Came across this story via the BBC today. After poking around the Internet, I’ve pieced together the following timeline:

2004

• Attractive young woman works as model/actress
• Said woman stars in a short film/advertisement for Scruffs workwear (seems to be British equivalent of Carhartt or Dickies)
• Film is highly sexually suggestive; includes several simulated sex acts, some of which involve this woman

2005

• Film sent to construction companies; wins multiple awards at advertising industry awards ceremony in Cannes

2006

• Woman completes teacher training program, takes job teaching English at Stockport Grammar School.

2008

• Video hits YouTube
• Students and parents see their English teacher simulating sex on an office desk
• Teacher is suspended pending “an investigation”

Here’s a link to the video on YouTube (you’ll have to sign in to verify your age, as YouTube has it flagged as inappropriate for minors). The teacher is the woman in the first section (“Action Jacket”). Last warning: DO NOT WATCH if you’re at work, or are offended by semi-graphic depictions of sex.

This is huge, people. Should this woman be penalized for a job she took years before she was a teacher? There was no crime committed. On the other hand, could your child take her seriously as a teacher after seeing this video? Is the headteacher within his legal right to take any action at all? How can we separate the moral judgments from the legal ones – or can we?

Even if you find the film to be grossly offensive (which I imagine many will), could you justify letting this woman lose her job? Pretty serious implications here for the rest of us, too – is it fair to hold YOU accountable in a professional context for things you did before you joined the profession?

So many questions coming to mind here, and I don’t know enough about private education in England to know what the legal ramifications are or could be. I’d love to hear from the British contingent on this one – what are teachers and admins saying about this across the pond?

In fact, I can probably count the number of times I’ve cried in my adult life on one hand (OK, maybe two). That’s not meant to be some macho boast, but rather to give you some context for what I’m about to say:

In the week since I discovered this song by Ben Folds, I don’t think I’ve managed to get through it once without at least shedding a tear (today on the ride home from grad school), or at most, breaking down into full-body sobs (last Sunday night). In a good way.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/mRlgq59dsFQ" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

I’ll leave the cinematographic analysis to those far better qualified, because for me, that’s way beside the point right now. Every once in a while, a song comes along that connects with you on an emotional level so deep that it just floors you. This song has humbled me in a way I’m having trouble articulating. If you’re a parent, though, I bet you know exactly what I’m talking about.