Ķvlog

Opinion
School & District Management Opinion

When Teachers Get in Trouble, It’s Rarely Bad Intentions. It’s Bad Boundaries

3 strategies to guide—not restrict—teachers’ care for students
By Brooklyn Raney — December 16, 2025 4 min read
A teacher sitting with a group of students with clearly marked boundaries around each of them.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Every week, another story breaks. A respected educator dismissed for a moment of poor judgment. A personal overshare. A late-night text. Lack of attentive supervision. An inappropriate joke. A conversation that drifted into territory better left to a child’s caregiver or clinician. The public’s reaction is often disbelief: How could such a good educator make such a bad decision?

The truth is rarely bad intentions.

Educators receive rigorous training on curriculum, assessments, mandatory reporting, and other safety measures. But they get little to no training on the everyday boundary decisions that shape healthy, professional, trust-building relationships with other people’s children.

About This Series

In this biweekly column, principals and other authorities on school leadership—including researchers, education professors, district administrators, and assistant principals—offer timely and timeless advice for their peers.

The focus is often on legal boundaries and discussed from a place of fear-based restraint, leaving little time for trust-based discussions of professional, social, or emotional boundaries. That gap leaves even the most dedicated Ķvlog vulnerable to making choices that could compromise students’ experiences at school and the educator’s career.

It’s time we name the real problem: a lack of boundary clarity in a boundary-critical profession.

In education, we have long celebrated the “hero” narrative—the teacher who gives up lunch every day, the coach who becomes a surrogate parent, the adviser who responds to messages at all hours. We praise these behaviors as evidence of deep, selfless care.
But “above and beyond” often lives in the same neighborhood as boundary blur.

A personal disclosure intended to build connection. A “just this once” exception for a struggling student. An “I know the school rules are X, but in my classroom, I believe it’s best we do Y.” A blind defense of a student without all the facts.

These acts may be rooted in compassion, but they can easily cross a boundary and undermine trust with families, disrupt systems designed for safety, or create expectations no single adult can sustain. Educators are deeply influential, yes, but they are not replacements for a child’s primary caregivers. It is critical that school leaders help Ķvlog adhere to the limits of their roles.

To ensure students have the right kind of relationships with Ķvlog that best promote their academic growth and positive youth development, Ķvlog first need to understand the appropriate boundaries. The “too loose, too rigid, just right” scale gives a starting point for assessing our behaviors both as Ķvlog and in our general lives:

  • A person with boundaries that are too loose trusts everyone, speaks freely and intimately when they first meet students, does not recognize poor boundary setting in others, acts in opposition to their personal values for the purpose of pleasing others, compromises their own wellness to support the wellness of others, inserts themselves into the problems of others, accepts abuse or disrespect, prioritizes likability over authentic connection, and derives self-worth from others’ opinions.
  • A person with too rigid boundaries trusts no one, avoids close relationships, does not ask for help, is protective of personal information, offers no bids for connection, seems distant or detached, avoids vulnerability for fear of rejection, interacts in transactional ways with students, and lives in black-and-white thinking patterns.
  • A person whose boundaries are just right allows trust with others to develop over time through a layered approach, values their own opinions, keeps their focus on growth and development, notices when someone else lacks healthy boundaries, clearly communicates wants and needs, accepts when others say no, shares appropriate personal information based on trust built in a relationship, and derives a sense of self-worth from within.

To make sure Ķvlog can set a just-right boundary before a misstep occurs, school leaders should proactively offer them strategies to guide—not restrict—their care for students. These tools help Ķvlog stay grounded, aligned, and confident in their decisionmaking and efforts. You can help Ķvlog in your school by sharing these strategies:

1. Use the shoulder/viral test.

Act in every interaction as if your supervisor were on one shoulder, a child’s caregiver on the other, and bystanders were filming from every angle. If a 20-second clip of the moment went viral, would it accurately and positively reflect your intent, tone, professionalism, and the child’s best interest? This test isn’t meant to scare—it’s meant to elevate your practice. Consistency, clarity, and awareness of your power protect children and your career.

2. Stay in your zone of expertise.

Young people deserve support from the right adults with the right training. When we take on roles we aren’t equipped or right for—be it as a therapist, social worker, parent, or friend—we risk creating dependency, burnout, confusion, or even harm. Clear job descriptions and self-awareness matter. Offer care, connection, and coaching within your role and refer to a colleague or other resource when a youth’s needs extend beyond your professional expertise.

3. Uphold the rules.

Youth thrive when the adults around them provide consistency, predictability, and alignment with organizational policies. When individuals “do it their own way,” they undermine trust, create inequity, and destabilize a system designed to promote safety. “Do what you say and say what you do” applies to both organizations and individuals. If you disagree with a policy, raise it in the right forum—not in front of students.

Parents and guardians deserve Ķvlog in their children’s lives they can trust. Students deserve—and need—Ķvlog who build the right kind of relationships with them. Educators deserve training that protects them. School leaders, don’t wait until after a mistake to support your teachers. Guide them before one ever happens.

A version of this article appeared in the March 01, 2026 edition of Education Week as When teachers get in trouble, it’s rarely bad intentions. It’s bad boundaries

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
Managing AI in Schools: Practical Strategies for Districts
How should districts govern AI in schools? Learn practical strategies for policies, safety, transparency, as well as responsible adoption.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Unlocking Success for Struggling Adolescent Readers
The Science of Reading transformed K-3 literacy. Now it's time to extend that focus to students in grades 6 through 12.
Content provided by 
Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and K-12 education jubs at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion 5 Things That HR Directors Wish Teachers Knew
Here's how you can get the most out of your school's human resources office.
Anthony Graham
5 min read
Multiple doors open to HR, accessibility and connection, human resources
Robert Neubecker for Education Week
School & District Management Q&A Meet the National Principals Association: Why the 110-Year-Old Org. Rebranded
Elementary school leaders will add new priorities for the national organization.
6 min read
President Ronald Reagan addresses the National Association of Secondary School Principals convention in front of an old fashion red school house, background, Feb. 7, 1984 in Las Vegas, Nev. Standing behind Reagan are NASSP officials.
President Ronald Reagan addresses the National Association of Secondary School Principals convention in front of an old fashion red school house, background, Feb. 7, 1984 in Las Vegas, Nev. Standing behind Reagan are NASSP officials.
Doug Pizac/AP
School & District Management How Top Principals Are Improving Schools Across the Country
Principals must empower student and teacher voices.
7 min read
Successful male and female in leadership achieve target. Embracing success confidence holding winner flag on top of mountain peak.
Education Week + iStock/Getty
School & District Management Opinion 6 Years Ago, Schools Closed for COVID. Have We Learned the Right Lessons?
A school administrator outlines four priorities to guide true recovery from the pandemic.
Robert Sokolowski
5 min read
FILE - In this Aug. 26, 2020, file photo, Los Angeles Unified School District students stand in a hallway socially distance during a lunch break at Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood in Los Angeles. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is encouraging schools to resume in-person education next year. He wants to start with the youngest students, and is promising $2 billion in state aid to promote coronavirus testing, increased ventilation of classrooms and personal protective equipment.
Los Angeles public school students maintain social distance in a hallway during a lunch break in 2020.
Jae C. Hong/AP