Children of a Lesser Teacher

“Sex, Lies and Snapchat,” Lauren McKeon’s feature exposé on Jaclyn McLaren, the Belleville teacher convicted of sex crimes against her students, left readers deeply divided. Many thought the author’s attempt to develop a nuanced portrait of the offender made the story too sympathetic toward her:

“Poor woman, victim of her circumstances. She just happened to innocently have nudes on the phone she lent her favorite male students. Woe is her!

“This shit makes me livid. To think of all the male teachers absent from the younger grades because they fear the mere accusation of misconduct.… I think society needs to take a long hard look at how the teacher pipeline is filled and what sorts of people should be shaping young minds. Maybe next time a position opens up, the administrators shouldn’t hire a washed-out strip club waitress.”

—Spanner_Magnet, Reddit

Others felt strongly that McKeon was too hard on the teacher, and that her victims were culpable:

“Because of their ages, some of these boys who victimized a teacher were thought to be the victims? Was Jaclyn McLaren wrong? Yes. But if these boys were capable of blackmailing her, were they not capable of being complicit? If it’s common for boys to hound girls for nude photos, as the article points out, what of that behaviour? Is it not sexual harassment? The author reports that it’s common for boys to send shots of their genitals to girls. And yet, poor little Johnny is the victim? Are we expecting this lewd behaviour to stop when they’re considered adults?

“I believe some of these students knew the implications of what they were doing far better than the teacher. She deserves counselling, not a jail sentence. ”

—Nicky Hindmarsh, Toronto

Perhaps the sagest reaction was this:

“I know a few people who went to high school with Jaclyn McLaren, and none of them were surprised when this story broke. She was a slow-moving train wreck that too many people hoped someone else would stop.”

—Randomfinn, Reddit