eventual marriage ended up in acrimony. Maybe this should serve as a cautionary tale to teachers who use their pool of students for purposes other than imparting knowledge.

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