Parents Are Freaking Out Because A Teacher Writes Erotica

If you thought that teachers being fired for online personals ads or school staff getting fired for being in porn wasn’t enough, now some parents in Middleburg, PA are worked up because Judy Buranich, one of the local high school English teachers, writes erotica. Here are some shots of her book covers, taken from her website:

I don’t know about you, but I don’t see what the problem is. For some reason, people who teach young people aren’t allowed to be sexual, at least according to this person:

Or this former student:

Do people really think that teachers have no sex lives? Or that they don’t deserve to have what happens in their private lives be used to judge their professional behavior? There isn’t anyone saying that Ms Buranich has done anything inappropriate on the job. And nobody is suggesting that she isn’t a good teacher. All she’s done is write some racy novels.

Now, I can understand students being shocked to discover that a teacher has a life outside of school. I remember when I was 12 and I ran into a teacher at the supermarket. It hadn’t occurred to me that it was possible, and I remember my mother saying, “Where did you think she got her groceries?” If you take that and add the oh-so-common “ewww” response young people often have with regard to adults expressing sexuality (like parents kissing), it’s pretty easy to see why some of them might react. And the adult thing for parents, other teachers, and administrators to do is to say something like, “Some grownups do things like that and one day, you might, too. Now go do your homework.”

Instead, some of the parents are making a big to-do about something that a lot of people enjoy, that isn’t causing anyone any harm, and that doesn’t affect her work as a teacher. That’s modeling the very sexual shame that keeps us trapped in the cycle of sex-negativity.

Some folks just have to get over themselves.