Waterloo Road

[LLKH]

Anyone watch it?

I'm feeling a bit odd because I was completely on Jonah and Cesca's side. I think it was because, as Jonah said, nobody actually asked him about his feelings or they treated his feelings as irrelevant because of his age. Plus I don't particularly like Karen, anyway.

Anyone else have thoughts?

I think the way the script was written put you on Jonah and Cesca's side. Which is morally dubious. If the genders had been the other way (male teacher, 17 year old girl) I doubt they would have written it that way. I'd be terribly upset if a female teacher seduced my DSs at 17.

I agree but it's always a bit of unsure group with a 6th former and an early 20s NQT. I'm not saying it's right but outside a school setting nobody would think it that odd.

I didn't watch it this week. Did they get married? Has she been arrested?

Yes they got married and yes she has been arrested.

I sat there watching it on rerun last night thinking 'why don't I feel I want teh police there ASAP'?

A few answers cropped up:

1. Becuase the writres I think deliberately emphasised the whole romance aspect.

1. Becuase i think that's what the point of this was- Mum's class in 1966 saw a few girls amrry Lecturers; nothing was said. usually this relationship would be frowned on maybe but not illegal, J over 16. But as a teacher she absolutely was absuing jer poewr- I remember on a few CP courses the eladers discussing the 'mid road' cases they've met- eg bloke ebing done for sleeping with 14 year old at 17, couple still amrried twenty eyars on but he has a conviction; was this not meant to get us thinking?

1. becuase it's not RL. In RL i;d ahve thought it was a simple cut and dry case and nothing in WR is ever vaguely close to RL is it?

1. The baby; J's Dad's dismissal of baby as just soemthing to forget was beyond laughable.

1. Becuase yes I ahte KAren too LOL; maybe Finn could ahve landeed on ehr ehad? So much preferable

Over thinking? Moi?

We discussed this last night DH and I and said that whilst we'd be angry if this happened to our children, if there was a baby invovled and dad over 16we'd be far more able to put aside and just deal with than if Dad over 16 (in whihc case clear cut, although we'd try and go for custody) or if no baby involved.

But if you go on any safeguarding or child protection course they will emphasise that any relationship between a school student (inc 6th form) and member of school staff is a breach of trust. Jonah got to know Cesca in the classroom where she was his TEACHER; a relationship which should have very clear professional boundaries. It cannot be a relationship of equals. It is like when patients are attracted towards their GPs - it is the power and the knowledge that they feel attracted to. Teachers should be just that - not friends of their pupils. That's why teachers are advised not to blur any boundaries with students by accepting them as friends on Facebook or such like.

Cesca should have sensitively rebuffed Jonah's advances at an early stage. She deserves everything she gets!!

I thought it was a creepy. He is so immature and looks like he barely shaves. She is easily early 30s, not 20s. Yuck.

She's going to be the best dressed prisoner in the Police Station, though - isn't she!!

And was anyone surprised at how good Finn was looking in the hospital? A fall like that and he's not on a ventilator, isn't pale or confused, and is able to talk lucidly - that stretched credulity a bit, I thought.

I do wonder, too, why there seem to be hoards of pupils in the corridors and playground at breaktime, and school start and finish times, but only about 100 of them when they are in assembly.

Yes, she does look older but in the programme she is 22 or 23 I think and newly qualified.
I cannot imagine being attracted to a boy of 17 when I was early 20s but I think she should have changed schools immediately if she felt he really was 'the one'.

Of course MArlin- absolutely in every way.

But this is fiction after all and there is always a greay area: now IMO grey = a no no as an absoliute but without discussion those rtules cannot be established in the first place.

When I was at uni the Lecturer ahd a relationship with a student who was making my life Hell and and friendships with several others; it out me in a horrible place where I could not get any help for what was a bullying issue (grown bloody women too all of us mature). As a result I am a great fan of strict guidelines.

But this is the programme where parents regualrly bulldoze the school or sleep unwittingly with the Head's DD; it is far from reality so if it gets people discussing?

Oh yes, poor Finn. I do hope he makes a soapily miraculous recovery.

SanctiMoanyArse I think you're right, it is meant to get us thinking about exactly that sort of situation.

wolfhound yes, if it had been the other way round, I'd have been a bit . Why is that?

spottyfrock That's why Cesca was resigning, wasn't it? So they wouldn't be teacher and student, but young man and young woman?

Also, my interpretation and maybe this was because the teenage girl in me quite fancied Jonah, was that he seemed to be seducing her more.

I don't know. I just couldn't quite get it all straight in my head. So I thought I'd post on here.

One thing I thought was odd was when Karen said to Jonah "Don't worry its over now" I wasn't sure what she meant. It wasn't over for Jonah it was just starting with new baby etc.

LLKH - I think if it had been the other way round (male teacher, female pupil) then we would have seen it as a predatory/inappropriate relationship because it would have been the man in the position of power, and we are used to thinking of men as being more powerful than women. But it is equally inappropriate this way round. Yes, it did look like Jonah was making a lot of the running. But it was still his teacher's job to rebuff this. (Just as when Jess was running after her male teacher, forgotten his name, who slept with her before knowing she was a pupil - he rebuffed her firmly and repeatedly which is what Cesca should have done. Or when that swotty girl - Ros? - made a pass at her female French teacher - who also rebuffed her immediately.)

But yes, it is a drama, not real life, so it is just a conversation point. Still important to keep the priorities straight though. It's never okay for any sort of teacher - pupil relationship to start in school. I suppose, if she really thought she wanted to pursue it, then she should have waited until he'd left school and gone to university, then got in touch with him. That would look weird and creepy, but less bad than accepting his advances at school.

What happened to Steph, the French teacher? I haven't seen it since the dark haired woman was HT.

No idea. She just disappeared and then briefly reappeared when Grantley was dealing with his wife.

I really quite like Grantley. I always think that if you ever managed to get an A in his class, you'd know you'd done exceptional work.

And it was Mr Meade (Chris) who rebuffed Jess. He's rather fanciable as well.

wolfhound That's it; that's why I feel odd about it. She ought to have waited till he was at uni. He was sixth form, it would only have been a few months.

Thank you all for replying! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks about these things.

Even my daughter found it ridiculous. A pupil ran away and married a teacher. A child fell from a bridge and may never walk again. The panto was a terrible mess with no discipline and aggro.

The headteacher was then told what a good job she was doing..

EXCUSE ME????

I also wanted them to get married and live happily ever after, but didn't know why I felt like that cos in real life I would find it horrendous.

I thought head teacher Karen's speech at the very end was appaling script writing. She was saying how the children came into WL and by the time they left they'd been given self confidence to achieve blah blah. This was at the end of a day where 1 pupil had ran off and married his pregnant teacher, 2 boys put small explosives in the set of the school panto and another fell off a bridge and might not walk again. WTF.

Love it though, when does the next series start!?!?!?

I couldn't fancy Chris Meade - he wears the most dreadful looking slacks - urghhhhhhhh!

I have a DS of 16 in Y11 and I completely was not on Cesca's side. We discussed this and I would be complaining about this immediately if it had happened. I did say to my DS how would he feel if the story had been a male teacher and female student and he thought that would be different. He couldn't see my point of view that it would be very detrimental to him. It was a good talking point, though.

I also thought that Cesca was very needy, kept calling Jonah and putting him under pressure.

I do like Waterloo Road, watch it with the DC and it gives us plenty to discuss in an unthreatening way, just while watching iykwim

I love waterloo road especially mr clarkson, now he's had a shave as well mmmmm he may be a bit short but I wouldn't say no but don't tell mr bossy!

Well it appears that Finn did make a soapily miraculous recovery!

Got to love this show for it's utterly rididulous factual representation of school life.

Where is Chesca's replacement? Or Ruby's?

Am liking the Robson Green character and poor Sam, I always liked her.

Yay its back! robson greens character is good

only thing, how predictable was that babyofthestepdad storyline?