This past Tuesday, the Alabama Senate Education Policy Committee passed Senate Bill 274, which would require public school teachers to take classes to learn how to avoid romantic and sexual contact with their students.
The Educator-Student Interaction Training Act requires Alabama teachers undergo mandatory annual sessions on avoiding sexual or romantic contact, social media interactions, and general interactions outside the classroom with students. The classes would also teach teachers to avoid the use of corporal punishment and physical restraints in classrooms.
One state senator, Dick Brewbaker (R-Montgomery), abstained from the vote, claiming the bill was “absurd.”
"I didn't think it was worth a vote. I mean, we have to tell grown-ups with a college degree, who claim to be professionals, that they're supposed to keep their hands off the people in the little desks? I mean, this is just crazy!" Brewbaker told ABC 33/40.
"If we've gotten to the point where a bill like this is necessary, we're hiring a lot of people in public education who aren't worthy of the public trust.”
The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Cam Ward (R-Alabaster), has since tweeted that he will not be moving the bill forward after receiving backlash on social media from educators.