Ever since former English teacher Ted Bennett’s arrest, students, families and staff have been feeling a lot of emotions, with a consensus of disbelief, anger and sadness. These feelings stretched far beyond those who knew Bennett or the alleged victim. “It’s pretty gross and disgusting that this happened … you don’t really think it’s going to happen at your school until it actually does happen. It’s a big shock,” said freshman Abigail Hruby.
However, to those who knew Bennett or were in one of his classes, the emotions were often far stronger. “I felt an absolute horrendous feeling of dread and I was somehow [complicit] in it, somehow,” said senior Ben Schnarr, who was enrolled in Bennett’s Expressions class last spring. “But over time, I’ve tried to move on from that and I think that, you know, wasn’t my fault. Couldn’t have stopped it, but I wanted to. I felt pretty horrible.”
Teachers are meant to naturally be figures of trust for students. However, that comes into question in many students’ minds when they hear of a teacher in their community breaking that trust to such a degree of alleged sexual misconduct.
Naturally, that breach has ripple effects throughout much of the school community and beyond. “This community is a lot of trust, and there’s a lot of, in a way, connections between not only the teachers here and the students here, but the families and the parents outside,” said senior Thomas Carigiet. “And I feel like that because this whole situation, a lot of that trust has been broken. I feel like these connections are … just not really there anymore.”
Carigiet is not the only member of the MVHS community concerned by this breach in trust and bridging that gap between students and staff. “It’s really affected students … It’s made them more distrustful of teachers. I think it’s made them more worried about, like, ‘how do I know if this person has my best interests in mind,” Schnarr said.
Without implicit trust between staff and students, the foundation for student safety in school falls apart; teachers and staff are often major supporters of students, especially those who do not have other trusted adults to confide in when necessary. To lose that dynamic would mean losing a key aspect of guidance for many.
Beyond the aspect of trust, there was much gossip, rumors and jokes being made around the incident. “[The situation] has definitely [affected the MVHS community] negatively, with the whole, maybe feeling unsafe around teachers now. But it’s not a very good thing, people making it into a meme, almost like you see meme pages on TikTok,” Hruby said.
Students may have reasons behind making light of the situation and Bennett’s alleged misconduct. “There was a lot [of talk], and practically anywhere I went, I heard it,” said sophomore Skylar Dutcher, “I think it’s just affecting students, obviously negatively, but they started coping and people have different coping mechanisms, and I know people sometimes cope by humor.”
Despite the possible underlying reasoning Dutcher concisely outlined, that does not negate the negative outcomes from denoting the seriousness of the topic. “I heard a lot of victim-blaming around the student, and just blaming the student for getting involved in that,” Schnarr said.
I also heard similar comments to Schnarr, as have other students. My best guess is that this victim-blaming came as a form of students coping with distressing information. For their sense of safety to be conserved, they make themselves think of this alleged case of sexual misconduct as something that could never happen to them. One of the main ways to preserve that sense would be trying to find and point out the things they would have done differently or “better,” framing it as the alleged victim’s fault.
But this is problematic; it draws lines to demonize someone who is already allegedly victimized, when Bennett is allegedly the one responsible and the sole reason the community feels this hurt. It does not help anyone. It only lets students temporarily put off the feeling that it really could have happened to anyone, and it draws the school community further apart.
Multiple students agree that the staff and administration have taken many effective measures to handle the alleged misconduct and bridge the gap. “I definitely think the staff are doing their best to give kids their voice and them to, like, talk about their issues and stuff. Because I really appreciate that,” Hruby said.
Students also benefit from opportunities given for support. “I think everything they can handle has gone pretty effectively,” said sophomore Ray Hatch. “If you’re just absolutely affected by this, you can go to a group thing on Dec. 2 and talk about it with professionals.” Even though this date has already passed, Mounds View High School is still partnering with Ramsey County SOS (Sexual Offense Services) advocates, and deans are still open to talking to students to find support systems when it comes to student mental health.
Despite overall positive feedback, there still exists room for improvement. Students suggest methods of moving forward in ways that may put students more at ease. “I think maybe just opening up office hours more. Maybe having more, I guess, openness towards maybe students’ mental health, if they are affected. And kind of just create an environment from scratch again, where this is an environment where you can trust your peers and teachers and people to listen to you,” Carigiet said.
Carigiet is not the only one who looks for more of an open and safe environment to discuss the situation. “I’ve seen a lot of it be like … ‘we’re not allowed to talk about it,’ but I think that this should also be something we’re allowed to talk about because it’s real life. This is a real-life situation, but I think certain people just don’t want to hear about it,” Herreid said. “I think just being able to talk about it openly … obviously not making jokes about it … being able to talk to teachers about it, and being able to talk about it and have it be a safe space [would bridge the Mounds View community].”
Even with specific suggestions, the student body and the bonds between the people at Mounds View will need time to process and heal. Growth will find its place in time, and until then, it is vital to find and utilize support systems rather than tear each other down through harsh criticism and gossip. “Everyone’s trying to be [of] help. And I think that’s probably the best way they can handle it,” Hruby said. I believe this statement’s accuracy is strengthened by the fact that this is Mounds View’s first and hopefully last time navigating through such a difficult situation of this sort, and that, despite not every action being perfect, normalcy will find its position in the community.