I realise that teens have raging hormones, but they don't blind you to everything. People are still held accountable for stuff they do under the influence of raging hormones. That's the reason why 'but I was horny and she/he was hot' isn't a valid defense for sexual assault =/
Poor judgement is poor judgement no matter how horny you are.
edited 8th May '12 6:18:17 AM by LoniJay
Be not afraid...Huh, I was under the impression that the homosexual age of consent was now 16, to bring it in line with the heterosexual one. Appears I was mistaken.
Anyway, this ban was the right thing to do, I think. I remember having a big argument with some friends after we had watched an episode of a TV series that depicted a 17 year old student running off with a teacher after having made her pregnant. I argued from the "abuse of authority" position, they argued that "if you had the chance to have sex with an attractive teacher at 17, you would!" Admittedly, I was hard pressed to disagree on that particular point
I am not disagreeing with you, quite the contrary. From a dispassionate, removed standpoint, I am in full agreement. It's just that a horny 17 year old is highly unlikely to give a toss about the legality or lack thereof of what they're doing.
With cannon shot and gun blast smash the alien. With laser beam and searing plasma scatter the alien to the stars.

I understand that what makes it a crime in the UK is the teacher-student relationship; 16 is of age otherwise.
And yes, the ban on teaching is fair; she might be good at teaching, but she's clearly poor at judgment, because there's a good reason to forbid relationships or sex between students and teachers of any age.
A brighter future for a darker age.