The Famous Student-Teacher Crush

As a teacher, sometimes an uncomfortable situations arise, such as when a student develops a crush on you. Most often it's because you're in a position of authority and they are confuse that with liking you. There is never a circumstance that one should allow his/herself to get involved with the student. The best thing to do is, recognize the situation, do nothing to feed into it and continue teaching.

Recently, I had a student who seemed to be enamored with me. As usual, I tried my best not to do anything to feed into it, but still be my usual self. I felt bad for her because I think she realized that a relationship could not happen, and was depressed. It was evident that something was wrong. She no longer dressed up and seemed generally "down". She did not have a boyfriend, and wanted someone like me. But no necessarily me. Of course I felt flattered, but my ethics and morals would never allow me to take advantage of such a situation.

She's cheered up recently. I think she might have met someone on MySpace.