Afterword

I hope you enjoyed reading my story about Alice and John, and how a simple helping hand can blossom into a forbidden love with a life altering effect.

The day after I started writing this story, I read a newspaper article of a woman getting caught by the police on a parking lot. She was about to have sex with her fourteen year old student and Alice's story might as well have been hers.

Though I still firmly believe that a teacher, or an adult in general, has a large responsibility to a minor, I also think that once a boy hits puberty he should be given some leeway in making up his own mind. As long as a relationship is consensual, I see little harm in it.

Often teenagers are still treated as children, their parents refusing to see them as the young adults that they are. They can be rebellious, they can be obnoxious, but at the same time they often do have a very good understanding of what's right and what's wrong. Of course every teenager is different and some are obviously smarter than others, but rather than judging an entire age group as one, I would rather see that being done on a case by case basis.

If you consider the consequences for a woman, who falls in love with a minor, and how it marks her for life, then I think that the high prison sentences they get sentenced to are often uncalled for. Naturally I didn't go through the specifics of every case, but a prison sentence can have long lasting effects, both mentally and physically, but also financially.

After all, without an income you will also lose your house when you can't pay the mortgage, your friends and family will alienate themselves from you, people recognize you on the streets due to the mug shot in the newspaper and in general it will be hard enough already for them, to rebuild their lives. We didn't even consider yet what happens in prison itself, rape and intimidation seem to be commonplace, if you read the regular stream of news articles about that.

As far as Alice and John go, their story could end either way. John's love and clever ploy could have helped in reducing Alice's sentence, so that they could be together once he turns eighteen and they can still get married and start their own family. Alternatively it could also be that he meant it, when he said that he was only lusting after her and confused lust with love. He might very well move on, cherishing his memories and use the knowledge he gained on a girl of his own age, leaving Alice to sort out the rest of her life. Another end could be that time heals all wounds and she eventually loses her interest in him, Alice could become determined to make something of her life without John, after she's out of prison.

Love is mankind's strongest emotion and humans have done a lot for each other out of love, but it can also wane over time, being separated for three years is an awful long period...

I'll leave it up to the reader's discretion to pick your own ending. Looking at the past both endings are valid options, some teachers married their students after their prison sentence was over and started a fulfilling life with them, despite from being shunned by their family. In other cases the teacher and student moved on and we never hear from the couple again.

If you want to, please leave your vote and/ or feedback behind. I'd love to hear what people think of this story and my view on the matter, either good or bad. If you leave an e-mail address behind I will send you a reply.