Swingtown Professor Student Dating

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen Jul 30, 2008

Yes, I'll admit it-- when it comes to TV, my tastes can be somewhat sleazy. So yes, I've been watching CBS' light summer favorite Swingtown, a nighttime soap about 1970s suburbanites that sort of pretends to be a period piece.

Anyway, amidst all the lurid bedhopping of the middle aged adults, Swingtown features a budding relationship between the main couple's college student daughter, Laurie, and her philosophy professor. Apparently he's quite fond of dating his students--but only his smart students.

Granted, Swingtown isn't exactly the best source of realism, but I'm always amused--and a little bit disturbed--by how professor student relationshops are portrayed on TV and in the movies. Yes, these relationships are sometimes portrayed as the source of job-related problem. In the case of Swingtown, Laurie's stereotypically dumb lifeguard ex-boyfriend is threatening to report her relationship with his uber-smart competition to the school. Nonetheless, these relationships always seem easier than they really are, without the complicated power discrepancies that can exist between a student and her (or his) current or former teacher.

Remember when Ross dated one of his students on Friends? Ross eventually dumped her because she was too immature, but he seemed awfully quick to jump at the chance to date a student. Most professors (most, I say, not all) have the sense to stay away from these kinds of entanglements.

Thinking about dating your professor (or your student)? Here's what you should know about professor-student relationships.