When I was in school we boys used to sing a silly rendition of
“On Top of Old Smoky” in which “we shot our poor teacher with a .44
slug.” Today, if a student sang that childish ditty, he would be
immediately expelled and ordered to undergo psychiatric
evaluation.
Then again, in my day students and teachers were not
expected to be the 1970s equivalent of Facebook friends. Real
teachers couldn’t have cared less about their students’ self-esteem
and they certainly weren’t interested in providing entertaining,
interesting activities. Like any good German schoolmaster (which
mine were), they cared mostly about order and
discipline.
So I was surprised to hear that so many students at
Parkway North (Mo.) High School were upset that one of their
science teachers was placed on administrative leave. Why weren’t
these students overjoyed?
The educator of whom I speak, Tera Myers (a.k.a. Rikki
Andersin), recently informed her principal that some 15 years ago
she performed in 11 “adult films.” And not the art housey adult
films that star Vincent Gallo and Chloe Sevigny performing real sex
acts on screen, but the porny “lacking artistic merit”
kind.
Apparently, Myers was approached by one of her students
about her back catalog. It’s unclear whether this future lawyer was
trying to blackmail her, or just wanted an autograph. Either way,
the jig was up. (The same thing happened to Myers — then known as
Tericka Dye — five years ago in Kentucky.)
The school board found itself in a tough spot. Teaching
high school students is hard enough without 17-year-old boys making
moaning sounds every time your back is turned. On the other hand,
there was no evidence Myers did anything unlawful. It is perfectly
legal to act in adult films — unlike prostitution, which is
illegal — because no one is aiming a camera lens at your
crotch.
There is a reason school districts perform rigorous
background checks on potential employees. Because they are
entrusted with our impressionable children, teachers are rightly
held to a higher moral standard than, say, congressmen and carnival
barkers. Even the most trivial incident in a candidate’s remote
past often disqualifies him or her for a teaching post. Certainly
this is the case at the better schools.
PARKWAY NORTH IS one of those better schools. Therefore
the district has opted not to renew Myers’ contract, claiming she’d
be a “distraction” to students. On the other hand, I bet truancy
rates would decline precipitously.
One St. Louis talk show host was apoplectic over the
district’s actions. Jamie Allman was outraged that schools often
allow gays and lesbians to teach, but not former porn stars who
have, ostensibly, turned their lives around.
Did I mention that Ms. Myers claims to have found Jesus?
Her support comes not only from evangelicals, who relish redemption
stories about lost lambs being found, but from the community at
large. Even pop television guru Dr. Phil McGraw once encouraged
Myers to “just keep fighting, keep moving forward.” Others see her
story not as a cautionary tale, but as a heroic triumph over
adversity.
Feminists, too, support Myers, portraying her as a victim
of the evil male patriarchy. It’s a claim Myers seems to embrace
with her standard sob story about how she appeared in her first
porno at 22, while a homeless mother of two, after being abandoned
by a no-good boyfriend.
The former Army MP freely admits she made a series of bad
choices, which she blames on an alcoholic father, growing up on the
wrong side of the tracks, and bi-polar disorder. One of those dumb
choices was to major in secondary education, knowing she’d have to
live in constant fear that a student would come across one of her
films. You would think someone who graduated top of her university
class would be smart enough to take up a relatively anonymous
career like computer science or accounting. Myers, however, seems
addicted to thrill-seeking, high-risk behavior (bad boy boyfriends,
military service, adult films, and high school teacher/volleyball
coach with porn film history).
Myers insists that as a woman who has overcome adversity
and dumb choices, she could be a role model for her
students.
That’s exactly the problem. A lot of parents don’t want a
former porn queen as their daughter’s role model. If nothing else,
Myers has taught her students an important lesson: the choices one
makes in the bloom of youth will follow you around the rest of your
life. I can think of no more important lesson for the Facebook
Generation.
