Ellen, a 25-year-old teacher in her third year of teaching, is actively engaged in extracurricular activities. She does this to impress the principal and for her personal enjoyment. Despite spending long hours away from home, she believes it is justified because her boyfriend, who is a lawyer, also has a demanding schedule. In addition to her other commitments, Ellen takes the time to tutor a student in her class who struggles with math after school.
Initially, Ellen takes pleasure in her interactions with Abbey, who is new to the area and lacks friends. As a result, Ellen engages in personal conversations with Abbey, leading to a relationship that surpasses the typical boundaries between a teacher and student. Simultaneously, Ellen has another student named Becky who holds the position of Lead cheerleader. Despite rumors suggesting that Becky is being mistreated at home, Ellen is unsure how to handle this information or determine its validity. However, one day Ellen notices a bruise on Becky and mentions it. Becky claims that she fell off her bike the previous week. Although uneasy about the situation, Ellen chooses to temporarily set aside her discomfort.
Ellen’s student Abbey has become quite clingy and even goes to the extent of driving by Ellen’s house periodically. Abbey seems to be present everywhere Ellen goes. Additionally, Ellen got into a confrontation with Becky, who shared that her step-father had lost his job and was drinking. Becky expressed fear of going home and asked if she could stay overnight with Ellen. The primary issue here is that Ellen violated the boundaries set by student and teacher guidelines. She formed a friendship with Abbey and disclosed personal information, breaching the guidelines. Even when Ellen was aware of the problem, she continued to disregard the boundaries.
Ellen is facing multiple problems. One of them is Becky, as Ellen suspected that she was being abused. It was both Ellen’s ethical and lawful duty to report any suspicions to the social worker, but she chose to dismiss it. As a result of not reporting the abuse, Ellen may face consequences. Additionally, Ellen should have made more effort to investigate the bruise when she first noticed it. Since Becky holds Ellen in high regard, a few simple words from Ellen may have encouraged Becky to open up about her situation. Furthermore, Ellen’s personal relationship with a student and her reluctance to let Abbey make new friends have contributed to this predicament. One solution could have been assigning a mentor to Abbey, which would have encouraged her to engage with others and potentially make new friends. Another approach would have been contacting Abbey’s parents to discuss her behavior, her friendships, and how they could help her interact with others. In another instance, Ellen failed to delve deeper into Becky’s bruise and neglected to ask important questions that could have aided in identifying abuse by Becky’s stepfather.
Becky’s request to spend the night was another instance of her crossing boundaries between teacher and student. This raised concerns for Ellen, who risked losing her teaching license for not reporting suspicions of abuse to the authorities. Even considering the possibility of Becky being abused is against the law and goes against ethical standards expected of teachers and parents.
