I’m a lecturer and it’s really nice to see other teachers that actually care about their students. My high school experience was absolutely terrible and made worse by teachers who didn’t care...I got groped by a popular boy on the bus. He held me down and masturbated on me in front of everyone and they cheered him on. A few other students reported it and this kid ended up going to juvenile. Everyone at school blamed me, and called me a “snitch.” I had teachers who were concerned that I made it all up for attention or overreacted and will end this student’s future by my actions.

At a different school, during my senior year, my first boyfriend raped me (lost my virginity). I didn’t do anything because I didn’t think anyone would believe me. I gave him consent at first, but it was very painful so I asked him to stop and he flat out said no. I was crying, begging him to stop, and trying to get away, and he just went at it harder. At the time, many people didn’t even consider something like this “real rape” because I gave consent at first. At one point, he started to date this other girl, so I told her what he did. She told him, and everyone went around saying I was falsely accusing him of rape. I lost friends and, again, even the teachers thought I was trying to ruin an “innocent man’s” future. I’ve struggled with depression and suicidal ideation...also developed long term sexual problems that have been difficult to deal with because of this. I had a suicide attempt and ended up in a mental hospital. All of my teachers were aware of these situations but did nothing but make everything worse.

The Me Too movement has helped me come to terms with the fact that this behavior isn’t normal, and it’s not my fault. But if I had just one teacher who wasn’t accusatory or cared to help in some way, I might have actually received the help I needed instead of getting further ostracized. What you did was really important, and I’m sure that student appreciates it.