Article in todays NYT (6.10.12) about pedophile teachers at Horace Mann -and how the school stonewalled attempts by parents to get the place to acknowledge the situation. Like the Catholic church, this school’s behavior was unconscionable. How glad I am to report that my alma mater, Fieldston, reacted differently in a similar situation: my friend Bob and I (age sixteen) were part of a school field trip when our French teacher, Fen Fuller, approached us. We were sitting on a hill, watching the livestock being fed. “Did you ever see a bull hump a cow?” he asked us. We were both shocked and intrigued that this instructor would let his hair down and treat us as his equals. Fuller then described an obscene dream, winking and laughing all the while, indicating that -between we three worldly fellows- such topics were sources of sophisticated amusement. At the end of this encounter, he told us he was sure our French marks could be improved: “In fact,” he said, “if you guys don’t get an A this semester, I’ll kiss your ass.” The next week, back at school, he invited us to meet him in the boy’s bathroom before classes began. In my naivete, I was ready to go, certain this was some kind of humorous prank the iconoclastic Fuller wanted to stage. But Bob informed his parents, they contacted mine, and the Fieldston authorities were alerted. The infamous Boys Bathroom liaison never happened. And to our school’s great credit (this was the mid-fifties) Fieldston gave Fen Fuller a leave of absence to get some therapy, and allowed him to return to his teaching position afterwards. Bravo, Fieldston!