Have you ever had the feeling a teacher or professor was misusing their power towards you?

[noname223]

I had to think about that for a while. I had a professor some time ago who really was kind of nasty towards us. She said the exam will be easy. Noone had to worry she wants that everyone passes it. There were more things but I won't go into details. She tricked us completely. The difficulty of that exam was hellish. I kind of had the feeling she enjoyed that. It was really like a trap. Also because we focused on different topics than the ones she alluded to.

I asked myself whether she got satisfaction from playing with us. Someone in this forum seemingly a lecturer (sorry to talk in third person of you but your input made me think) described how lazy he perceives gen-z. I asked myself whether many professors think that way. I often have the feeling the professors have a too high expectation of their students. Though I am very vulnerable (not stress-resistant) OCD person that is too obessesive about college. So my expectation of myself are also way too high. It would be interesting to know whether the expectation of the younger generations really becomes less.

It is probably a strech to call that an abuse of power. But I wondered how much satisfaction she got from that. And her reasons behind it.

Now more to te core of the title. Not that seldom you can read about sexual relations between US-students with their teachers. I know it is not very common but it happens way more ofthen than in Germany. We joked with our teachers about it. I think the personal relationship between teachers and students is deeper in the US. This is at least what I read or what other teachers responded.

I had some diagreements with teachers. They did not protect me from being bullied. But I would not say they misused their power towards me. There were some rumors about teachers. Some sexual allegations from female students. I never knew whether they were true. I had some doubts. But maybe I am/was biased. I am not sure how common that is.

I could never imagine to have an affair with a lecturer. It would be interesting to know how such things start. I read in Germany there are no laws against that (in colleges) but many universities prohibit that. I am not sure whether I would go that far to get good grades. Probably not. The power assymmetry seems to be pretty questionable aspect. And there seems to be high potential for abuse.

 

[Ultracheese]

I think a lot of academics and intellectuals believe they are superior to regular people due to their status and self-perception. This is why they feel that people who are not at their level (i.e not wealthy, not as good at articulating themselves either verbally or linguistically, disagree with them) are lazy or self-absorbed. It's projection, I suppose.

I will not get into specifics so as not to cause discomfort to anyone that may stumble upon this, but I was subjected to harassment and eventually assault by a teacher of mine when I was 14. Especially at that age, it can be very scary to tell someone about what's happening for fear of repercussions. I imagine for some people that fear never really goes away. I despise how some people feel the need to use their authority to prop up their own egos and/or harm others.

 

[Disappointered]

Of course I have...too many to even list.