THE UNDERSTANDING OF PARENTS ON THE ROLE OF TEACHER AND THEIR VIEWS ON THE GROWING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT AND TEACHER

This study has been undertaken to determine the level of understanding of 134 parents of higher education students on the role of teacher and their views about the growing existence of student-teacher romantic relationship. The study examined the level of understanding of parents to the role of the teacher in the students and their view to the romantic relationship of student and teacher. The study utilized a descriptive research design. The researcher used a convenient sampling procedure in gathering data. The researcher used likert scale to measure the parents' agreement with the questions. The findings revealed that parents understood the role of the teacher in the student. The study also revealed that it is normal nowadays the romantic relationship between teacher and student from the point of view of the parents. However, the study found that there is a role that teachers should observed which is not clear to the respondents and there are some questions regarding romantic relationship of student and teacher that parents cannot decide whether they agree or disagree. The result of the study favored social acceptance to that kind of student-teacher relationship where that kind of acceptance may be a threat on the principle of in loco parentis role which is observed in educational institutions.