Psychologist: Recent arrests highlight need for boundaries

Two male teachers in their 40's, Charles A. Tindley School teacher Bruce Ryan and Monrovia High School teacher Daniel Goens, are facing charges after allegedly having inappropriate encounters with their female teenage students.

"A teacher and a student have greater access to each other personally than they ever did before," said DeAnn Harvey, a clinical child psychologist with St. Francis Hospital.

Harvey said social media sites allow for more access one-on-one between teachers and students, and in some cases, teachers become careless and lines are blurred.

For one, Ryan and the 15-year-old apparently communicated on Google Plus.

"I think now we understand this does happen, we're not going to turn a blind eye to it, and we're going to screen our teachers better," said Harvey.

State education officials point to the required in-depth screening process that is in place. It includes a criminal history background check in Indiana and other states where a teacher may have lived.

Harvey said the schools are responsible for the teachers, but she said parents can also play a role.

"By raising them to feel secure in themselves that they would not want to seek out a relationship like that. It's not appropriate. It is never love. It is always a person in a powerful position taking advantage of someone vulnerable," she said.

Harvey suggests that parents pay attention to the amount of time their child spends alone with a teacher and also monitor the time they spend on social media sites.