[Tango-L] Speak up if you're uncomfortable

[Trini y Sean (PATangoS)]

--- Darlene Robertson <luv2dancetango at yahoo.com> wrote:
 
>   Sometimes tango dancers overstep their bounds...
> sometimes it's exacerbated because the situation involves
> an INSTRUCTOR, which damages the reputation of the entire
> community.

Darlene,

While I completely understand where you're coming from and
I agree that those who feel that they've been abused should
speak up, we differ on WHO needs to be informed.  As an
instructor, I keep the same policy that school teachers
take, i.e., I don't share a student's grade, concerns, or
contact info with the public.  Other teachers I may inform
on a need-to-know basis.  However, given the fact that only
the two people involved know what happened, is it really
fair for them to be judged by others who aren't privy to
this same information?  Although we often think of tango
communities as families, there's a point in which it needs
to be looked at it professionally from a liability
standpoint.  Another way of thinking about it is if one
employee informed their supervisor about sexual harassment
of another employee to his/her management, would you expect
the supervisor to go around telling everyone else about the
incident?  

It is a difficult issue.  Sometimes it's a case of people
not being able to set boundaries.  Sometimes it's a case of
people not respecting other's boundaries.  With more
experienced dancers, it can get rather murky.

For teachers and community leaders, I think the question
would be "What would an accredited college do?"

Trini de Pittsburgh


PATangoS - Pittsburgh Argentine Tango Society
  Our Mission: To make Argentine Tango Pittsburgh’s most popular social dance!
  http://patangos.home.comcast.net/
   


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