Yesterday I saw this story on Smart Bitches and got all fired up.  I haven’t been that furious in a long time. The short version is, a mother exposed a 10th grade teacher’s second job of writing erotica under a pen name. She believes the teacher is somehow unfit to teach, and says some pretty inflammatory (and utterly ridiculous) things.

Note that the teacher consciously kept her life as an erotic writer separate and out of the classroom. I respect her for that as she showed true sensitivity to the welfare of her students and concerns of parents. And I support her right to write whatever fiction she likes outside the classroom.

The article written about erotic author, Judy Mays, was in my opinion a witch hunt. A form of slander with no attempt to do “deep background” on the source(es) that said really offensive things about this woman.

I’m getting pissed all over again. Seriously. I raised three boys, and I can’t remember ever being concerned about a teacher’s life outside the class room. I can remember being concerned about laziness or teaching methods I did not agree with BUT I also believe that even less than stellar teachers taught my kids some realistic life lessons about dealing with the real world.  They are stronger men now for learning to deal with imperfections then.

I can completely respect that a parent’s right to “protect” their child, but I cannot respect ripping apart a teacher’s life when she has done nothing wrong.

Okay I’ll end my rant now.  Is there a rant you want to get off your chest?