Human, ALL TOO HUMAN: Never an Adequate Excuse.
In a general sense, what practically differentiates humans from non-human animals is SELF-CONTROL. Assumably, both sides (teachers and students) more or less have this ability (self-control) and whoever on either side loses it should face the moral and judicial consequences.
Think about the following still-evolving non-Naija situation from The Chronicle of Higher Education. To get a comprehensive view of the picture, also access each of the links.
Fellow Philosophers Criticize Yale Scholar for Alleged Sexual Harassment
More than 200 philosophers across the country have signed an open letter criticizing a Yale University professor who was accused of sexual harassment, BuzzFeed reported on Monday.
The professor, Thomas Pogge, was accused in a federal civil-rights complaint of sexually harassing students.
The letter says the behavior described by Mr. Pogge's accusers "violates the norms of appropriate professional conduct." The signers say that "based on the information that has been made public, we strongly condemn his harmful actions toward women."
"But bringing the complaint to resolution will be a long and complex process," the letter says. "Meanwhile, the academic community must make its own decision about how to respond."
Yale has not responded to a request for comment.
Return to TopMoses, I agree 100 % that there is no equivalency. that is not the part of your argument i think needs fine-tuning. But when students violate basic standards of behavior, our institutions and laws should also make them bear the consequences of their action. this has nothing to do with power or powerlessness. we have entered a stage in our culture in which majority of young people deploy desperate means to get ahead. this should be of concern. of course, every action has different weight, no equivalence ever, and one does not and should not justify or excuse the other. The professor's action should attract a greater consequence, no excuses permitted, because he is in a position of power. However, students who make manipulation their primary means of advancement must learn to bear the weight of their actions no matter how light we perceive them to be, and without excuse as well. I sense you want each faculty to be able to deal with students' manipulative behavior without going as far as I would to say that those behavior deserve to be penalized in some way, institutionally and legally. This is where I see the difference. A statement in the syllabus is OK but there is a reason every institution has code of conduct for both students and faculty alike. all of these should be enforced appropriately.All I am saying is I should not be put in a situation in which students are emboldened to manipulate me as if it is part of the normal hazard of my job. That is a terrible and unacceptable working condition. in the same way, students should never be subjected to abuse in any way as they pursue their degrees. There should be universal agreement on both positions here.I try to be of help whenever I can to my students and mentor some but beyond my professional obligations, I refuse the obligation of the de facto guardian etc. Building a platform for students to deal with professorial misconduct is strengthened and not weakened by asking them to learn to take responsibility for theirs. WHile these are problems to be acknowledged, I agree the greater problem is more of the Idiagbons. Mine is just a minor point, a nuance, and perhaps a different conversation. I have as much sympathy for our students as you do, and I hope something is done about the sexual intimidation and assault on campuses.--On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 12:44 PM, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:Bode,In addition to taking "preventive" measures, the fact of your powerful position and guardianship (in loco parentis) over the student means that you can easily and decisively deal with any unwelcome and inappropriate sexual or financial inducement by him/her. In fact some colleagues would announce such discouragement of manipulative behavior on the first day of class and/or put them boldly on the syllabus. And of course, every institution has procedures for disciplining students who engage in the kinds of behavior you outlined in your post. A student, on the other hand, has no power or platform to deal with or discourage professorial misbehavior, sexual and otherwise, toward them. Herein lies the asymmetry and error of equivalence that Olajumoke and I have underscored.--On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 10:11 AM, Bode <ominira@gmail.com> wrote:While I strongly strongly support every law to protect kids in schools, I use the word kids deliberately, I did not sign up for my students to subject me to an unending financial or sexual or any other inducements. It is not part of my job description. And I refuse to have it added by conventional expectations. It is equally criminal to offer bribes at every level of society. I understand the absolute need to punish the powerful especially with the endemic nature of abuse by teachers but we shouldn't fall into the opposite danger of romanticizing and normalizing reprehensible behavior simply because the persons involved are powerless students etc, what is the value of education that does not make students and faculty bear full responsibility for their actions no matter how differently we weight the actions as we should.--On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 10:50 AM Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:Olajumoke,Thanks for your clarity and poignancy on this topic. Indeed, as you say, those who desire a workplace free of sexual temptation will do well to vacate the academia, although they will need plenty of luck to find another profession where sexual and other temptations requiring maturity and self-restraint are absent. The academia is a professional arena fraught with sexual tensions. And it is not exclusive to Nigeria either. The difference is that in many other places, there are guidelines, legislations, manuals, and rules that clearly delineate the bounds of acceptable relationships between students and their teachers and breaches are severely punished within the profession and/or in the criminal justice system. The pending legislation before the Nigerian national assembly is a belated but important effort to bring Nigeria in line with these ethical standards.I teach in an American university and the notion that one of your students seduced you or manipulated you into a sexual interaction would be so preposterous that it would earn you ignominy and ridicule to add to whatever punishment you deserve and get. Forget morality, ethical orientation, religion, or whatever personal code restrains one's erotic proclivities; the difference here is that everyone knows that sexual predation is an extremely costly infraction that almost always results in the loss of career, among other personal costs.Personally, in my conduct with students, I leave nothing to chance. When I meet with my students, I leave my office door wide open. Since my office is located along a much-traveled hallway, our conversations and interactions are public. It helps me and it helps the student. Neither of us can act out any illicit fantasy in that spatial configuration. When you're in a profession that confers enormous power on you while requiring a high degree of personal responsibility in your interaction with lesser, subordinate interlocutors, you make deliberate ethical choices to avoid abuse and predation. As you eloquently stated, it is a requirement of the job, so excuses about your inability to withstand temptation are just that--excuses.Thanks again for your forceful clarity. When it comes to this issue, there should be little or no equivocation.--On Wed, Jun 22, 2016 at 3:48 AM, Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso <jumoyin@gmail.com> wrote:Thank you, Prof Moses Ochonu, for your three posts on this matter: the Unilorin audio recording, the exposure of ASUU's immoral attempt to subvert this important legislation, and the clarification on the point that Prof Aluko made with respect to equivalence of offense between lecturers and students.
I am compelled to repeat the third point you made above: it is lame, indeed ignorant and even mischievous for lecturers to claim that they suffer an equivalent offense when students offer them sex for favours. The argument that this happens is often advanced by lecturers seeking sympathy for their inability to grow up and their inability to tame their urges. Were we all to concede to gratify every desire that was offered us - be it sex, food, money, etc - we would be back in Hobbes' state of nature. The more important point that people miss in the discussion of sexual harassment in universities is that, at its most basic, and even if you do not subscribe to moral arguments, at its most basic, sex between a lecturer and a student is an abuse of power. Simple and short. And - yes, controversially - even when that sex is "consensual". It is an abuse of power in a relationship that from the beginning gives the lecturer disproportionate power over the student, power which always conditions the student's response to him/her. If I may further point out, this power is not just negative power (ie power to sanction disobedience) but also positive power (ie power to turn around the student for good, empower the student to think of hard work rather than shortcuts, power to mentor rather than exploit).
I am sick of the lame argument that (usually) male lecturers make regarding (usually) female students offering them sexual favours, "harrassing" them. If some people are incapable of handling the challenges of this line of work, they should find alternative jobs and stop smearing all the rest of us. In my University, many lecturers have been fired once established they had sex with a student. There is no question of whether the student offered the sex or not. That is the way I think it should be.
Thank you.
Olajumoke Yacob-Haliso
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