ANCHORAGE, Alaska—
A West High choir teacher's confession that he had sex with students triggered a lot of soul-searching at Anchorage schools this week. All you have to do is take a look at a hit ABC show, "Pretty Little Liars" to see how teenagers, especially girls, are increasingly sexualized in today's pop culture.
"I think it's frankly totally irresponsible to have a program like that. I think that's something we're challenged with all the time, is, the mixed messages young people are getting. It's not just girls, but boys also," said School District Superintendent Carol Comeau.
"This is like a teachable moment for our whole community. We really need to help our young people navigate through these really rough waters of adolescence," Comeau said.
The teachable moment came in 2003 for Catherine Vidal.
Her daughter Mishell was 16 and had sex with Anthony Robinson, a teaching assistant at Romig Middle School. He was also a volunteer boys’ basketball coach at West High.
“This is twice now that it's happened at West. Twice. And I know it's happened at other schools as well, but what needs to happen?” Vidal said.
At Robinson’s trial in 2004, Mishell was asked what role Robinson played in her life.
“He may not have been my coach personally, but he was a coach to me, because he did help me with my basketball skills,” she said.
Even though he had sex with the girl at her home, the jury acquitted him, because he was neither her coach nor her teacher. He also claimed that he met her at Fred Meyer's, where she lied to him about her age.
Mishell shot herself in the chest and died in 2008. Her mother is convinced that her affair with Robinson is partly to blame.
“I know with a mom's heart. Yeah, Anthony Robinson and that whole trial led to her demise, without a doubt,” Vidal said.
One of the hardest things for Mishell to cope with was the feeling that everyone blamed her for Anthony Robinson's behavior. Catherine Vidal fears the girls who were victimized at West could suffer in the same way.
“Support those girls. Those girls need support. They may not say that they do,” she said.
Mishell felt so much pressure that she transferred to SAVE High School, an alternative school. Then she graduated a year early, anxious to put the past behind her.
It didn't help that Mishell had been sexually abused by a cousin when she was nine. Her mother believes that this was the root of her attraction to Robinson, a deep need to feel better about herself.
"And it doesn't make it right. But a lot of young girls feel that way. ‘Wow, I have this teacher paying attention to me. What's all this about?’" she said.
Vidal believes we need to stop blaming kids and hold the adults accountable.
“There's just a lot of fuzzy lines. But these girls need to know. No matter what, they didn't do anything wrong,” she said.
Mishell's ashes are in the living room. Her mother has even saved her slippers as a reminder of how Mishell was really just a little girl at heart.
“It's reality. And it's devastating,” she said, wiping tears away.
Vidal says she would like to see the age of consent raised to 18. As it is now, it's 16, unless the relationship involves a teacher or someone in position of authority over a child.
Contact Rhonda McBride at rmcbride@ktuu.com
